Bookmarks (27104)

A driver who transported flight crew has been diagnosed with the Delta coronavirus variant and was not vaccinatedNSW Covid hotspots and map; Victoria exposure sites; Qld hotspots listNew South Wales has recorded a third Covid case connected to the eastern suburbs cluster, as the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, told residents to be on “high alert” but did not announce any new restrictions.The latest Sydney outbreak...

The commemoration marks when news of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Texas on 19 June 1865, ending slaveryThe United States will soon have a new federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the nation.Congress has approved a bill that would make Juneteenth, or 19 June, a holiday – a bill Joe Biden is expected to sign into law. Continue reading...

Ryan Law among five directors detained under national security legislation imposed by BeijingHong Kong national security police have arrested the editor-in-chief and four other directors of the Apple Daily newspaper in early morning raids involving more than 100 officers, in the latest crackdown on the media.The police force’s national security department said the five directors had been arrested on suspicion of collusion with a...

Westminster-backed deal to legislate for Irish language protections saves Northern Ireland executive from collapseSinn Féin will nominate Michelle O’Neill as deputy first minister at Stormont after the party president, Mary Lou McDonald, said she received a commitment from the UK government to legislate for Irish language protections at Westminster.McDonald earlier said she was going to meet the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, as her...

New law says death row prisoners must choose between electric chair and firing squad if lethal drugs aren’t availableSouth Carolina’s supreme court has blocked the planned executions of two inmates by electrocution, saying they cannot be put to death until they truly have the choice of the firing squad option set out in the state’s newly revised capital punishment law.The high court on Wednesday...

Hugely prestigious event for China as Beijing prepares to mark 100th anniversary of ruling Communist partyThe first astronauts for China’s new space station have blasted off on the country’s longest crewed mission to date, a landmark step in establishing Beijing as a major space power.The trio were aboard a Long March-2F rocket for the Tiangong station, where they will spend three months. It is...

Figures from the jobs website Indeed expose the impact on employers as they struggle to recruit staffThe number of EU citizens searching for work in Britain has fallen by more than a third since Brexit, according to a study that exposes the impact on UK employers as they struggle to recruit staff.Figures from the jobs website Indeed show searches by EU-based jobseekers for work...

eBioAtlas programme aims to identify fish, birds, amphibians and land animals in freshwater systems from the Ganges to the MekongConcealed by the turbid, swirling waters of the Amazon, the Mekong and the Congo, the biodiversity of the world’s great rivers has largely remained a mystery to scientists. But now a multimillion-pound project aims to describe and identify the web of life in major freshwater...

Ministers looking at loosening travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers returning to EnglandCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBritish travellers who have had two Covid vaccines could be allowed quarantine-free entry into England under plans being considered by ministers, the Guardian understands.As the government grapples with allowing more trips abroad while trying to prevent the importation of new variants, changes are being considered...

Data shows only 127 of 323 cities had acceptable PM 2.5 levels despite drop in emissions during lockdownsCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMore than half of European cities are still plagued by dirty air, new data shows, despite a reduction in traffic emissions and other pollutants during last year’s lockdowns.Cities in eastern Europe, where coal is still a major source of energy,...

White River First Nation had sought six months in jail for Canadian millionaires Rodney and Ekaterina BakerThe millionaire Canadian couple who chartered a private plane to a remote community and jumped the coronavirus vaccine queue to receive doses intended for elderly Indigenous people have been fined C$2,300 but were not sentenced to jail after pleading guilty to breaking public health rules.The size of the...

Airbnb taskforce that ‘cleans up only after disaster strikes’ intervened after alleged attack, reports Bloomberg BusinessweekAn Australian woman who was allegedly raped at knifepoint in an Airbnb apartment in New York received a secret settlement of $7m which included restrictions on what she could say about the incident, according to a media investigation into the vacation listings giant’s “guest safety” policies .The 29-year-old was...

Joe Biden has responded to Vladimir Putin comparing his jailing of political opponents such as Alexei Navalny with the charges filed against those who carried out the Capitol Hill riots. 'I think that’s a ridiculous comparison,' Biden told reporters after meeting with the Russian president in Geneva. During his own press conference after the summit, Putin used that comparison to deflect a question about why so...

Speaking to reporters by Air Force One in Geneva, Joe Biden has expressed regret for some sharp words to a journalist who questioned him about the success of his summit with Vladimir Putin. Frustrated by a question from CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins at the end of his press conference, he told her she was 'in the wrong business'. Biden later apologised for being 'short', adding: 'To be...

After apologizing on Monday, Teigen was accused of bullying Michael Costello, who then was accused of bullying Leona Lewis. Maybe it’s time to pause the postsIn 2018, the New Republic deputy editor Katie McDonough wrote a piece for Jezebel that I spiritually consult to this day. (Full disclosure: I was a Jezebel contributor at the time.)“Why tweet when you can text?” she asked, and...

US president hails ‘good and positive’ talks but added ‘proof of the pudding is in the eating’The US will retaliate if Russia continues to carry out malicious cyber-attacks against American targets, Joe Biden said on Wednesday, after holding “good and positive” talks in Geneva with Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.Speaking after their first face-to-face summit, Biden said he had made clear the Kremlin had to...

Meeting goes as well as could be expected as Biden and Putin speak language of diplomacy – but hardly one of affectionJoe Biden and Vladimir Putin hadn’t even sat down before tensions boiled over at the 18th-century Villa La Grange, a fine Swiss manor house besieged on Wednesday by a 21st-century press pool. The two men looked cordial enough as they shook hands for...

Cool normality helped exorcise ghost of 2018’s disastrous Helsinki summit but what else was achieved?1) The weird and unpredictable Trump era is over. In 2018 Donald Trump held a disastrous summit with Putin in the Finnish capital Helsinki. The then US president said he believed Putin’s assurances that Moscow did not interfere in the 2016 US election with a joint press conference that was...

Bruno Garcia-Cruciani’s murder of Julie Douib in Corsica became a rallying call against domestic killingsA man who murdered the mother of their two children on the island of Corsica in March 2019 has been sentenced to life in prison in a case that caused an outcry over domestic killings of women in France.Julie Douib was shot dead by her former partner of 14 years,...

French will no longer have to wear masks outside and curfew to end while Spain also planning to lift ruleCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageFrance and Spain are moving to ease rules around wearing face masks outside, in a development attributed by both countries to their Covid-19 vaccination campaigns.In France, people will no longer be required to wear masks outdoors from Thursday,...

The health secretary tells the House of Commons that the spread of the variant led the government to delay step four of its roadmap for easing restrictions in England. He said it spread more easily than the Alpha variant, and that there was some evidence that the risk of hospital admission was also higherUK politics – live Continue reading...

The company has been addressing its historical racism and sexism, adding disclaimers to films and altering theme park rides. But these moves have stirred contempt as well as approvalVery little ammunition is required for a culture war these days, so long as your troops are primed to mobilise at the drop of a blog. Julie Tremaine and Katie Dowd, two writers for the online...

The meeting got off to a frosty start as Putin told Biden in front of a chaotic press pool jostling to put questions to the leaders that their two countries had 'a lot' of issues that required talks at the highest level. 'I think it's always better to meet face to face,' Biden said, adding that he hoped they could find 'predictable and rational...

The novelist describes helping two writers who went on to insult her online, and condemns era of ‘angels jostling to out-angel one another’Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has written a detailed essay about the conduct of young people on social media “who are choking on sanctimony and lacking in compassion”, who she says are part of a generation “so terrified of having the wrong opinions that...

Mining firm Debswana presents the 1,098-carat stone to the country’s president, Mokgweetsi MasisiThe diamond firm Debswana has announced the discovery in Botswana of a 1,098-carat stone that it described as the third largest of its kind in the world.The company’s acting managing director, Lynette Armstrong, presented the stone, which was found on 1 June, to the country’s president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, on Wednesday. Continue reading...

After shaking hands for the cameras, the US president, Joe Biden, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, plunged into hours of face-to-face talks on Wednesday at a lush lakeside Swiss mansion. It was a highly anticipated summit at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries Continue reading...

Group B updates from the 2pm BST kick-off in St PetersburgEuro 2020 overview: group tables, results, fixturesGet in touch! Email Daniel your thoughts or tweet @unitedrewind 2.35pm BST 34 min Excellent from Kamara, turning in centrefield and accelerating around and away from Ozdoev, who slides in to upend him in playground style. Ozdoev is booked. 2.34pm BST 32 min “Hold everything,” says Huw Thomas....

Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin will talk for four-five hours before making separate press appearancesSwiss president greeted them with wish for ‘fruitful dialogue’Talks amid tensions expected to focus on regional conflicts, climate, CovidVermont drops all Covid restrictions as first state to reach 80% vaccinationEmails reveal Trump push to overturn election defeat 2.30pm BST The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, echoed her colleague, saying...

France to also end mandatory mask wearing outside; Indian government extends gap between doses to 16 weeksNew drug cuts deaths among patients with no Covid antibodiesJapan could allow up to 10,000 spectators at Tokyo Olympic eventsUK again excluded from EU’s Covid-safe travel list, but US addedCovid outbreaks in Chinese ports could cause global goods shortagesUK coronavirus updates – live 2.23pm BST Nearly three quarters...

High court ruling leaves open possibility of criminal involvement, in victory for familyA Malaysian court has overturned the findings of an inquest into the death of the French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin, stating that the coroner was wrong to conclude she died as a result of misadventure.The high court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan instead issued an open verdict, which does not rule out the...

Almost as important as saving lives, the Covid jab has given politicos a great reason to get their kit off in publicCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageSince the miracle invention of a vaccination for Covid-19, a second discovery has been made: male politicians absolutely love taking their shirts off for a photo opportunity. In the UK, you are more likely to find...

Lord Blair of Boughton criticises independent panel judgment and calls Dick ‘finest officer of generation’The Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, has been defended by one of her predecessors after an independent inquiry censured her personally for obstruction and found Scotland Yard to be “institutionally corrupt”.Ian Blair, who served as commissioner from 2005 to 2008, criticised the findings of an independent panel inquiring into the...

Health authorities say contact tracing under way after man in his 60s, who drives international flight crews, tests positive along with household contactNSW Covid hotspots and map; Victoria exposure sites; Qld hotspots list‘Queue jumping’: under-40s receiving vaccine despite not being eligibleA man who lives in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and works as a driver for international flight crews has tested positive to Covid, as has...

Activists allege decision to grant oil exploration licences violates right to healthy environmentSix climate activists and two environmental NGOs have taken Norway to the European court of human rights (ECHR), arguing the Nordic country’s plans to drill for oil in the Arctic are harming young people’s futures.The activists, Greenpeace and Young Friends of the Earth want the court to rule that Oslo’s 2016 decision...

From an allotment shelter built out of old doors to a storage shack turned into a chapel, here are some of the best of our readers’ creationsThis is my pandemic project: a garden pub shed, called the Doghouse. It is custom-built from timber with a Firestone rubber roof. Lockdown finally gave me the time to build it and I tried to reuse or recycle...

Bavarian minister says activist could have ‘paid with life’ for stunt before Germany v France game in MunichA Greenpeace protester who parachuted into the stadium before Germany’s Euro 2020 match against France in Munich was lucky not to have been shot down by anti-terror marksmen enforcing a no-fly zone, a state minister has said.Two people were injured when the activist lost control of his...

British tourists face continued restrictions as bloc opens up to other vaccinated travellersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageBritish tourists face continued restrictions on travelling to the EU this summer even as the bloc opens up to others, including residents of the United States.Eight countries are to be added to a list of countries from where the EU says non-essential travel is safe,...

Polls predict low voter turnout over Iranian regime’s efforts to engineer resultIran’s hardline rulers are battling to ensure not only their preferred candidate, the head of the judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, wins Saturday’s presidential election, but also that the electoral system that puts him into power retains a veneer of credibility with ordinary Iranians.Polls are predicting a turnout as low as 40%, down from the...

The singer-songwriter talks about his relative William Faulkner, his violent childhood and drugs – and saves a surprise until the endIf you’re after cheery crowdpleasers, John Murry is not your man. Murry is 41, barely known, and has never come close to denting the charts. Yet he has been compared to the great existential pop poets Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen and Scott Walker. And...

Netflix’s new comfort watch about lovely penguins living in a South African town is gore free and pandemic-perfectIt’s probably for the best that the BBC didn’t put out one of its landmark nature series during lockdown. I don’t think I’d have been able to take it. In times of trouble, the last thing anyone wants to see is a gory, operatic, kill-or-be-killed reminder that...

WhatsApp message published by former aide reveals prime minister’s scathing verdict on health secretaryBoris Johnson described Matt Hancock as “totally fucking hopeless” during the early stages of the pandemic, concerned by the health secretary’s promises on testing, text messages published by Dominic Cummings have revealed.Writing on Substack, the prime minister’s former chief aide published a slew of texts and documents from emergency Cobra meetings...

Brexit minister Lord Frost asks for ‘a bit of breathing space’ to negotiate deal and head off trade warThe UK has asked the EU to suspend an imminent ban on the sale of British sausages in Northern Ireland to give both sides “breathing space” to negotiate an agreement on the Brexit protocol and avert a trade war.Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, was speaking days...

There are so many variations on South America’s favourite patties, who’s to say which is the best? But that won’t stop our resident perfectionist from giving it her best shot ...Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz claimed that one could write a small book on empanadas, empanaditas, pasteles, pastelitos, empadinhas and pastèzinhos … namely, “those delicious turnovers, patties and pies, stuffed with meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and...

Government seeks to atone for historical abuses as new policy comes after discovery of hundreds of unmarked gravesIndigenous people in Canada who were forced to use European names on official documents can now apply to restore their original names, in a new policy unveiled as the country’s government seeks to atone for historical abuses.“For far too long, Canada’s colonial legacy has disrupted Indigenous peoples’...

Armed with long experience, our writer gives the lowdown on getting there, the best equipment and picking your spot for a great night in the wildWhen I bivvy I’m not in search of sleep. I know I’ll wake up frequently, feeling restricted by my sleeping bag. Bivvying is camping at its simplest: sleeping outside without a tent and minimal gear.It isn’t about a comfortable...

As Pakistan’s supreme court backs bulldozing of homes blamed for floods, critics say government has no proper plans for residentsMaqsooda Bibi, 62, did not know the house she had lived in all her life would be demolished, forcing her whole family to become homeless. But on Monday, Pakistan’s supreme court backed the Sindh government in bulldozing her home and hundreds of others, legalising the...

From a Lagos slum, Olamide became one of Africa’s biggest music stars. A new, global deal is taking his vivid pop to the wider worldBariga, a sprawling northern suburb of Lagos, Nigeria that is home to more than 700,000 people, is infamous for its impoverished housing and gang culture – and for pushing a raw, jarring sound into the Nigerian mainstream. Olamide, long one...

Photographers Linda Bournane Engelberth and Valentina Sinis document the lives of working parents from Botswana to the UK for UnicefIf investing in family-friendly policies is good for business, then many companies are missing a trick. Giving parents and families adequate time, resources and services to care for children, while staying in their jobs and improving their skills and productivity, pays off according to employers....

Covid-19 cases have fallen far below the winter peak, but the Delta variant has roughly doubled every two weeks in the USScientists in the United States are anxiously watching the Delta variant of Covid-19, as it spreads through an unevenly vaccinated American public and an economy that is rapidly reopening.The Delta variant, first identified as B.1.617.2 in India, is believed to be more transmissible...

Racegoers have returned to Royal Ascot for the first time since the pandemic began. Punters dressed in outlandish hats, summer dresses, smart suits and masks will cheer on the jockeys over the next four days at the Berkshire race course Continue reading...