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- Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn
- US to give humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Taliban say
- ‘We have to show courage’: the Philippines mothers taking Duterte and his ‘war on drugs’ to court
- Lego to remove gender bias from its toys after findings of child survey
- US navy engineer charged with trying to sell nuclear submarine secrets
- Flooding in China forces 120,000 to flee homes amid record rainfall
- House Capitol attack panel ready to urge prosecution of Trump aides, says Schiff
- Evergrande faces fresh debt deadline as property market woes widen
- Czech president in hospital after shock election defeat for PM
- ‘We are staying!’: Poles demonstrate in support of EU membership
- Consternation in New Zealand as native bat included in bird of the year poll
- With queues at the pubs and beauty salons, Sydney reopens after more than 100 days in lockdown
- Covid live news: Wales’ NHS passes will ‘help’ venues stay open; French vaccine study shows people 90% less likely to get severely ill
- Māori party warns reopening New Zealand amid Covid outbreak would be ‘modern genocide’
- Fauci: US must not ‘prematurely declare victory’ over Covid
- ‘There was always an excuse to take a drink’: Succession’s Alan Ruck on Ferris Bueller, booze and bouncing back
- Why the American west’s ‘wildfire season’ is a thing of the past – visualized
- How to blow the whistle on Facebook – from someone who already did
- Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci review – eat, drink, swoon
- Sebastian Kurz departure is further blow to Europe’s centre-right
- Under the table: Australia’s dazzlingly diverse home cooking underground
- Prince Charles says he ‘totally understands’ frustrations of climate protesters
- Barzakh review – atmospheric study of undocumented migrants in limbo
- Trial to open in Burkina Faso over killing of revolutionary hero Thomas Sankara
- Will Nancy Pelosi retire at the end of this term – and if so, who will take her place?
- Agony of Ecuador’s brutal prison massacre endures for bereaved relatives
- Health minister says Victoria will open for summer; Everest race day doubles capacity to 10,000; NSW lockdown lifts – as it happened
- Digital gender gap ‘keeping women offline’ and costing billions, finds report
- For African nations, capital punishment is a grim colonial legacy that lingers on | Dior Konaté
- Singapore’s new ‘foreign interference’ law leaves journalists like me with an impossible puzzle | Kirsten Han
- Taiwan will not be forced to bow to China, says president – video
| Halt destruction of nature or risk ‘dead planet’, leading businesses warn Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:00 PM PDT Exclusive: executives demand meaningful action to protect ecosystems as UN biodiversity summit opens World leaders must do more to prevent the destruction of nature, business leaders have warned before a summit in China that aims to draw up a draft UN agreement for biodiversity. In an open letter, the chief executives of Unilever, H&M and nine other companies have called on governments to take meaningful action on mass extinctions of wildlife and the collapse of ecosystems or risk "a dead planet". Continue reading... |
| US to give humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Taliban say Posted: 10 Oct 2021 07:35 PM PDT US says it discussed aid in talks in Doha but Taliban say deal agreed that stops short of formal recognition of new rulers The United States has agreed to provide humanitarian aid to a desperately poor Afghanistan on the brink of an economic disaster, but refused to give political recognition to the country's new rulers, the Taliban said on Sunday. The statement came at the end of the first direct talks between the former foes since the chaotic withdrawal of US troops at the end of August. Continue reading... |
| ‘We have to show courage’: the Philippines mothers taking Duterte and his ‘war on drugs’ to court Posted: 10 Oct 2021 04:45 PM PDT Up to 30,000 are believed to have died since the president urged police to start killing drug users – now their families want justice On 11 May 2017, Crisanto Lozano set off early in the morning from his home in Manila. He was going to renew his security guard licence, a requirement for his profession. By afternoon, he still hadn't returned, nor was he picking up his phone. Then the family realised that Crisanto's younger brother, Juan Carlos, was also missing. The next day, they heard news that two bodies had been discovered nearby. The brothers had been shot dead during a police operation. Continue reading... |
| Lego to remove gender bias from its toys after findings of child survey Posted: 10 Oct 2021 04:01 PM PDT Exclusive: research reveals harmful stereotypes still hindering girls, boys and their parents Lego has announced it will work to remove gender stereotypes from its toys after a global survey the company commissioned found attitudes to play and future careers remain unequal and restrictive. Researchers found that while girls were becoming more confident and keen to engage in a wide range of activities, the same was not true of boys. Continue reading... |
| US navy engineer charged with trying to sell nuclear submarine secrets Posted: 10 Oct 2021 12:55 PM PDT Jonathan Toebbe and wife arrested in West Virginia after nuclear engineer makes 'dead drop' to undercover FBI agent A US navy nuclear engineer with access to military secrets has been charged with trying to pass information about the design of American nuclear-powered submarines to someone he thought was a representative of a foreign government – but who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent. In a criminal complaint detailing espionage-related charges, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Jonathan Toebbe sold information for nearly a year to a contact he believed represented a foreign power. That country was not named in the court documents. Continue reading... |
| Flooding in China forces 120,000 to flee homes amid record rainfall Posted: 10 Oct 2021 11:46 PM PDT Floods in Shanxi province destroy homes, force suspension of mines and wash away railway bridges More than 120,000 people have been forced to leave their homes after severe flooding in China's northern Shanxi province that has affected about 1.75 million people in total, authorities said. The floods – caused by heavy rainfall that reached levels almost four times the usual monthly average – destroyed 17,000 homes, forced the suspension of operations of hundreds of mines, and damaged 190,000 hectares of farmland. Continue reading... |
| House Capitol attack panel ready to urge prosecution of Trump aides, says Schiff Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:41 AM PDT Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino, Steve Bannon and Kash Patel all defying subpoenas under instruction from Trump The House select committee investigating the deadly assault on the US Capitol on 6 January is prepared to urge federal prosecution of former aides to Donald Trump who refuse to comply with subpoenas, a key panel member said. Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino, strategist Steve Bannon and Pentagon aide Kash Patel are defying subpoenas for documents and testimony, under instruction from the former president. Continue reading... |
| Evergrande faces fresh debt deadline as property market woes widen Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:58 PM PDT Expectations are slim that the troubled Chinese developer will make $148m worth of payments due on Monday, as it wrestles with more than $300bn in liabilities Financial markets were braced for more bad news about the shaky Chinese property market as struggling giant Evergrande looked set to miss a fresh round of debt repayments worth $148m, and another developer pleaded for more time to repay what it owes. China Evergrande Group missed two coupon payment deadlines last month worth $131m amid widespread concern of huge losses as the developer wrestles with more than $300bn in liabilities. Continue reading... |
| Czech president in hospital after shock election defeat for PM Posted: 10 Oct 2021 11:58 AM PDT Fears of a political crisis as Miloš Zeman, an ally of Andrej Babiš, is admitted to intensive care unit The Czech Republic is facing political upheaval and a possible power vacuum after its billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babiš, suffered a surprise general election defeat and then saw his most powerful backer and sole potential saviour, the country's president, Miloš Zeman, taken to hospital, apparently gravely ill. In a stunning upset that confounded pollsters' forecasts, Babiš' populist Action for Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) 2011 party finished second in this weekend's popular vote behind the centre-right Spolu (Together) alliance, which previously vowed not to form a government with him. Continue reading... |
| ‘We are staying!’: Poles demonstrate in support of EU membership Posted: 10 Oct 2021 05:39 PM PDT Up to 100,000 people gathered in Warsaw alone after a Polish court ruling that raised fears of a Brexit situation More than 100,000 Poles demonstrated on Sunday in support of European Union membership after a Polish court ruled that parts of EU law were incompatible with the constitution, raising fears of a "Polexit". Politicians across Europe voiced dismay at the ruling by Poland's constitutional tribunal on Thursday, which has thrown relations between Brussels and Warsaw into a crisis. Continue reading... |
| Consternation in New Zealand as native bat included in bird of the year poll Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:06 PM PDT Winged mammal is the first non-bird to be included in the beloved annual poll, which has been running for 16 years New Zealand's bird of the year competition has been hit with a flurry of controversy, after a species of native bat was granted entry into the polls. Candidates for the beloved annual election released today included shock newcomer the long-tailed bat, or pekapeka-tou-roa. It is the first time a New Zealand native land mammal has been included in the competition, which has been running for 16 years. Continue reading... |
| With queues at the pubs and beauty salons, Sydney reopens after more than 100 days in lockdown Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:46 PM PDT Thousands defied grey skies to flock to newly-reopened cafes, barbers and gyms to kick off what some have described as 'freedom day'
There were long queues outside pubs, hairdressers and beauty salons as Australia's most populous city reopened on Monday, as part of Sydney's first steps towards living with Covid-19 after more than 100 days of lockdown. About 5 million Sydneysiders awoke to new freedoms on Monday morning after enduring 106 days of strict stay-at-home orders in a bid to battle the highly contagious Delta strain. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 11 Oct 2021 01:31 AM PDT NHS passes for Welsh nightclubs and large events in effect from today; French study said to be largest of its kind
You can excuse my colleagues down under from being a little bit excited about lockdown in Sydney and the rest of New South Wales ending after more than 100 days. Here's a photo gallery – not of them – but of other Sydney residents enjoying the day. First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford has been on the media round this morning talking about the NHS Covid pass system for events which comes into effect in the country today. Continue reading... |
| Māori party warns reopening New Zealand amid Covid outbreak would be ‘modern genocide’ Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:58 PM PDT Party say Maori would be 'sacrificial lambs' if Covid restrictions are lifted before vaccination rates rise New Zealand's government would be committing "modern genocide" by reopening the country as Covid spreads among under-vaccinated indigenous people, the Māori party has said. The comments come as the country is struggling to contain its current Delta outbreak, with 95 cases reported over the weekend, and another 35 on Monday. Most current cases and hospitalisations are among Māori and Pacific New Zealanders, despite the fact those groups make up less than 30% of the total population. New Zealand is also in the process of pivoting away from its longstanding elimination strategy. Continue reading... |
| Fauci: US must not ‘prematurely declare victory’ over Covid Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:53 AM PDT White House medical adviser tells CNN vaccinated Americans will be able to get out and enjoy Halloween Americans should celebrate good news about declining Covid cases as the holiday season approaches but should not "prematurely declare victory" over the coronavirus, Dr Anthony Fauci said on Sunday. The right approach to increasing vaccinations and observing public health precautions would contribute to a happy Halloween for children, the chief White House medical adviser said, pointing to imminent federal consideration of data which will lead to a decision on whether children aged five to 12 are eligible for a shot. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:00 PM PDT After a decades-long slump, the actor's career came roaring back with the role of Connor Roy. He talks about his 80s success, his 'attitude problems' and his excitement about Succession's new series Alan Ruck is talking to me by video about the present, but he appears to be sitting in the past. The present we are discussing is the forthcoming third season of Succession, the wildly adored HBO series about plutocracies and dysfunctional families, created by Jesse Armstrong, a co-creator of Peep Show. Ruck plays Connor, the neglected eldest son of a media magnate, Logan Roy (Brian Cox). Like all the actors on the show – as the Guardian's unofficial Succession correspondent, I have interviewed Cox and Jeremy Strong – Ruck has thought deeply about his character and is very eloquent on the subject. It is, however, a little hard to focus on what he's saying because the bright and spacious kitchen in which he's sitting bears a striking resemblance to another kitchen audiences associate with him. More than 30 years before Ruck played Connor, he was Cameron Frye, another neglected son of a cruel and wealthy man, in the 1986 John Hughes classic film Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Alan, I say, are you actually sitting in Ferris Bueller's kitchen? "Ha! No, I see what you mean, but this is my lovely kitchen. And upstairs are my lovely children," he says in his occasionally ironic, lightly mocking tone, although that mockery is always directed inwardly rather than outwardly. At one point, he makes a fleeting reference to "a western I was once in", and I interrupt him to say he cannot casually refer to the great 1990 movie Young Guns II as just some western. Continue reading... |
| Why the American west’s ‘wildfire season’ is a thing of the past – visualized Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:00 PM PDT It used to be a four-month period. Now fires are starting earlier and burning more intensely amid extreme conditions It's only October, and 2021 has already been a horrendous year for wildfires in the American west. The Dixie fire leveled the town of Greenville. The Caldor fire forced the evacuation of tens of thousands in Lake Tahoe. Some fires sent plumes so high into the atmosphere that the toxic air reached the east coast thousands of miles away. Fire is an important part of life in the American west and essential for the health of the landscape, but as the climate has changed so have wildfires in the region. |
| How to blow the whistle on Facebook – from someone who already did Posted: 10 Oct 2021 10:00 PM PDT This April, Sophie Zhang told the world about her employer's failure to combat deception and abuse. Her advice? No screenshots, lawyer up – and trust yourself Two years ago, I did something I almost never do: I put on a dress. Then I dropped my phone and other electronics off at the home of friends who had agreed to tell anyone who asked that I was at their place the entire time, and headed to the Oakland offices of the Guardian for my first meeting with a reporter. Leaving my electronics was a safeguard against possible tracking by my then employer, Facebook. The dress was an additional layer of alibi: I theorized that if anyone from work saw me and could contradict my first alibi, they might conclude that my unusual behavior was evidence of nothing more than an affair. Continue reading... |
| Taste: My Life Through Food by Stanley Tucci review – eat, drink, swoon Posted: 10 Oct 2021 11:00 PM PDT With a side order of charm and anecdotes, the actor and gourmand makes our reviewer crave a plate of his zeppole Zeppole are deep-fried balls of a dough made with flour and, sometimes, mashed potatoes. The sweet version, dusted with sugar, are often filled with pastry cream, like the more famous cannoli. The savoury version, favoured in Calabria, in southern Italy, may contain anchovies, and go down very well indeed with a martini, or a glass of something cold, fizzy and unforgivably expensive. I sound authoritative, but to be truthful I hadn't heard of these parcels of deliciousness – bring me a crate of them and I'll show you what a good appetite looks like – until the other day. There I was, innocently reading Taste: My Life Through Food, a memoir by the notable actor and gourmand Stanley Tucci, when the word zeppole (doesn't it sound elegante?) roared, metaphorically speaking, right up to me on a mint-coloured Vespa, wearing a black polo neck and flashy sunglasses. Hello, I thought, closing my eyes in anticipation of an afternoon reverie. Not too long after this, I began frantically searching for recipes for zeppole on Google. Continue reading... |
| Sebastian Kurz departure is further blow to Europe’s centre-right Posted: 10 Oct 2021 07:53 AM PDT Resignation of Austrian chancellor follows Germany's CDU crashing to its worst federal election result Europe's ailing centre-right is mourning the departure of a second high-profile conservative leader in the space of a month, as Austria's chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, announced he would resign over allegations he encouraged the use of public funds to buy himself positive media coverage. The fall from grace of the 35-year-old leader of the Austrian People's party (ÖVP) comes just weeks after its German sister party failed to fill the space left by the outgoing chancellor, Angela Merkel, and crashed to the worst result in its history at federal elections. Continue reading... |
| Under the table: Australia’s dazzlingly diverse home cooking underground Posted: 10 Oct 2021 09:30 AM PDT Social media and online marketplaces have facilitated a boom in Australian home cooking businesses – but many operate without regulation During the Sydney lockdown I ordered from a different home cook every Friday night, for me and my neighbours. I discovered each cook from community groups or social media pages for migrant communities in Sydney – east African, Thai, English. Sometimes the home cooks had a professional social media presence, a delivery provider, or even a website to order from; but often my lead was just a person's name – I'd then have to find and befriend them on Facebook before asking about a food delivery for the following Friday. Some had menus, others just asked "what do you want?" and let me pick from the full range of their specialty cuisine. Continue reading... |
| Prince Charles says he ‘totally understands’ frustrations of climate protesters Posted: 11 Oct 2021 01:05 AM PDT Royal calls on groups like Extinction Rebellion to use 'more constructive' methods amid 'catastophic' impact of climate crisis The Prince of Wales has said he understands why campaigners from organisations such as Extinction Rebellion take to the streets to demand action on the climate crisis but has called for "more constructive rather than destructive" methods. In an interview with the BBC, Prince Charles said actions such as blocking roads, used in recent weeks by the Extinction Rebellion splinter group Insulate Britain, "isn't helpful" but he said he understood the "frustration" they felt. Continue reading... |
| Barzakh review – atmospheric study of undocumented migrants in limbo Posted: 11 Oct 2021 01:00 AM PDT In the Spanish enclave of Melilla, young Nepalis share stories of survival while they await the next chapter of their lives Opening with a solemn quote from the Qur'an defining "Barzakh" – a liminal space between the dead and the afterlife – Alejandro G Salgado's sombre documentary evokes the same atmosphere of indeterminacy, creating both a geographical and emotional state of perpetual longing. Shot entirely at night on the coastline of Melilla, which turns otherworldly once darkness falls, the film observes, often from a distance, young and undocumented Nepali boys who are waiting and hoping to cross to Europe. Hiding among the cavernous hollows of the rocky cliffs of this tiny Spanish enclave, these boys are wrapped in shadows. Besides hiding their identities, the nocturnal cinematography also points up the stark outlines of their makeshift shelters, which seem to swallow their small figures whole. The boys sing traditional devotional songs together: the gentle yearning sharply contrasts with the cacophony of the ocean waves, suggesting the arduous journeys on which they will soon embark. Continue reading... |
| Trial to open in Burkina Faso over killing of revolutionary hero Thomas Sankara Posted: 11 Oct 2021 12:23 AM PDT Fourteen men, including an ex-president, on trial 34 years after assassination of icon of pan-Africanism The trial of 14 men, including a former president, is poised to begin in Burkina Faso over the assassination of the country's revered revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara 34 years ago. The killing of Sankara, an icon of pan-Africanism, has cast a shadow over Sahel state, fuelling its reputation for turbulence and bloodshed. Continue reading... |
| Will Nancy Pelosi retire at the end of this term – and if so, who will take her place? Posted: 11 Oct 2021 12:30 AM PDT Some observers believe passage of the reconciliation bill would be a fitting coda to her decades-long political career Amid Democrats' contentious negotiations over the bipartisan infrastructure bill and the reconciliation package, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was able to distract Capitol Hill reporters for a few minutes with her use of a certain "C" word. "I just told members of my leadership that the reconciliation bill was a culmination of my service in Congress because it was about the children," the Democratic speaker said at a press conference late last month. Continue reading... |
| Agony of Ecuador’s brutal prison massacre endures for bereaved relatives Posted: 10 Oct 2021 03:00 AM PDT At least 119 inmates died in a Guayaquil jail after local gangs' links with Mexican cartels brought a new level of horror It was in mid-morning when María Elena Villacís got a WhatsApp message from her brother Darwín, who was jailed in the Litoral penitentiary, a notorious prison in the coastal Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. "They're starting a war in [Wing] 5," it read. "Call the law, tell them to get into [Wing] 5." Continue reading... |
| Posted: 11 Oct 2021 12:44 AM PDT Victoria will be open for summer, health minister says, as state records 1,612 new local Covid-19 cases and eight deaths; Andrews government minister Luke Donnellan quits cabinet after appearing before Ibac. This blog is now closed
Not an ideal situation: Afghans who have applied for Australian humanitarian visas say they are living in fear as the Taliban are "hunting us down like animals". Continue reading... |
| Digital gender gap ‘keeping women offline’ and costing billions, finds report Posted: 10 Oct 2021 11:01 PM PDT Men 50% more likely to be online than women in least developed countries, hampering economies and fuelling gender inequality A failure to ensure women have equal access to the internet has cost low-income countries $1tn (£730bn) over the past decade and could mean an additional loss of $500bn by 2025 if governments don't take action, according to new research. Last year, governments in 32 countries, including India, Egypt and Nigeria, lost an estimated $126bn in gross domestic product because women were unable to contribute to the digital economy. Continue reading... |
| For African nations, capital punishment is a grim colonial legacy that lingers on | Dior Konaté Posted: 10 Oct 2021 03:00 AM PDT On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the tide is turning in west Africa against this tool of colonial repression and racism In July, Sierra Leone became the 23rd African country to abolish the death penalty. Although its use across the continent has dwindled – thanks to concerted efforts from human rights organisations and governments – the death penalty remains on many more countries' statute books due to its strong colonial legacy. During the colonial period, punishments that were being abandoned in Europe found fertile ground in Africa. Among them was the death penalty, which was deployed as a key element in the mechanism of colonial repression. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 10 Oct 2021 05:58 PM PDT The Singapore government is now free to act on suspicions of foreign influence, and their targets will struggle to clear their names Singapore's parliament has passed a controversial anti-foreign interference bill, just three weeks after its first reading on 13 September. It was only to be expected that the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Bill, or Fica, would pass – the ruling People's Action Party has had a supermajority in parliament for decades, allowing them to push whatever legislation they want through the House. But the concerns that activists, journalists, academics and legal practitioners had before the bill's passage persist. Kirsten Han is a freelance journalist who runs the newsletter We, The Citizens, covering Singapore from a rights-based perspective. Continue reading... |
| Taiwan will not be forced to bow to China, says president – video Posted: 10 Oct 2021 04:56 AM PDT Taiwan will keep bolstering its defences to ensure nobody can force the island to accept the path China has laid down that offers neither freedom nor democracy, President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday, in a strong riposte to Beijing. Claimed by China as its own territory, Taiwan has come under growing military and political pressure to accept Beijing's rule, including repeated Chinese air force missions in Taiwan's air defence identification zone, prompting international concern Continue reading... |
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