World news | The Guardian

Michel Montaner visits a different constituent at their home most nights to gain a better feel for people’s concernsIt began with a tweet in October. “I would like to have dinner at your home. I’ll bring dessert.” What followed was an avalanche of invitations, sending Michel Montaner knocking on the door of complete strangers most nights of the week.“I ring their doorbell and say: ‘Hi, I’m the mayor,’” Montaner told the Guardian. “I turn up alone, no police, no advisers.” Continue reading...

Australian Transport Safety Bureau says anticipated date for completing its investigation is between July and September 2024

At least 29 people killed in Culiacán as drug cartel gunmen fight bloody battle to stop transport of El Chapo’s son after arrest

Industrial action on 23 January in England and Wales will coincide with strike by Unison membersMore than 2,600 additional ambulance workers plan to strike in late January over pay, the trade union Unite announced on Friday.Unite’s members will join colleagues belonging to Unison in striking on 23 January, with hospital bosses calling for “serious talks” between the government and unions to avoid “even more pressure on already overstretched NHS services”. Continue reading...

DHSC accused PPE Medpro of presenting false document when tendering for PPE contracts

Spanish bookshops breaking embargo and leak to the Guardian undo secrecy plans but won’t harm Spare publicationIf Prince Harry’s publishers had their way, it seems the world would only learn about the contents of his autobiography when the book goes on sale next Tuesday.Instead, a leak to the Guardian and premature sales by Spanish bookstores have resulted in a flood of media coverage before a copy of Spare has even been sold in the UK or the US. Details of events including the prince losing his virginity behind a pub, him asking his father, King Charles, not to remarry, and his final visit to Queen Elizabeth II have been revealed. Continue reading...

Novelist and screenwriter says he is unable to move arms and legs and has undergone spinal surgeryThe novelist and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi has said he may never be able to walk or use a pen again after a fall on Boxing Day in Rome.The Buddha of Surburbia author has now tweeted about the incident, following reports in the Italian media that he was in intensive care. “I had just seen Mo Salah score against Aston Villa, sipped half a beer, when I began to feel dizzy”, Kureishi wrote. “I leant forward and put my head between my legs; I woke up a few minutes later in a pool of blood, my neck in a grotesquely twisted position, my wife on her knees beside me.” Continue reading...

PM offers no hint he will compromise on pay offers as former cabinet minister says nurses key to dealing with NHS pressures. This live blog is now closedThe journalist interviewing Rishi Sunak this morning did not press Sunak on excess deaths because he needed to ask some questions about Prince Harry’s memoir. But Sunak would not go near the topic.Asked how he felt seeing the royal family “torn apart” by these claims and revelations, Sunak replied:As you would expect, it is not appropriate for me to comment on matters to do with the royal family.I wouldn’t comment on matters to do with the royal family. I would just say I am enormously grateful to our armed forces for the incredible job they do in keeping us all safe. We’re all very fortunate for their service. Continue reading...

As public sector disputes multiply, some think the government is deploying out-of-date weapons in the battle of public opinionWith new public sector strikes arriving on an almost weekly basis, ministers and unions are at loggerheads to an extent not seen for decades. But beyond the disputes themselves is another layer of disagreement: what exactly is the government’s plan?Away from the picket lines there is a fierce parallel battle being waged for public opinion, and to blame the disruption on – depending on your vantage point – bumbling ministers, over-powerful union leaders, or the Labour party. Continue reading...

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who were 15 and 16 when the film was made, are suing Paramount Studios for child abuseThe son of Franco Zeffirelli has hit out against the two lead actors from the late Italian film director’s 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, who are suing Paramount Studios for child abuse over a nude scene in the film.Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, who were 15 and 16, respectively, when the film was made, allege that Zeffirelli made them perform a bedroom scene in the nude after originally saying they would be wearing flesh-coloured body suits. Continue reading...

Workers say they missed out on cash or vouchers again, though supermarket says staff got doubled discount on certain daysTesco shop staff say they missed out on a cash or voucher bonus this Christmas for the second year in a row – with some receiving just a box of Quality Street.The UK’s biggest supermarket chain paid a 10% Christmas bonus in 2020 and in previous years has given out a shopping voucher, but this year the only thing handed out was the plastic tub of confectionery worth £5 that some staff received. Continue reading...

Journalist touring residence with new first lady is shown torn sofas, broken windows and art damaged by the sunJair Bolsonaro’s wrecking of the Amazon made him a global outcast – but his acts of desecration were not limited to the rainforest.A report by the Brazilian broadcaster GloboNews suggests that even the official presidential residence – a 1950s masterpiece by the architect Oscar Niemeyer – was defiled by the far-right politician during his four years in power. Continue reading...

‘Britain’s strictest headteacher’ admitted her outspoken views meant she was ‘doing more harm than good’The headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh has quit as the UK government’s social mobility head after little more than a year, admitting her outspoken views meant she was “doing more harm than good”.Birbalsingh, who came to prominence a decade ago as a critic of the UK’s “broken” schools system, and has since been labelled Britain’s strictest headteacher, said she had realised her presence as chair of the Social Mobility Commission (SMC) undermined its impartiality. Continue reading...

Pop legends join forces for Diane Warren-penned track Gonna Be You for forthcoming comedy 80 for BradyDolly Parton, Cyndi Lauper, Gloria Estefan, Belinda Carlisle and Debbie Harry have joined forces on a new single titled Gonna Be You. The track, to be released on 20 January, is by the celebrated songwriter Diane Warren.Gonna Be You, which marks the first collaboration between the five pop legends, was recorded for the forthcoming film 80 for Brady. The comedy follows four women in their 80s – played by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno and Sally Field – who embark on a road trip to see the NFL player Tom Brady play his final Super Bowl. Continue reading...

RMT leader says public support for unions has ‘taken a dent’ but is still high despite travel disruptionMick Lynch has admitted that public support for rail unions has been dented by weeks of strikes, but said the government was still “losing the argument” in the long-running pay dispute.The general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT) said that moves by Rishi Sunak to tighten anti-strike laws showed the government was hoping to close down opposition to austerity. Continue reading...

Mark Jenkin’s unsettling Enys Men, follow-up to his cult movie Bait, plays to packed-out houses before nationwide launchCinema fans in the Cornish town of Bodmin had three options: the behemoths of Avatar and I Wanna Dance With Somebody – or a mind-bending folk horror shot down the road on 16mm film with a tiny budget that would make most Hollywood directors shudder.By a considerable margin, for this one night at least, the patrons of the Capitol shunned James Cameron and Whitney Houston in favour of the latter, Enys Men, an unsettling, time-slipping movie that tackles big themes – loneliness, grief, fear – belying the modesty of its production. Continue reading...

Thousands gather as centuries-old rough-and-tumble contest is held for first time since pandemicIn the north Lincolnshire villages of Haxey and Westwoodside, 6 January is bigger than Christmas.For the first time since the start of the pandemic, thousands of villagers have gathered in fields nearby to compete in the Haxey Hood, one of the UK’s most curious traditions – a rough-and-tumble game that dates back to the 14th century. Continue reading...

Opera company lost more than half its funding after Arts Council England sought to divert money to underserved regionsThe prestigious opera company Glyndebourne has cancelled its touring programme for 2023 after cuts to its public funding.Glyndebourne has taken its world-class opera productions to audiences around England for more than 50 years. But it lost more than half its public funding in the settlement announced in the autumn as Arts Council England (ACE) sought to fulfil a government instruction to divert money to places underserved by the arts. Continue reading...

Constance Marten and Mark Gordon went missing on M61 after car broke downPolice in Greater Manchester are searching for a couple and their newborn baby who went missing after their car broke down.Constance Marten and Mark Gordon are missing with their baby after their vehicle broke down near junction 4 of the M61, near Farnworth, Bolton, on Thursday evening. Continue reading...

Receding flood waters have revealed homes, cars and livestock caked in thick mud, which locals say will ‘set like concrete’ when it dries

Studies find rising emergency presentations for suicidal ideation and self-harm, as well as growing antidepressant use

Body of fashion designer and model Edwin Chiloba, 25, found stuffed in metal box by side of road, say reportsKenyan police are investigating the death of an LGBTQ+ rights activist whose body was discovered stuffed in a metal box in a killing that has provoked national outrage.Edwin Chiloba, a 25-year-old fashion designer and model, was found dead by the side of a road on Wednesday 25 miles (40km) outside the Rift Valley town of Eldoret in western Kenya, according to reports. Continue reading...

Emission of toxic chemicals and carcinogens from gas stoves creating indoor pollution worse than car trafficAround one in eight cases of asthma in children in the US is due to the pollution given off by cooking on gas stoves, new research has found, amid moves by Joe Biden’s administration to consider the regulation, or even banning, of gas cookers sales to Americans.Around a third of US households have gas stoves in their kitchens, with the gas industry long touting the method as the cleanest and most efficient way to cook food. Continue reading...

Kennedy School allegedly bowed to donors unhappy with organisation accusing Israel of apartheid in occupied territoriesThe dean of one the US’s leading schools of government blocked a position for the former head of Human Rights Watch (HRW) over his organisation’s criticism of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.The Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy offered Kenneth Roth a position as a senior fellow shortly after he retired as director of HRW in April after 29 years. Roth is highly regarded within the human rights community for the part his organisation played in advances such as the creation of the international criminal court and the prosecution of major human rights abusers. Continue reading...

Stonewall hails as ‘historic step’ results showing 262k people identify as gender different to sex at birthTransgender and non-binary people have been counted for the first time in the 220-year history of the census for England and Wales, which has revealed that 262,000 people identify as a gender different to their sex registered at birth.The number of people who said they were not the same gender as their birth sex amounted to 0.5% of the population that responded, lower than polling by Ipsos last summer in which 3.1% of people said they were trans, non-binary, gender queer or gender fluid, a gender or another gender that was not male or female. Continue reading...

Potential March stoppage could lead to further major disruption to hospitals and other services

Standoff between UN and Taliban may lead loss of billions in humanitarian aid for AfghanistanThe UN’s lead humanitarian coordinator has said UN-supplied aid cannot continue if the Taliban does not lift its ban on women working for humanitarian aid agencies in Afghanistan.Martin Griffiths, the head of the UN’s humanitarian programme OCHA is due to visit Kabul shortly to discuss the impasse. Continue reading...

Abnormally high temperatures caused by orientation of high and low pressure, but also point to effects of climate changeExceptionally high temperatures affected large parts of Europe last week, with longstanding records across the central and western regions broken in a number of locations. The abnormally high temperatures developed due to the orientation of high and low pressure across the continent, which helped push very mild air in from the south-west. Although the pressure pattern was not particularly unusual, the temperatures were unprecedented in many places, and scientists are certain that they would not have been achieved without the influence of human-induced climate change.Temperatures peaked at 18.9C in Warsaw, Poland, on New Year’s Day, smashing the previous record set in 1993 for the month of January by an astonishing 5C. In Bilbao, Spain, 25.1C was recorded, more than 10C above the seasonal average, which is typically around 14C. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex recounts altercation with brother, saying ‘he wanted me to hit him back, but I chose not to’Prince Harry has said he saw “the red mist” in his brother, Prince William, when his older sibling allegedly attacked him during a confrontation over the younger duke’s relationship with Meghan Markle.In a newly released clip from ITV’s forthcoming interview with Harry, the Duke of Sussex said his brother, William, was so frustrated during the 2019 incident he saw “the red mist in him”. Continue reading...

Figure of £281,272 comes as property values drop by 1.5% in December, after 2.4% decline in NovemberThe average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, according to Halifax.Property values decreased by 1.5% in December, after a 2.4% drop in November, a 0.4% decrease in October and a 0.1% dip in September. Continue reading...

David Elliott says Nationals MPs also ‘sceptical’ and warns against ‘demonising one sort of gambling’

Democrat and Republican lawmakers reportedly warned president that Aukus security pact could stress US submarine industrial base ‘to breaking point’

‘Anyone who knowingly went to aid Isis deserves the full weight of the law,’ says minister Bill Shorten

Exclusive: RSL Victoria is locked in a dispute with sub-branches refusing to sign up to plan designed to rescue state branch’s finances

One of Tokyo’s most famous buildings was dismantled in April due to asbestos fears. Now 23 of the capsules have been saved for posterityTatsuyuki Maeda had more reason than most to feel a pang of regret as he joined admirers and passing office workers to watch Nakagin Capsule Tower being dismantled.The building was not just one of Tokyo’s most famous structures; for more than a decade it had been Maeda’s occasional home – a pied-à-terre in the heart of the city he had coveted since he first set eyes on it from his nearby workplace. Continue reading...

Ovidio Guzmán’s arrest on Thursday prompted heavy fighting from cartel gunmen in the city of CuliacánMexican authorities have captured Ovidio Guzmán, a son of incarcerated drugs kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, prompting a wave of retaliatory attacks from cartel gunmen in the northern city of Culiacán.After a night of violence, gunmen exchanged fire with security forces, blocking roads with burning vehicles and shooting at army helicopters and police aeroplanes bringing reinforcements to the city. Continue reading...

Crew of Huntress was rescued after it struck an unidentified object during the race, with 40-foot vessel left to drift at sea

Officials believe Yevgeny Prigozhin – owner of the private military Wagner Group – is vying for natural resources to help fund Russia’s warA close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is interested in taking control of salt and gypsum from mines near the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, according to a White House official.Yevgeny Prigozhin is the founder of Russia’s most powerful mercenary force, the Wagner Group. Wagner has played a key role in the Russian offensive against Bakhmut. Continue reading...

Facebook defends decision to delete a small number of advertisements from the no side that independent fact-checkers deemed ‘false’

Lockdowns were good news for book trade as people read more and sought out bookshops when they reopenedThe number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland climbed to a 10-year high in 2022, as the book trade defied the odds in an otherwise brutal year for high street retailers.The lifestyle changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns were a boon for the book trade, as Britons with more time on their hands read more and sought out bookshops when they reopened. Continue reading...

Offences committed in England and Wales have included murder, kidnap, and child rape, study of data showsNearly 900,000 offences including murder, kidnap, and child rape, have been committed by people on bail in England and Wales since the Conservatives came to power, a new analysis has found.The latest government figures show more than 20,000 offences were committed by those released from custody as they awaited a hearing, equating to 55 offences a day. Continue reading...

Australian Medical Association calls for rebates to match the increased cost of living, but others say Australia must rethink healthcare as a whole

The Russian president has called for ceasefire to take place from noon 6 January to midnight 7 January for Orthodox Christmas

Joe Biden and Olaf Scholz indicate shift in position on supplying heavier weapons to Kyiv to help in war against Russia

Annalena Baerbock makes appeal as she holds talks in London with UK foreign secretary James CleverlyDisputes over implementation of the Northern Ireland protocol have become “the achilles heel” of the EU’s relations with the UK, the German foreign minister said on Thursday as she held talks with her UK counterpart in London.Annalena Baerbock’s appeal to find a solution to the deadlock over the protocol came during wide-ranging and much delayed talks with James Cleverly in London, which also covered the war in Ukraine and the state of Anglo-German relations. Continue reading...

Nicholas Rossi, 35, says he is being taunted with John Denver song over his possible extradition to the USAn alleged fugitive fighting extradition to the US is seeking to be freed on bail from a Scottish jail because fellow prisoners are taunting him by singing John Denver’s hit Leaving on a Jet Plane.Nicholas Rossi, 35, faces extradition to the US over charges of serious sexual assault in Utah, after he was arrested in an intensive care ward in Glasgow following his admission with Covid. Continue reading...

Labour will not ‘spend its way out of the mess’ but will a more pragmatic approach persuade the core support the party still stands for something?

This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereStarmer says voters looked at Labour again in 2022. And he felt, “for the first time in a while that we could return their gaze with confidence”.But Labour must not rest on its laurels. It needs to push forward, and show it can be a “bold, reforming government”, he says. Continue reading...

Kyiv says Moscow’s declaration of truce, after Russian president cited appeal from patriarch, is ‘hypocrisy’

Parole Board says Russell Causley, who killed Carole Packman in 1985 and has never revealed location of her body, poses low riskA man convicted of killing his wife, who faced the first public parole hearing in England and Wales, should be released from prison, a panel has decided.Russell Causley was freed from prison in 2020 after serving more than 23 years for the murder in 1985 of Carole Packman but was returned to jail in November 2021 after breaching his licence conditions.In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid. In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org Continue reading...