https://www.theguardian.com/au Latest news, sport, comment, analysis and reviews from Guardian Australia en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2019 Sat, 16 Nov 2019 10:00:21 GMT 2019-11-16T10:00:21Z en-gb Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2019 https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png https://www.theguardian.com https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/australian-bushfires-firefighters-struggle-to-contain-hawkesbury-blaze-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-in-wa <p>Severe isolated thunderstorms forecast in Queensland, which could create dry lightning strikes that start more fires<br>• <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/australian-bushfires-firefighters-struggle-to-contain-hawkesbury-blaze-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-in-wa">Man accused of deliberately lighting out-of-control NSW fire to protect cannabis crop</a></p><p>Forty-degree heat and catastrophic conditions in Western Australia and lightning strikes in Queensland could intensify fires over the weekend as Australia enters its second week of sustained bushfires.</p><p>On Saturday, conditions in New South Wales had eased slightly but firefighters said the more than 100,000 hectare Gospers Mountain blaze in the Hawkesbury was unlikely to be contained before weather conditions worsen.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/australian-bushfires-firefighters-struggle-to-contain-hawkesbury-blaze-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-in-wa">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires Australia news Natural disasters and extreme weather Australia weather Sat, 16 Nov 2019 00:55:04 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/australian-bushfires-firefighters-struggle-to-contain-hawkesbury-blaze-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-in-wa Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images Naaman Zhou 2019-11-16T00:55:04Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/john-setka-tells-anthony-albanese-to-grow-some-balls-after-victorian-labor-no-show <p>Labor leader denied non-attendance at Victoria’s Labor party conference sparked by threats of a union walkout</p><p>Controversial union boss John Setka has told the federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, to “grow some balls”, amid the latter’s no-show at Victoria’s Labor party conference.</p><p>Hours later, some delegates, including from the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, walked out on Albanese’s deputy, Richard Marles, as he prepared to address the event.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/john-setka-tells-anthony-albanese-to-grow-some-balls-after-victorian-labor-no-show">Continue reading...</a> Labor party Australia news Australian politics Victoria Sat, 16 Nov 2019 05:42:59 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/john-setka-tells-anthony-albanese-to-grow-some-balls-after-victorian-labor-no-show Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP Photograph: Kelly Barnes/AAP Australian Associated Press 2019-11-16T05:42:59Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2019/nov/16/sportwatch-a-league-wbbl-and-more-live <ul><li>Updates from around sporting fields in Australia</li><li>Any thoughts? <a href="mailto:megan.maurice.casual@theguardian.com">Email</a> or tweet <a href="https://twitter.com/meganmaurice">@meganmaurice</a><br></li></ul><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2019-11-16T09:49:47.888Z">9.49am <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><strong>A-League: </strong>We’re back on in the football and it’s still 1-0 to Newcastle. I realised I’ve been saying the game is happening in Melbourne, but it’s actually Geelong. Same thing, right Victorians? Anyway, since we haven’t had any more scoring action, let’s re-live Thurgate’s first half goal shall we?</p><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A defence-splitting pass and a composed finish! Dimi Petratos plays the ball and Angus Thurgate finishes it off for our opening goal <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WUNvNEW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WUNvNEW</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALeague?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALeague</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MadeOfNewcastle?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MadeOfNewcastle</a> <a href="https://t.co/qTpXERKBlG">pic.twitter.com/qTpXERKBlG</a></p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2019-11-16T09:47:10.295Z">9.47am <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><strong>Rugby league: </strong>A clean sweep for Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby tonight, after their women had their first ever Test win, beating England 20-16, the men backed up with a big win over Great Britain, taking the game 28-10. It completed a miserable tour for GB, who finished with no wins from four games.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2019/nov/16/sportwatch-a-league-wbbl-and-more-live">Continue reading...</a> Australia sport Sport Women's Big Bash League A-League Sat, 16 Nov 2019 09:49:47 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2019/nov/16/sportwatch-a-league-wbbl-and-more-live Photograph: Tony Feder/Getty Images Photograph: Tony Feder/Getty Images Megan Maurice 2019-11-16T09:49:47Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-your-government-sells-out-the-climate-for-votes <p>The real reason the Coalition doesn’t want to talk about the climate is that its record is one of unmitigated shame and failure </p><p>In a dispiriting political week like the one we’ve just had, it helps to keep things simple. Let’s begin with the organising idea of the week, where <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/11/dear-michael-mccormack-the-only-raving-lunatics-are-those-not-worrying-about-climate-change">various politicians asserted</a>, both in measured ways and unhinged ways, that it was inappropriate to talk about climate change while bushfires ravaged the country.</p><p>Let’s be clear about what this line of argument is.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-your-government-sells-out-the-climate-for-votes">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Climate change Bushfires Michael McCormack Scott Morrison Australia news Environment Australian Greens Coalition National party Natural disasters and extreme weather Wildfires Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/this-is-what-it-looks-like-when-your-government-sells-out-the-climate-for-votes Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images Katharine Murphy Political editor 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/16/prince-andrew-believed-staying-with-jeffrey-epstein-right-thing-to-do <p>Royal says in BBC interview that in hindsight staying with sex offender was wrong</p><p>Prince Andrew has said he regrets staying with the convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein but believed it was the “honourable” thing to do at the time.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/prince-andrew-on-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-i-let-royals-down">Prince Andrew on friendship with Jeffrey Epstein: I let royals down</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/16/prince-andrew-believed-staying-with-jeffrey-epstein-right-thing-to-do">Continue reading...</a> Prince Andrew UK news Jeffrey Epstein US news World news Monarchy Emily Maitlis BBC Newsnight Sat, 16 Nov 2019 09:10:55 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/16/prince-andrew-believed-staying-with-jeffrey-epstein-right-thing-to-do Photograph: Sang Tan/AP Photograph: Sang Tan/AP Aamna Mohdin 2019-11-16T09:10:55Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/man-accused-of-deliberately-lighting-out-of-control-fire-to-protect-cannabis-crop <p>Police allege man attempted to backburn to protect crop and hoped to benefit from government payments after blaze<br>• <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/australian-bushfires-firefighters-struggle-to-contain-hawkesbury-blaze-as-catastrophic-conditions-forecast-in-wa">Australian bushfires: firefighters struggle to contain Hawkesbury blaze as catastrophic conditions forecast in WA</a></p><p>A 51-year-old man has been charged with lighting an out-of-control fire in the New South Wales northern tablelands in order to protect a cannabis crop.</p><p>The fast-moving blaze at Guyra Road in Ebor, north-east of Armidale, was burning across more than 2,000ha on Friday afternoon as it spread towards the Ebor township.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/man-accused-of-deliberately-lighting-out-of-control-fire-to-protect-cannabis-crop">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires Australia news Wildfires Natural disasters and extreme weather Sat, 16 Nov 2019 03:59:23 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/man-accused-of-deliberately-lighting-out-of-control-fire-to-protect-cannabis-crop Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images Photograph: Brett Hemmings/Getty Images Australian Associated Press 2019-11-16T03:59:23Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/nov/16/general-election-labour-meet-decide-manifesto-clause-v-live-news <p>Live coverage of the day on the campaign trail, including Labour meeting to decide its manifesto</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/info/2019/nov/12/sign-up-for-andrew-sparrows-election-briefing">Sign up for Andrew Sparrow’s weekday election briefing email</a></li></ul><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2019-11-16T09:23:43.811Z">9.23am <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Good morning, I’m Aamna Mohdin and welcome to the politics live blog. We’re liveblogging every weekend as well as weekdays during the election. Lucky you!</p><p>All eyes will be on Labour’s manifesto, which Jeremy Corbyn vowed would “knock your socks off”. The manifesto will be finalised in today’s clause V meeting and immigration has re-emerged as a key battleground.</p><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big up <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jeremycorbyn</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/nov/16/general-election-labour-meet-decide-manifesto-clause-v-live-news">Continue reading...</a> General election 2019 Politics UK news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 09:47:46 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2019/nov/16/general-election-labour-meet-decide-manifesto-clause-v-live-news Photograph: Andrew Yates/Reuters Photograph: Andrew Yates/Reuters Aamna Mohdin 2019-11-16T09:47:46Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-military-pardons-afghanistan <p>President intervenes in military justice cases of service members accused of killings in Afghanistan</p><p>Donald Trump has pardoned a former US army commando set to stand trial next year in the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker and a former army lieutenant who had been convicted of murder after he ordered his men to fire upon three Afghans, killing two, the White House announced late Friday.</p><p>The commander in chief also ordered a promotion for a decorated Navy Seal convicted of posing with a dead Islamic State captive in Iraq.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-military-pardons-afghanistan">Continue reading...</a> US military Donald Trump US news US politics Sat, 16 Nov 2019 02:34:36 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-military-pardons-afghanistan Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Associated Press 2019-11-16T02:34:36Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/turkey-pressures-australia-to-accept-islamic-state-fighters-as-repatriation-push-begins <p>US reportedly offering to rescue Australian families of Isis fighters trapped in Syria</p><p>Australia may be forced to accept three Islamic State fighters in Turkish custody as Ankara begins repatriating foreign fighters to their homelands.</p><p>Turkey has so far sent up to 10 fighters back to Britain, the US and Germany, saying it cannot continue to house them, even as the governments have rejected taking their fighters back and have cancelled passports.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/turkey-pressures-australia-to-accept-islamic-state-fighters-as-repatriation-push-begins">Continue reading...</a> Islamic State Australia news Turkey Australian politics Sat, 16 Nov 2019 03:43:19 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/turkey-pressures-australia-to-accept-islamic-state-fighters-as-repatriation-push-begins Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP Photograph: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP Australian Associated Press 2019-11-16T03:43:19Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-impeachment-inquiry-marie-yovanovitch <p>Marie Yovanovitch, the third witness in public impeachment hearings, testified while president tweeted against her</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/nov/15/trump-news-today-live-impeachment-hearings-ukraine-democrats-marie-yovanovitch-latest-updates">Follow the latest impeachment hearing updates live</a></li></ul><p>An American ambassador recalled by Donald Trump from Ukraine has told impeachment investigators she felt “shocked and devastated” by Trump’s personal attacks on her, and that she was “amazed” corrupt elements in Ukraine had found willing American partners to take her down.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2019/nov/15/trump-news-today-live-impeachment-hearings-ukraine-democrats-marie-yovanovitch-latest-updates">Democrats to consider Trump Twitter smear in articles of impeachment – live</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-impeachment-inquiry-marie-yovanovitch">Continue reading...</a> Trump impeachment inquiry Donald Trump US news World news US foreign policy Ukraine US Congress Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:18:38 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-impeachment-inquiry-marie-yovanovitch Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP Tom McCarthy in New York and David Smith in Washington 2019-11-15T17:18:38Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/sri-lanka-presidential-election-gunmen-fire-on-buses-carrying-muslim-voters <p>Police say convoy of more than 100 vehicles was shot at but no reports of casualties</p><p>Buses transporting Muslims to cast their ballots in Sri Lanka’s presidential election have been attacked by gunfire, fuelling fears that minorities are being targeted to stop them voting.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/muslims-fear-rajapaksa-win-in-sri-lanka-election">'There will be no hope': Muslims fear Rajapaksa win in Sri Lanka election</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/sri-lanka-presidential-election-gunmen-fire-on-buses-carrying-muslim-voters">Continue reading...</a> Sri Lanka South and Central Asia World news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:12:11 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/sri-lanka-presidential-election-gunmen-fire-on-buses-carrying-muslim-voters Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP via Getty Images Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Colombo 2019-11-16T06:12:11Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/16/i-am-free-behrouz-boochanis-long-flight-to-freedom-video <p>Behrouz Boochani, the Kurdish Iranian refugee and journalist who became the voice of those incarcerated by Australia on Manus Island, has landed in New Zealand. Over months, an international effort helped to coordinate his long flight to freedom. ‘Now I am free,’ Boochani tells Guardian Australia reporter Ben Doherty. ‘When I arrived in Auckland it was very strange because for the first time I looked at Manus in a different way. I was thinking about surviving, how I survive. And I was happy that finally I survived.’<br>• <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/behrouz-boochani-manus-says-simply-i-did-my-best">Behrouz Boochani, brutalised but not beaten by Manus, says simply: ‘I did my best’</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/16/i-am-free-behrouz-boochanis-long-flight-to-freedom-video">Continue reading...</a> Manus Island Refugees Australia news Australian immigration and asylum Fri, 15 Nov 2019 23:46:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/16/i-am-free-behrouz-boochanis-long-flight-to-freedom-video Photograph: The Guardian Photograph: The Guardian David Fanner 2019-11-15T23:46:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/from-freefall-to-boom-what-the-hell-is-happening-to-australias-housing-market <p>Although prices in Sydney and Melbourne are on the rise, there are ‘serious questions’ about whether they can be sustained</p><p> After two years on the backburner, rising property prices are once again becoming the subject of debate around the suburban barbecue. A well-respected annual outlook predicted this week that the cost of houses could rise by more than 15% in Sydney and Melbourne next year. It is a conclusion matched by other surveys and forecasters. But do they give the whole picture? Are we really heading back into boom territory and, if so, what is causing it?</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/from-freefall-to-boom-what-the-hell-is-happening-to-australias-housing-market">Continue reading...</a> Housing Real estate Sydney Australia news Melbourne Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/from-freefall-to-boom-what-the-hell-is-happening-to-australias-housing-market Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP Martin Farrer 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/nov/16/naomi-campbell-friends-enemies-tabloids-fashions-new-world-order <p>The supermodel opens up about friends, enemies, taking on the tabloids – and fashion’s new world order</p><p>It’s no secret that Naomi Campbell doesn’t like interviews. After 33 years in the business, and a string of tabloid-baiting moments, the model has acquired a reputation for being surly, formidable, downright difficult. Our original meeting is cancelled an hour or so before we are due to meet – Campbell cites “terrific illness” – but a promise is made to reschedule, with the possibility that she might be free over the weekend. Or that we might end up speaking by phone. But then the text arrives: we are on, for Sunday at 4pm. Give or take an hour, Campbell keeps to her word. Her publicist and I chat in the lobby of The Dorchester hotel in London, while I mentally prepare for the full force of her legendary froideur.</p><p>It is almost alarming, then, to find Campbell making jokes in a suite at the hotel, where she is alone, resting an injured leg on the sofa, smoking a cigarette, full of pussycat charm. At 49, she still looks otherworldly: a body, as Bono once put it, handmade by God, and skin so glowing it looks airbrushed. The era-defining cheekbones are framed by a sweep of immaculate hair; in the golden-hour light she looks luminous, dressed in a green chiffon Sacai jumpsuit and tractor sole Chelsea boots. She shows her publicist and me her leg: her knee is swollen like a melon, the result of tumbling on the stairs at an art party earlier in the week. She is worried that she won’t be able to fly if it doesn’t heal soon. “Clots are no joke,” she says. “[Doctors] stopped me from flying for six weeks two years ago. I do not want that again.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/nov/16/naomi-campbell-friends-enemies-tabloids-fashions-new-world-order">Continue reading...</a> Naomi Campbell Fashion Race Nelson Mandela Models Life and style Sat, 16 Nov 2019 09:00:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/nov/16/naomi-campbell-friends-enemies-tabloids-fashions-new-world-order Photograph: Campbell Addy/The Guardian Photograph: Campbell Addy/The Guardian Nosheen Iqbal 2019-11-16T09:00:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/wrong-turn-why-australias-vehicle-emissions-are-rising <p>Transport emissions should be falling with better technology, but policy inertia has left Australian motorists – and the environment – worse off</p><p>“An electric ute would be great,” Rhys Jones says from the driver’s seat of his ute while waiting out the front of the work site.</p><p>“I don’t know how much it would cost in terms of set up and all that, but I’ve been on jobs where I’ve seen electric cars. They sneak up on ya. There’s no motor in them, so the engines run silent.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/wrong-turn-why-australias-vehicle-emissions-are-rising">Continue reading...</a> Environment Energy Australia news Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars Greenhouse gas emissions Climate change Automotive industry Road transport Motoring Technology Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:17 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/wrong-turn-why-australias-vehicle-emissions-are-rising Photograph: Kelly Barnes Photograph: Kelly Barnes Royce Kurmelovs 2019-11-15T19:00:17Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/george-takei-dream-dinner-party-star-trek-colleagues-except-one <p>The actor on his wartime internment, the struggle for a same-sex marriage, and how his pecs lost the battle with gravity</p><p>Born in California to Japanese-American parents, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/george-takei" title="">George Takei</a>, 82, spent his childhood in US internment camps. From 1966 he played Sulu in the Star Trek television series and films. In 2015 he told the story of his family’s wartime incarceration in the <a href="http://allegiancemusical.com/#eGlM8M6Q76e6gwCv.97" title="">Broadway musical Allegiance</a>, and this year he published the graphic memoir They Called Us Enemy. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband.</p><p><strong>When were you happiest?</strong><br>When Brad and I got married. We had to struggle for it. It involved a nationwide speaking tour, lobbying Congress and campaigning intensely. We were the first couple to get our marriage licence in West Hollywood.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/george-takei-dream-dinner-party-star-trek-colleagues-except-one">Continue reading...</a> Life and style Star Trek Equal marriage Sat, 16 Nov 2019 09:30:33 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/george-takei-dream-dinner-party-star-trek-colleagues-except-one Photograph: Jesse Dittmar/Redux Photograph: Jesse Dittmar/Redux Rosanna Greenstreet 2019-11-16T09:30:33Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/rightwing-identity-politics-ignores-the-fact-the-working-class-is-not-just-white-men <p>It’s obvious many of the most vulnerable workers in Australia belong to minority groups</p><p>In the wake of Labor’s election defeat, strategists and commentators have called on the party to abandon “identity politics”.</p><p>Paradoxically, many of them simultaneously demand more identity politics, though perhaps without realising it.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/rightwing-identity-politics-ignores-the-fact-the-working-class-is-not-just-white-men">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Australia news Class issues Identity politics Inequality Labor party Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/rightwing-identity-politics-ignores-the-fact-the-working-class-is-not-just-white-men Photograph: David Gray/Getty Images Photograph: David Gray/Getty Images Jeff Sparrow 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/blind-date-claire-luke <p>Claire, 22, master’s student, meets Luke, 22, marketing executive <br></p><p><strong>What were you hoping for?</strong><br>Someone fun, friendly and easy to talk to. I try not to have high expectations to avoid being disappointed.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/blind-date-claire-luke">Continue reading...</a> Dating Relationships Life and style Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:30 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/blind-date-claire-luke Photograph: Alicia Canter; Silvana Trevale/The Guardian Photograph: Alicia Canter; Silvana Trevale/The Guardian Guardian Staff 2019-11-16T06:00:30Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/like-a-giant-ball-of-fire-the-biggest-flames-i-have-ever-seen <p>Fire crews and townspeople on the mid-north coast of NSW are reeling with exhaustion, heartache and fear </p><p>At a Rural Fire Service base in the village of Marlee on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/new-south-wales">New South Wales</a> mid-north coast this week, a young firefighter named Kieron Gatehouse tried to describe what it looks like when a mountain catches fire.</p><p>“Tuesday night was the craziest shit I have ever seen,” he tells Guardian Australia.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/like-a-giant-ball-of-fire-the-biggest-flames-i-have-ever-seen">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires New South Wales Environment Australia news Natural disasters and extreme weather Queensland Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/like-a-giant-ball-of-fire-the-biggest-flames-i-have-ever-seen Photograph: Cam Neville/The Guardian Photograph: Cam Neville/The Guardian Michael McGowan in Taree, pictures by Jessica Hromas 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/rafael-nadal-stefanos-tsitsipas-epic-struggle • Alexander Zverev beats Daniil Medvedev to eliminate Nadal<br />• Zverev meets Thiem while Tsitsipas plays Federer in semi-finals<p>Romance does not always collide elegantly with history and Rafael Nadal, who has rarely thrived on the southern reaches of the Thames, is unlikely again to come closer to winning the ATP Tour Finals trophy than he did on Friday.</p><p>When all around Nadal was chaos and all in front of him lay grand possibilities, the numbers did not fall his way. He is 33. He does not like playing indoors on hardcourt. But he has done pretty well.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/rafael-nadal-stefanos-tsitsipas-epic-struggle">Continue reading...</a> ATP World Tour Finals Rafael Nadal Tennis Sport Fri, 15 Nov 2019 18:11:06 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/rafael-nadal-stefanos-tsitsipas-epic-struggle Photograph: Ella Ling/BPI/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: Ella Ling/BPI/REX/Shutterstock Kevin Mitchell at the O 2 Arena 2019-11-15T18:11:06Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/16/translation-problems-mar-sun-yangs-hearing-at-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport <ul><li>Judge apologises for poor quality of translation at the hearing</li><li>Sun maintains anti-doping officials lacked correct identification</li></ul><p>One of China’s biggest Olympic stars fought on Friday for his right to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Games during a rare public hearing that turned combative at times.</p><p>Champion swimmer Sun Yang defended his refusal to complete a doping test last year during a 10-hour session marred at times by translation problems. Sun maintained that inspectors drawing blood and urine samples failed to have proper identification papers.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/16/translation-problems-mar-sun-yangs-hearing-at-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport">Continue reading...</a> Swimming Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 Olympic Games Sport Rio 2016 Australia sport Sat, 16 Nov 2019 03:41:48 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/16/translation-problems-mar-sun-yangs-hearing-at-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photograph: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Associated Press 2019-11-16T03:41:48Z https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/15/socceroos-sit-pretty-in-world-cup-qualifying-but-tougher-tests-lie-ahead <p>An excellent first half showing in Jordan gave way to a poorer second but Graham Arnold’s side still came away with all three points</p><p>For bleary-eyed Socceroos fans braving an inhospitable midmorning kick-off it was perhaps a tale of smug self-satisfaction, followed by increasingly bewildered self-accusation.</p><p>In what was billed as Australia’s toughest assignment of AFC second round qualifying, given <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/14/socceroos-offered-chance-to-lay-down-marker-against-old-foes-jordan">Jordan’s status as the Socceroos’ bogey side</a>, for 45 minutes Australia appeared imperious.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/15/socceroos-sit-pretty-in-world-cup-qualifying-but-tougher-tests-lie-ahead">Continue reading...</a> Australia Football World Cup 2022 Sport Australia sport Thu, 14 Nov 2019 22:56:55 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/football/2019/nov/15/socceroos-sit-pretty-in-world-cup-qualifying-but-tougher-tests-lie-ahead Photograph: Andre Pain/EPA Photograph: Andre Pain/EPA Richard Parkin 2019-11-14T22:56:55Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/romanian-cricketer-pavel-florin-play-melbourne-visa-refusal-overturned <ul><li>Florin will play for Surrey Hills CC in Melbourne on Sunday</li><li>‘I take my bat and with the first flight I come to Australia’ <br></li></ul><p>Pavel Florin will appear on an Australian cricket pitch after all this weekend, after the decision to refuse the Romanian player’s visa application was overturned.</p><p>Florin, the Transylvanian cricketer whose love of the game <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jul/31/romanian-cricketer-hailed-as-hero-after-admitting-bowling-action-not-beautiful">captured the public’s imagination earlier this year</a>, will feature in a fifth XI game for Surrey Hills Cricket Club in Melbourne on Sunday.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/romanian-cricketer-pavel-florin-play-melbourne-visa-refusal-overturned">Continue reading...</a> Cricket Australia sport Sport Romania Australia news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 00:14:21 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/romanian-cricketer-pavel-florin-play-melbourne-visa-refusal-overturned Photograph: European Cricket League Photograph: European Cricket League Mike Hytner 2019-11-15T00:14:21Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/how-rugby-australia-risks-ending-up-with-a-wallabies-coach-they-dont-want <p>The length and details of any contract offered to Michael Cheika’s replacement will be key </p><p>As Rugby Australia determines who becomes the new Wallabies coach they will also consider the length of the successful candidate’s contract. It seems sensible to sign the new coach to a four-year contract, culminating at the next World Cup in France in 2023, but does the governing body really want to lock themselves into a lengthy contract that would potentially leave them stuck with a coach they did not want at the next World Cup?</p><p>Former coach Michael Cheika was originally contracted until 2017, which was a pragmatic arrangement following the resignation of Ewen McKenzie towards the end of 2014. If Cheika did not work out, RA had plenty of time to find a new coach to take the Wallabies to the 2019 World Cup in Japan. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/how-rugby-australia-risks-ending-up-with-a-wallabies-coach-they-dont-want">Continue reading...</a> Australia rugby union team Rugby union Australia sport Sport Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:00:45 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/15/how-rugby-australia-risks-ending-up-with-a-wallabies-coach-they-dont-want Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images Bret Harris 2019-11-14T17:00:45Z https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/14/sonny-bill-williams-toronto-wolfpack-rugby-league-north-america • Former All Black keen to grow rugby league in North America <br />• ‘I want to help prove to people these guys are here to stay’<p>Sonny Bill Williams thrives on a challenge but as he took in his surroundings on Thursday even he was quick to admit this was a whole new world. “That makes it so exciting because I believe in this project,” the Toronto Wolfpack signing said.</p><p>Seldom does rugby league attract the attention of the opposite code, but when you combine a player of Williams’s profile with a league franchise as unique as Toronto, it is not difficult to see why this move has the sporting world talking. By his own admission it is likely the final chapter of an outstanding cross-code career.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/14/sonny-bill-williams-toronto-wolfpack-rugby-league-north-america">Continue reading...</a> Sonny Bill Williams Toronto Wolfpack Super League Rugby league Sport Thu, 14 Nov 2019 21:59:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/nov/14/sonny-bill-williams-toronto-wolfpack-rugby-league-north-america Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA Photograph: Bradley Collyer/PA Aaron Bower 2019-11-14T21:59:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2019/nov/14/david-squires-on-a-pocolypse-now-the-horror-the-horror <p>Our cartoonist on Melbourne Victory’s poor start to the A-League season under coach Marco Kurz</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/series/david-squires-on">Take a look through David’s archive of cartoons</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2019/nov/14/david-squires-on-a-pocolypse-now-the-horror-the-horror">Continue reading...</a> A-League Melbourne Victory Football Australia sport Sport Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:00:44 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2019/nov/14/david-squires-on-a-pocolypse-now-the-horror-the-horror Illustration: David Squires/The Guardian Illustration: David Squires/The Guardian David Squires 2019-11-14T17:00:44Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/16/young-smart-and-indigenous-and-struggling-to-be-heard <p>Nobody knows the problems besetting Aboriginal youth better than young blackfullas themselves. It’s time we had a voice at the table</p><p>So you’re in your 20s or younger, you’re a blackfulla with a hunger to give back. More than anything, you’re determined to work for and with your people and nothing can get in your way.</p><p>But it gets a bit lonely in this fight and you know there’s strength in numbers, so you start looking to connect with and be supported by others just like you. Next thing you know, the universe – or your boss – answers your cries for connection and hands you an invitation to a conference; an <em>Indigenous</em> <em>youth</em> conference.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/16/young-smart-and-indigenous-and-struggling-to-be-heard">Continue reading...</a> Indigenous Australians Fri, 15 Nov 2019 23:00:20 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/16/young-smart-and-indigenous-and-struggling-to-be-heard Photograph: Frances Andrijich/Guardian Australia Photograph: Frances Andrijich/Guardian Australia Marlee Silva for IndigenousX 2019-11-15T23:00:20Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/trump-impeachment-devin-nunes-russia-ukraine <p>The ex-dairy farmer isn’t exactly the cream of the cream: his bizarre claims on the president’s behalf have backfired</p><p>If you were on trial on national television, facing the possible loss of your job and the probable loss of what remains of your reputation, you might not place your fate in the hands of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/26/trump-russia-investigation-house-intelligence-devin-nunes">Devin Nunes</a>.</p><p>Nunes is a one-time dairy farmer who now milks the bursting udders of an entire herd of conspiracy-minded cows.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/trump-impeachment-devin-nunes-russia-ukraine">Continue reading...</a> Trump impeachment inquiry US politics US news US Congress Donald Trump Thu, 14 Nov 2019 11:00:36 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/trump-impeachment-devin-nunes-russia-ukraine Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Richard Wolffe 2019-11-14T11:00:36Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/here-are-some-of-the-real-quiet-australians <p>You have to look quite hard</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jun/16/-sp-first-dog-on-the-moon-subscribe-by-email">Sign up here to get an email</a> whenever First Dog cartoons are published</li><li><a href="http://firstshoponthemoon.com/">Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop</a> if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints</li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/here-are-some-of-the-real-quiet-australians">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Scott Morrison Australian immigration and asylum Manus Island Welfare Fri, 15 Nov 2019 03:14:41 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/here-are-some-of-the-real-quiet-australians Photograph: Andrew Marlton/First Dog on the Moon Photograph: Andrew Marlton/First Dog on the Moon First Dog on the Moon 2019-11-15T03:14:41Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-children-wheels-on-the-bus <p>Nursery-age children come out with the darnedest things - just wait until one asks Johnson about his own ‘five or six’ kids</p><p>What a mesmerising clip is the one of Boris Johnson <a href="https://youtu.be/IdZwkkUzxQs?t=96" title="">making a campaign stop</a> at a Taunton primary school but not really knowing the words to The Wheels on the Bus. I mean, how many children do you have to have had to never forget how that nursery classic goes? Wait, sorry – I forgot. Don’t answer that, prime minister.</p><p>Actually, do answer that. Can you answer that? Because – instructive as it was to learn from a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-internet-voters-prime-minister-vogue-video" title="">Conservative video</a> this week that Johnson prefers fish and chips to a Sunday roast – it does feel slightly as if we’re engaged in an extremely extended take on some parlour game like Just A Minute. Can the prime minister make it through an entire general election campaign without someone asking him that simple icebreaker: “And how many children do you have?”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-children-wheels-on-the-bus">Continue reading...</a> General election 2019 Boris Johnson Parents and parenting Jacob Rees-Mogg Yorkshire Fri, 15 Nov 2019 14:47:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-children-wheels-on-the-bus Photograph: POOL/Reuters Photograph: POOL/Reuters Marina Hyde 2019-11-15T14:47:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/kanye-west-christian-conservative-prosperity-gospel <p>Like other black conservatives, the rapper and designer downplays racism while promoting bootstrap virtue-signaling</p><p>Kanye West’s middle name, Omari, means “God is highest.” So it is fitting that the producer-rapper-designer has found himself spreading the gospel. While touring the country promoting his new album Jesus is King, West has professed commitment to his faith in what appears to be both a promotional and redemption tour. This weekend West will appear at the megachurch of the prosperity pastor Joel Osteen, who was caught in controversy for reportedly waiting days<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/30/lakewood-church-joel-osteen-hurricane-harvey"> to open his church doors to Hurricane Harvey victims.</a></p><p>Over the decades of Kanye West’s career, the multi-hyphenate artist has been many things. It was perhaps inevitable that this would create some contradictions. Recently, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, West lectured a Gucci-wearing black lottery winner about the importance of eschewing luxury consumer goods – even though West purchased his eldest daughter a <a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/kim-kardashian-kanye-balmain-closet-picture">$62</a><a href="https://www.glamour.com/story/kim-kardashian-kanye-balmain-closet-picture">,000 tiara</a> when she was barely a year old.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/kanye-west-christian-conservative-prosperity-gospel">Continue reading...</a> Kanye West Race Politics US politics Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:10:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/kanye-west-christian-conservative-prosperity-gospel Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Malaika Jabali 2019-11-15T10:10:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-impeachment-inquiry-ukraine-watergate <p>The president’s abuse of power looks as bad as Watergate, but so far he’s enjoyed the privilege of the age: impunity</p><p>Donald Trump has spat out so many insults and broken so many taboos that it’s hard for any single remark to linger long in the memory. Nevertheless one line from his 2016 election campaign has endured, partly because it was a jaw-dropper and partly because it offered an early glimpse of what would later be revealed as a deep truth about both his candidacy and his presidency – and even our current world.</p><p>It came when Trump was praising his early supporters as “so smart” and so loyal that “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/24/donald-trump-says-he-could-shoot-somebody-and-still-not-lose-voters" title="">I wouldn’t lose any voters</a>”. The imagery was gross, the vanity egregious but, as so often with Trump, his reptilian intelligence had landed on something that was, though ugly, true: namely, that he enjoys a rare form of impunity.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-impeachment-inquiry-ukraine-watergate">Continue reading...</a> Trump impeachment inquiry Donald Trump Ukraine Nancy Pelosi Fri, 15 Nov 2019 18:06:33 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-impeachment-inquiry-ukraine-watergate Photograph: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Photograph: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images Jonathan Freedland 2019-11-15T18:06:33Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-daughter-hates-me-since-i-met-the-man-of-my-dreams <p>Look at this from your daughter’s point of view, says Annalisa Barbieri. This must be hard enough for her to take in, without catching you in bed with him</p><p><strong>I am 32 </strong><strong>and have a 15-year-old daughter. It’s always been me and her. I’ve never brought home random guys, or even let her know </strong><strong>I was </strong><strong>talking to anyone. </strong><strong>But last year, I met the man of my dreams. We dated a couple of months before I introduced them. Things were going OK (</strong><strong>apart from a few bad days</strong><strong>) until last week, that is, when she burst in on us in bed together and began screaming about how disgusting we were and how much she hates me.</strong></p><p><strong>We did end up talking, and I thought things were better</strong><strong>. But today </strong><strong>she came home unexpectedly and saw us lying naked together. We got into a </strong><strong>screaming match </strong><strong>and she wanted me to leave. So I did. I came back a few hours later. We tried to talk, but it </strong><strong>didn’t go well. I am lost on what to do</strong><strong>, and</strong><strong> don’t know where </strong><strong>to go from here. </strong></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-daughter-hates-me-since-i-met-the-man-of-my-dreams">Continue reading...</a> Family Parents and parenting Life and style Fri, 15 Nov 2019 15:00:11 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-daughter-hates-me-since-i-met-the-man-of-my-dreams Illustration: LO COLE/The Guardian Illustration: LO COLE/The Guardian Annalisa Barbieri 2019-11-15T15:00:11Z https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/16/oranges-are-not-only-fruit-the-many-uses-of-orange-peel <p>Orange peel has a thousand uses, from marmalade and tea to scented firelighters and DIY kitchen spray</p><p>I first became aware of the severity of global food waste from <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Waste-Uncovering-Global-Food-Scandal/dp/0141036346" title="">Tristram Stuart’s book Waste</a>, in which there are many poignant images, including one of Florida oranges rotting in a barren landscape. It inspired a change in how I cook, and I’ve tried to eliminate my food waste ever since.</p><p>Fortunately, the rind and zest of an orange have more practical uses than I can count on my fingers and toes. Here are a few worth trying: make a frugal but tasty marmalade such as the one below; dry the rinds to make scented firelighters; infuse peelings in boiling water with other sweet-smelling ingredients such as rosemary to make an aromatic tea. You can even make an effective DIY antibacterial kitchen spray: chop the peel of four oranges, cover with 350ml boiling water and leave to cool. Add 350ml cider vinegar, leave to leave to infuse for a week, then strain into a spray bottle and use on everything but stone, marble and waxed surfaces.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/16/oranges-are-not-only-fruit-the-many-uses-of-orange-peel">Continue reading...</a> Food Food waste Environment Fruit Breakfast Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:30 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/nov/16/oranges-are-not-only-fruit-the-many-uses-of-orange-peel Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian Photograph: Tom Hunt/The Guardian Tom Hunt 2019-11-16T06:00:30Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/experience-i-was-arrested-by-a-swat-team-by-mistake <p>The officer helped me into my underpants, handcuffed and at gunpoint</p><p>We were a small group of actors, on our way to perform at a corporate press launch for a Fujitsu printer. I’d written something for them a year before in the style of It Ain’t Half Hot Mum – four actors camping it up as military officers – and they loved it. This time, they wanted me to ramp up the drama. On their advice, I rented two fake SA80 assault rifles, black balaclavas, full camo flak jackets and boots for the four of us. It was the late 90s – more innocent times, when it was easy enough to rent imitation firearms.</p><p>I was 23 at the time. I’d been a successful child actor on television and then moved into corporate entertainment. I was full of confidence; this was just another gig. The client had booked us to stay overnight at the Danebury Arms in Andover, a military town in Hampshire. We decided to bring the guns in from the car as we were worried about theft.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/experience-i-was-arrested-by-a-swat-team-by-mistake">Continue reading...</a> Life and style Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:00:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/experience-i-was-arrested-by-a-swat-team-by-mistake Photograph: Bradley Meinz/The Guardian Photograph: Bradley Meinz/The Guardian Anthony Davis 2019-11-15T10:00:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-life-in-sex-man-who-cant-finish <p>I often lose my erection due to the stress of knowing I won’t orgasm</p><p>I envy men who have premature ejaculation: at least they can finish. I’ve always had difficulty ejaculating during sex; when I lost my virginity, my partner didn’t believe it was my first time because I lasted so long. The problem has only got worse as I’ve got older, and these days, I often lose my erection after about 10 minutes due to the stress of knowing I won’t orgasm. In my whole life, I’ve only had sex five or six times without this being an issue. </p><p>At 35, I discovered the term traumatic masturbatory syndrome online. I think this is at the root of my problems; my early experiments with masturbation may have reduced the nerve function in my penis. I also worry that my 5in penis is smaller than average. My first girlfriend told me it was inadequate, and in my 20s, another girlfriend laughed about it in front of several mutual friends at a party.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-life-in-sex-man-who-cant-finish">Continue reading...</a> Sex Life and style Relationships Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:00:05 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/my-life-in-sex-man-who-cant-finish Illustration: Lo Cole/The Guardian Illustration: Lo Cole/The Guardian Anonymous 2019-11-15T10:00:05Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/how-are-you-making-your-christmas-celebrations-more-eco-friendly <p>We want to hear from people who are adapting festive traditions in light of the climate crisis</p><p>It’s nearly the most wonderful time of the year, but with gifts, wrapping, trees, more food, more lights, and journeys to see loved ones – it’s often the most conducive to carbon emissions for many.</p><p>As awareness of the world’s climate emergency increases, more retailers are adapting their festive offerings to make them more sustainable. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/21/waitrose-to-stop-selling-plastic-toys-in-christmas-crackers-from-2020">Waitrose is ditching plastic toys in their crackers</a>, and last year upmarket department store <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/15/selfridges-is-selling-iceland-own-brand-mince-pies-and-proud-of-it">Selfridges proudly flogged Iceland’s palm-oil-free mince pies</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/how-are-you-making-your-christmas-celebrations-more-eco-friendly">Continue reading...</a> Christmas Climate change Environment Life and style Fri, 15 Nov 2019 13:20:38 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/how-are-you-making-your-christmas-celebrations-more-eco-friendly Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Guardian readers 2019-11-15T13:20:38Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/day-off-need-others-to-share-it-with-oliver-burkeman <p>A society can’t flourish if its citizens can’t make a plan to meet for a beer</p><p>Ninety years ago this year, Joseph Stalin unveiled an ingenious new scheme to transform the Soviet Union into an industrial powerhouse: the end of the seven-day <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/stalins-topsy-turvy-work-week" title="">week</a>. Much of the workforce switched to a four-day week, plus one day off – but they were divided into five cohorts, each resting on a different day, so factories could run without stopping. The propaganda, according to the historian Clive Foss, was that “workers would get more rest; production and employment would increase [and] leisure time would be more rationally employed, for cultural activities (theatre, clubs, sports) would no longer have to be crammed into a weekend, but could flourish every day, with their facilities far less crowded.”</p><p>It proved massively unpopular, though, not least because it made communal life impossible: families and friends with different rest days couldn’t coordinate social time together. (“That’s no holiday, if you have to celebrate by yourself,” one worker complained.) Stalin didn’t mind – undermining the centrality of the family was part of his plan, after all – but the new week didn’t boost production as planned, either, so it was phased out. Yet, as the writer Judith Shulevitz pointed out in the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/why-dont-i-see-you-anymore/598336/" title="">Atlantic</a> recently, the social chaos of unsynchronised schedules has returned. It’s just that these days it’s imposed not by the state, but by unpredictable work patterns. Employees subject to “on-demand scheduling” and zero-hour contracts get the worst of it. Meanwhile, plenty of fancier jobs require staying late at short notice, or scrapping a weekend plan to plough through emails.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/day-off-need-others-to-share-it-with-oliver-burkeman">Continue reading...</a> Health & wellbeing Life and style Fri, 15 Nov 2019 15:00:10 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/15/day-off-need-others-to-share-it-with-oliver-burkeman Illustration: Michele Marconi/The Guardian Illustration: Michele Marconi/The Guardian Oliver Burkeman 2019-11-15T15:00:10Z https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/hillary-and-chelsea-clinton-we-cannot-give-in-thats-how-they-win <p>Losing the 2016 US election was ‘devastating’, but Clinton is keeping up the fight. Mother and daughter talk about authoritarianism, inspiring women and why thrillers are the perfect escape</p><p>If there is a prevailing message in Hillary and Chelsea Clinton’s <em>The Book of Gutsy Wome</em>n – albeit perhaps not precisely the one they meant – it is that making change for women and girls is painful, tough, and requires almost inhuman reserves of personal grit. The volume is a collection of mini-biographies of “gutsy” women, and its intended mood, I surmise, is upbeat and inspirational. The subjects range from the learned 17th-century Mexican nun Suor Juana de la Cruz to the bracingly named Cherokee politician Barbara Mankiller. But behind the celebratory gloss the real “take-home”, to use the requisite Ted Talk phrase, is this: toughen up. The fight is on.</p><p>“My view,” Hillary says, “is that we are going to continue to progress – there is too much energy behind that, and women are not going to easily surrender to the pressures they are now facing. But we have to be aware that it doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because women and men continue to point out the unfairness and oppression and absurdity of trying to put women out of the public arena.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/hillary-and-chelsea-clinton-we-cannot-give-in-thats-how-they-win">Continue reading...</a> Politics books Books Culture Feminism Women Hillary Clinton US news Chelsea Clinton US politics Donald Trump Sat, 16 Nov 2019 07:00:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/hillary-and-chelsea-clinton-we-cannot-give-in-thats-how-they-win Photograph: Ari Michelson / AUGUST Photograph: Ari Michelson / AUGUST Charlotte Higgins 2019-11-16T07:00:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/reef-life-underwater-memoir-callum-roberts-review <p>‘Thunderclaps of wonder’ ... a moving memoir by a marine biologist who has spent decades exploring coral reefs</p><p>In August of this year, Gail Bradbrook, a co-founder of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/extinction-rebellion" title="">Extinction Rebellion</a>, called for the widespread ingestion of psychedelic substances to help bring about a transformation in attitudes to the climate crisis and the living world. The proposal may sound far-fetched, but it has some science behind it. Studies show that, in the right setting, psychedelics can not only be effective against addiction and depression but can also help people feel more connected to nature. Yet the living world of tropical coral reefs surpasses in wonder and beauty anything engendered in the human mind by psychedelics. As the evolutionary biologist Leslie Orgel once said, evolution is cleverer than you are. A reef will convince you that it also has a bigger, stranger and subtler imagination.</p><p>Most damage of the last couple of decades has been from manageable stresses like pollution, overfishing and development</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/reef-life-underwater-memoir-callum-roberts-review">Continue reading...</a> Science and nature books Culture Books Sat, 16 Nov 2019 07:30:30 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/16/reef-life-underwater-memoir-callum-roberts-review Photograph: PR Photograph: PR Caspar Henderson 2019-11-16T07:30:30Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/last-christmas-review-emma-thompson-emilia-clarke <p>This shameless attempt by screenwriter Emma Thompson to siphon off the eggnog flavour from Love Actually is clunky and weird </p><p>For years, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/culture/richard-curtis" title="">Richard Curtis</a> has attracted imitators to his brand of upscale London romcom. This squelchingly sub-Curtis effort is a case in point, and what’s so baffling is that it is co-written by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/emma-thompson" title="">Emma Thompson</a>, whose undoubted screenplay skills form part of her unique double-Oscar achievement (one for acting in Howards End, the other for adapting <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/dec/26/favourite-film-sense-and-sensibility">Sense and Sensibility</a>). And it is directed by the equally estimable <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/paul-feig" title="">Paul Feig</a>, who gave us Bridesmaids and the Ghostbusters remake.</p><p>This grisly Christmassy adventure features unbearable skittery-giggly dialogue of the sort not spoken by actual humans, while it attempts to siphon off the eggnog flavour from Curtis’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/love-actually" title="">Love Actually</a>, with a female lead who is a Frankenstein’s-monster mix of Bridget Jones and the quirky sister from Notting Hill. The film is supposedly inspired by the music of the late George Michael – <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jul/19/george-michael-last-christmas">who gave his permission</a> some years ago – and when the connection between the twist reveal and Michael’s lyrics dawns on you, there is a real danger of you going into anaphylactic shock. Suffice it to say that this reveal is a time-honoured conceit that has featured in a number of films, some by very grand directors. But the weird thing is that Michael’s music and personality do not feature all that much.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/last-christmas-review-emma-thompson-emilia-clarke">Continue reading...</a> Romance films Emma Thompson Film Culture George Michael Music Paul Feig Christmas Fri, 15 Nov 2019 09:00:04 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/last-christmas-review-emma-thompson-emilia-clarke Photograph: Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures Photograph: Jonathan Prime/Universal Pictures Peter Bradshaw 2019-11-15T09:00:04Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/mon-laferte-chile-latin-grammys-protest <p>Musician reveals message painted on her chest in latest celebrity show of support for national demonstrations</p><p>The Chilean singer Mon Laferte exposed her breasts during a broadcast of the Latin Grammys, in the latest of a string of high-profile shows of support for anti-government demonstrators in her home country.</p><p>The 36-year-old singer-songwriter made her silent protest against police brutality on Thursday night as she walked the award ceremony’s red carpet in Las Vegas.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/mon-laferte-chile-latin-grammys-protest">Continue reading...</a> Chile Americas Protest Fri, 15 Nov 2019 22:22:20 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/mon-laferte-chile-latin-grammys-protest Photograph: Bridget Bennett/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Bridget Bennett/AFP via Getty Images Guardian staff and agencies 2019-11-15T22:22:20Z https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/15/solange-getty-bridges-los-angeles <p>Bridge-s, an immersive art piece scored by Knowles, takes place at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles on 16 and 17 November </p><p>Dressed in silk orange fabrics, a duo of female singers croon airy, ethereal notes as a trombone and trumpet play. Dancers tenderly embrace and build complex human sculptures to showcase the power of black unity. Occasionally, dancers cut through the crowd and force viewers to move out of their way.</p><p>Welcome to Bridge-s, an immersive art piece scored by the R&amp;B musician Solange Knowles, in which dancers and musicians perform across the Getty Museum’s open courtyard in Los Angeles.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/15/solange-getty-bridges-los-angeles">Continue reading...</a> Solange Knowles Music Art Los Angeles Culture US news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/15/solange-getty-bridges-los-angeles Photograph: Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging/The Getty Museum Photograph: Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging/The Getty Museum André Wheeler 2019-11-16T06:00:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/15/young-adult-ya-authors-sarah-dessen-brooke-nelson <p>Bestselling writers have pelted a recent college graduate with insults online – because she didn’t like their friend’s book</p><p>There’s nothing better than a good book, but hating a book? Hating a book so much that you stop people on the street just to tell them about the book and express exactly how much you hated it? That might be a close second.</p><p>Reading a novel – subsuming one’s own consciousness into that of an author for hours on end – is an immersive and visceral experience that can result in transcendence and joy, or end in betrayal and rage. As a reader, I prefer the former but also enjoy the latter; both are certainly superior to plodding to the end of a book that is merely unobjectionable.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/15/young-adult-ya-authors-sarah-dessen-brooke-nelson">Continue reading...</a> Books Twitter Internet Technology Sat, 16 Nov 2019 02:15:40 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/nov/15/young-adult-ya-authors-sarah-dessen-brooke-nelson Photograph: Marechal Aurore/ABACA/PA Images Photograph: Marechal Aurore/ABACA/PA Images Julia Carrie Wong 2019-11-16T02:15:40Z https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/jonathan-agassi-saved-my-life-porn-industry-documentary-israel <p>An unnerving and acclaimed new film about an Israeli actor’s meteoric career in adult movies and horrifying descent into drug addiction saved his life, he says</p><p>The documentary Jonathan Agassi Saved My Life begins with the fresh-faced gay Israeli porn star winning a top industry award in Berlin, and ends with him high on drugs, writhing around on the floor, his life in tatters. Playing out like a bleak Boogie Nights, the film, shot by Israel’s Tomer Heymann over eight years, catches Agassi’s swift climb to the top then sticks with him through a slow, ugly decline. Sex and drugs abound, with unnervingly intimate footage, but it is sensitive and compassionate.</p><p>Agassi, now 35, doesn’t work in porn any more. “I work in a 24/7 kind of shop,” he says down the line from Tel Aviv. “A kiosk. Very different. But it’s great. I have no complaints.” He met Heymann soon after he’d made it big; the director was bowled over by Agassi’s charisma and proposed a documentary. “I wanted a very happy film about a man who left Israel and became a huge porn star all over the world,” says Agassi. “But life came along, and things happened. Everything changed very fast.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/jonathan-agassi-saved-my-life-porn-industry-documentary-israel">Continue reading...</a> Documentary films Film Culture Israel Pornography Film industry Drugs Fri, 15 Nov 2019 13:27:18 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/nov/15/jonathan-agassi-saved-my-life-porn-industry-documentary-israel Photograph: Heymann Films Photograph: Heymann Films Alex Godfrey 2019-11-15T13:27:18Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/16/australia-wasted-decades-in-climate-denial-and-must-break-free-of-the-mire-of-misinformation <p>Guardian Australia editor says we can be a superpower of the post-carbon world economy if we set aside the self-defeating culture war </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/16/the-guardians-climate-pledge-2019">Read the Guardian’s climate pledge</a></li><li>Support Guardian journalism today, by making a <a href="https://support.theguardian.com/contribute?acquisitionData=%7B%22source%22%3A%22GUARDIAN_WEB%22%2C%22componentType%22%3A%22ACQUISITIONS_EDITORIAL_LINK%22%2C%22campaignCode%22%3A%22climate_pledge_2019%22%2C%22componentId%22%3A%22climate_pledge_2019%22%7D&amp;INTCMP=climate_pledge_2019">single or recurring contribution</a>, or <a href="https://support.theguardian.com/subscribe?acquisitionData=%7B%22source%22%3A%22GUARDIAN_WEB%22%2C%22componentType%22%3A%22ACQUISITIONS_EDITORIAL_LINK%22%2C%22campaignCode%22%3A%22climate_pledge_2019%22%2C%22componentId%22%3A%22climate_pledge_2019%22%7D&amp;INTCMP=climate_pledge_2019">subscribing</a></li></ul><p>Australia’s climate “debate” has been bogged in a culture war for decades. What should be a straightforward discussion of scientific fact and possible responses has instead become a mire of misinformation and denial that has paralysed policy, clogged investment, increased power prices and delayed change.</p><p>National greenhouse gas emissions <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/30/australia-carbon-emissions-rise-again-greenhouse-gas-lng">have risen every year since soon after the abolition of the carbon price in 2014</a>, yet the prime minister stands on the international stage and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2019/sep/26/scott-morrison-spurns-criticism-of-australias-record-on-climate-change-during-un-speech-video">insists Australia is “doing our bit on climate change and we reject any suggestion to the contrary”.</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/16/australia-wasted-decades-in-climate-denial-and-must-break-free-of-the-mire-of-misinformation">Continue reading...</a> Climate change Climate change Environment Australian politics Australia news Great Barrier Reef Business Wed, 16 Oct 2019 08:20:27 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/16/australia-wasted-decades-in-climate-denial-and-must-break-free-of-the-mire-of-misinformation Photograph: James Ross/AAP Photograph: James Ross/AAP Lenore Taylor 2019-10-16T08:20:27Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/16/the-guardians-climate-pledge-2019 <p>Today, we are making a public pledge to ourselves and our readers, that we are committed to taking responsibility for our role - both journalistically and institutionally - on how to impact the climate crisis we are facing.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/16/the-guardians-climate-pledge-2019">Continue reading...</a> Environment Climate change Membership Wed, 16 Oct 2019 08:08:41 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2019/oct/16/the-guardians-climate-pledge-2019 Composite: The Guardian design team Composite: The Guardian design team 2019-10-16T08:08:41Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/we-have-warned-governments-for-years-that-climate-change-is-worsening-bushfire-danger <p>Even today, we have people disputing the evidence or spreading misinformation</p><p>It’s been a devastating week of unprecedented bushfires for New South Wales, Queensland and other states. </p><p>Some people are still fighting to save their homes, others are picking up the pieces after fires destroyed their properties and figuring out how to rebuild, and countless others are anxiously watching the fire warnings and preparing to evacuate.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/we-have-warned-governments-for-years-that-climate-change-is-worsening-bushfire-danger">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires Wildfires Natural disasters and extreme weather Australia news New South Wales Queensland Australian politics Climate change Climate change Thu, 14 Nov 2019 02:15:57 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/we-have-warned-governments-for-years-that-climate-change-is-worsening-bushfire-danger Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images Ken Thompson 2019-11-14T02:15:57Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/14/coalition-inaction-on-climate-change-and-health-is-risking-australian-lives-global-report-finds <p>Urgent national action is needed to prevent serious declines in public health from climate change, the multi-institutional Countdown study says</p><p> The federal government’s lack of engagement on health and climate change has left Australians at significant risk of illness through heat, fire and extreme weather events, and urgent national action is required to prevent harm and deaths, a global scientific collaboration has found.</p><p>On Thursday, international medical journal the Lancet published its Countdown report, a multi-institutional project led by University College in London that examines progress on climate change and health throughout the world.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/14/coalition-inaction-on-climate-change-and-health-is-risking-australian-lives-global-report-finds">Continue reading...</a> Climate change Health Australia news Environment Natural disasters and extreme weather Health Australian politics Australia weather Drought Melbourne Wed, 13 Nov 2019 23:30:23 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/14/coalition-inaction-on-climate-change-and-health-is-risking-australian-lives-global-report-finds Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images Melissa Davey 2019-11-13T23:30:23Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/two-gay-saudi-journalists-treated-like-criminals-in-australia-after-seeking-asylum <p><strong>Exclusive:</strong> Men who fled own country after threats to out them have been detained in Australia</p><p>Two Saudi journalists who fled the country after one was interrogated and threatened with their relationship being outed by authorities have been detained in Australia after seeking asylum.</p><p>The men, who arrived in Australia some weeks ago, have drawn stark similarities between their treatment in Saudi and their treatment in Australia. They allege they have been threatened with violence twice by other detainees while <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jun/18/australias-onshore-immigration-detention-unlike-any-other-liberal-democracy">in the detention centre</a>, intimidated by guards, and witnessed rampant drug use among detainees.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/two-gay-saudi-journalists-treated-like-criminals-in-australia-after-seeking-asylum">Continue reading...</a> Australian immigration and asylum Saudi Arabia Press freedom LGBT rights Middle East and North Africa Newspapers & magazines Jamal Khashoggi Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:17 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/two-gay-saudi-journalists-treated-like-criminals-in-australia-after-seeking-asylum Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters Photograph: Faisal Al Nasser/Reuters Helen Davidson 2019-11-15T19:00:17Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/china-denies-entry-to-liberal-mps-andrew-hastie-and-james-paterson <p>Government MPs issued statement on Friday night saying their planned China visit was off</p><p>Liberal MPs Andrew Hastie and James Paterson say the Chinese government has rejected their plans to visit the country on a study tour next month because of objections about their “frankness about the Chinese Communist party”.</p><p>The two government MPs issued a short statement on Friday night saying the planned visit was off, and the organisers of the trip, China Matters, issued a separate statement confirming the Chinese embassy had informed them “that at this time Mr Hastie and Senator Paterson are not welcome on a China Matters study tour to Beijing”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/china-denies-entry-to-liberal-mps-andrew-hastie-and-james-paterson">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Liberal party Australian foreign policy Australia news China Fri, 15 Nov 2019 09:11:08 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/china-denies-entry-to-liberal-mps-andrew-hastie-and-james-paterson Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian Katharine Murphy Political editor 2019-11-15T09:11:08Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-who-tore-head-off-kookaburra-in-perth-pub-fined-2500 <p>The man reportedly killed the kookaburra, mortifying patrons and their children, after it landed on his plate</p><p>A man who ripped the head off a kookaburra at a Perth pub in front of horrified children has been fined $2,500.</p><p>The man killed Kevin – a cheeky kookaburra known for stealing food – at Parkerville Tavern last month. His lawyer described the bird as “a menace to public safety”.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-who-tore-head-off-kookaburra-in-perth-pub-fined-2500">Continue reading...</a> Western Australia Perth Wildlife Australia news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 08:53:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-who-tore-head-off-kookaburra-in-perth-pub-fined-2500 Photograph: Russell Mcphedran/AP Photograph: Russell Mcphedran/AP AAP and Guardian staff 2019-11-15T08:53:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/im-able-to-help-so-i-will-community-spirit-shines-through-during-bushfire-crisis <p>From free food for evacuees to inspiring messages for fireys, acts of kindness and words of thanks are seen in abundance</p><p>In the midst of the bushfire crisis that tore through New South Wales and Queensland this week and last, small moments have shone through.</p><p>Acts of community or resilience or kindness have spread across the country. From free food and accommodation, to support for firefighters and inspiring messages from those battling the blaze to each other.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/im-able-to-help-so-i-will-community-spirit-shines-through-during-bushfire-crisis">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires Australia news Natural disasters and extreme weather New South Wales Queensland Australia weather Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/im-able-to-help-so-i-will-community-spirit-shines-through-during-bushfire-crisis Photograph: William West/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: William West/AFP via Getty Images Naaman Zhou 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/australia-demands-compensation-over-brexit-trade-disruption <p>Country’s claim that meat exports are suffering wins support from 14 countries </p><p>Australia and a host of non-EU countries are demanding compensation from the UK and the EU for Brexit-related disruption to trade.</p><p>During negotiations at the World Trade Organization in Geneva, Australia said its beef and lamb exports had already been adversely affected by Brexit confusion.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/australia-demands-compensation-over-brexit-trade-disruption">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Trade policy Australia news UK news World news Politics WTO European Union Business Fri, 15 Nov 2019 18:31:18 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/australia-demands-compensation-over-brexit-trade-disruption Photograph: Dawn Damico/Alamy Photograph: Dawn Damico/Alamy Rob Davies 2019-11-15T18:31:18Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/bp-worker-fired-over-downfall-video-appeals-saying-fair-work-did-not-understand-meme <p>The sacked oil refinery worker’s lawyers claim the ruling upholding his dismissal ‘mischaracterised’ his parody meme and misunderstood ‘the broader genre of Downfall video’</p><p>A man who was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/05/oil-refinery-worker-fired-over-downfall-parody-video-loses-unfair-dismissal-claim">fired by BP over a Downfall parody video</a> is appealing to the full bench of the Fair Work Commission, saying a deputy president of the commission did not properly understand the long-running meme.</p><p>The oil refinery technician had helped make a video mocking his bosses during a “tense” period of pay negotiations, according to court documents.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/bp-worker-fired-over-downfall-video-appeals-saying-fair-work-did-not-understand-meme">Continue reading...</a> Industrial relations Australian trade unions Australia news Downfall Internet Fri, 15 Nov 2019 02:07:34 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/bp-worker-fired-over-downfall-video-appeals-saying-fair-work-did-not-understand-meme Photograph: Allstar/EOS/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar Photograph: Allstar/EOS/Sportsphoto Ltd./Allstar Naaman Zhou 2019-11-15T02:07:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/barnaby-joyce-disappointed-over-frydenberg-approval-of-bellamys-sale-to-china <p>Treasurer backs foreign investment review board’s all clear for takeover of milk formula company by Chinese group</p><p>The former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce says he is “disappointed to see yet another piece of Australia sold to the Chinese” after the federal government approved the $1.5bn takeover of Bellamy’s by&nbsp;China Mengniu Dairy Company.</p><p>The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has backed the foreign investment review board’s view that the&nbsp;acquisition is not contrary to Australia’s national interest, but has imposed conditions including that majority of the Bellamy’s board of directors will have to be Australian resident citizens.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/barnaby-joyce-disappointed-over-frydenberg-approval-of-bellamys-sale-to-china">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Barnaby Joyce Australia news Coalition Josh Frydenberg Liberal party Fri, 15 Nov 2019 01:46:20 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/barnaby-joyce-disappointed-over-frydenberg-approval-of-bellamys-sale-to-china Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Australian Associated Press 2019-11-15T01:46:20Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/15/black-throated-finch-wins-2019-bird-of-the-year-as-tawny-frogmouth-comes-second <p>Highly endangered finch, which is under threat from the Adani Carmichael coalmine, harnessed support of conservationists </p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2019/nov/15/bird-of-the-year-2019-winner-poll-australia-result-vote-deadline-latest-updates-reaction-live">Follow live reaction to the black-throated finch’s 2019 Bird of the Year triumph</a></li></ul><p>The black-throated finch has been voted Australian bird of the year for 2019, beating the tawny frogmouth<strong> </strong>in a landslide.</p><p>The highly endangered finch, which is under threat <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/12/adani-mine-could-snuff-out-black-throated-finchs-last-chances-of-survival">from the expansion of the Adani Carmichael coalmine</a>, was backed by a highly organised online campaign linking it to deforestation, the climate emergency and opposition to the mine.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/15/black-throated-finch-wins-2019-bird-of-the-year-as-tawny-frogmouth-comes-second">Continue reading...</a> Australian bird of the year (2019) Birds Environment Endangered species Endangered habitats Animals Conservation Wildlife Adani Group Carmichael coalmine Queensland Australia news Thu, 14 Nov 2019 19:39:40 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/15/black-throated-finch-wins-2019-bird-of-the-year-as-tawny-frogmouth-comes-second Photograph: Eric Vanderduys Photograph: Eric Vanderduys Naaman Zhou 2019-11-14T19:39:40Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-jailed-for-11-years-for-killing-dutch-cyclist-gitta-scheenhouwer-in-melbourne <p>Michael Panayides, who hit and killed Scheenhouwer while on his way to buy drugs, given 11-year sentence with minimum of eight-and-a-half years</p><p>A speeding motorist who hit and killed Dutch cyclist Gitta Scheenhouwer as he was on his way to buy drugs in Melbourne has been jailed for 11 years.</p><p>Michael Panayides slammed into cyclist Gitta Scheenhouwer, 27, in Chapel Street , leaving her dead.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-jailed-for-11-years-for-killing-dutch-cyclist-gitta-scheenhouwer-in-melbourne">Continue reading...</a> Australia news Melbourne Crime - Australia Netherlands Fri, 15 Nov 2019 01:14:20 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/man-jailed-for-11-years-for-killing-dutch-cyclist-gitta-scheenhouwer-in-melbourne Photograph: Victorian Police/PR IMAGE Photograph: Victorian Police/PR IMAGE Australian Associated Press 2019-11-15T01:14:20Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/australian-litigation-funding-giant-rejects-christian-porters-lawfare-claim <p><strong>Exclusive: </strong>IMF Bentham says several class actions against mining sector companies are for corporate breaches, not environmental </p><p>Australia’s biggest litigation funder, IMF Bentham, has rejected the attorney general’s suggestion the industry is engaging in “lawfare” against mining companies.</p><p>The company also hit back at claims by the chief executive of employer body AI Group, Innes Willox, that the industry is out of control, costing Australian business billions of dollars and needs urgent regulation.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/australian-litigation-funding-giant-rejects-christian-porters-lawfare-claim">Continue reading...</a> Business Mining Australian politics Business Law Australia news Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:00:45 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/15/australian-litigation-funding-giant-rejects-christian-porters-lawfare-claim Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Ben Butler 2019-11-14T17:00:45Z https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-inaccurate-claims-in-interviews <p>PM makes false statements about Brexit being ‘blocked’ and his record as London mayor </p><p>Boris Johnson is facing criticism over a series of inaccurate statements made in a flurry of live broadcast interviews during a difficult day of campaigning.</p><p>The prime minister was challenged on Friday on subjects as varied as crime, Brexit, the abandoned London <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/mar/19/boris-johnson-under-growing-pressure-over-scrapped-garden-bridge">garden bridge project</a> and the number of children he has fathered.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-inaccurate-claims-in-interviews">Continue reading...</a> General election 2019 Boris Johnson UK news Politics Conservatives Media Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:23:36 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/15/boris-johnson-inaccurate-claims-in-interviews Photograph: POOL/Reuters Photograph: POOL/Reuters Peter Walker, Jedidajah Otte and Frances Perraudin 2019-11-15T19:23:36Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/bolivia-protests-five-killed-in-rally-calling-for-exiled-moraless-return <p>Witnesses say police opened fire on protesters near Cochabamba, where pro- and anti-Morales supporters have clashed for weeks </p><p>Bolivian security forces have clashed with supporters of the exiled former president, Evo Morales, leaving at least five people dead, and escalating the challenge to the interim government to restore stability.</p><p>Hospital director Guadalberto Lara said that most of the dead in Sacaba, in the centre of the country, as well as some of the dozens more who were injured, had bullet wounds. Witnesses said police opened fire on protesters, who were calling for the return of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/12/bolivias-evo-morales-says-he-is-leaving-for-mexico-but-will-return-with-energy">Morales from exile in Mexico</a>.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/bolivia-protests-five-killed-in-rally-calling-for-exiled-moraless-return">Continue reading...</a> Bolivia Americas World news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 03:45:59 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/bolivia-protests-five-killed-in-rally-calling-for-exiled-moraless-return Photograph: Danilo Balderrama/Reuters Photograph: Danilo Balderrama/Reuters Agencies 2019-11-16T03:45:59Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/muslims-fear-rajapaksa-win-in-sri-lanka-election <p>Since the Easter bombings, the community has faced violence and vilification. Many think there may be worse to come</p><p>The phone calls began two months ago from an unknown number. Hilmy Ahmed, the vice-president of the Sri Lanka Muslim Council, did not recognise the voice but there was no mistaking the threats: throw your support behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa for president or we will set fire to your house, rape your wife and then kill your family.</p><p>“This election campaign has the whole Muslim community of Sri Lanka very scared,” said Ahmed, who fled abroad after the calls and direct harassment of his staff. “Almost all the nationalist extremists have banded together behind Gotabaya Rajapaksa and should he win, we fear they will come out in full force with their racist, anti-Muslim agenda and attacks.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/muslims-fear-rajapaksa-win-in-sri-lanka-election">Continue reading...</a> Sri Lanka South and Central Asia World news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:20:44 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/muslims-fear-rajapaksa-win-in-sri-lanka-election Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Colombo 2019-11-15T17:20:44Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/sydney-university-students-urged-to-leave-hong-kong <p>University writes to students on exchange in Hong Kong as campuses become focus of battles between police and protesters</p><p>The University of Sydney has urged Australian students on exchange in Hong Kong to return home as pro-democracy protests intensify on university campuses, the ABC is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-15/hong-kong-protest-australian-students-told-to-return/11709478">reporting</a>.</p><p>The university has written to students after Hong Kong University and other institutions suspended classes for the last few weeks of semester.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/sydney-university-students-urged-to-leave-hong-kong">Continue reading...</a> Hong Kong Australia news Australian universities Asia Pacific Fri, 15 Nov 2019 08:13:28 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/sydney-university-students-urged-to-leave-hong-kong Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP Guardian staff 2019-11-15T08:13:28Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/you-ruined-me-new-zealands-abuse-survivors-speak-at-landmark-inquiry <p>Survivors are given a voice at first public hearings of investigation into historical abuse of thousands of children in state and faith-based care </p><p>On the morning Annasophia Calman is due to testify in public about a childhood destroyed at the hands of her father and the state, she eats scrambled eggs on toast and paces back and forth in the hallway outside her hotel room.</p><p>“My daughter rang up and she goes, ‘Mum, I’m so proud of you. You’re finally going to do it. It’s going to be over for you,’ ” Calman says. “But I knew it wasn’t over until I actually did it.”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/you-ruined-me-new-zealands-abuse-survivors-speak-at-landmark-inquiry">Continue reading...</a> New Zealand Domestic violence Children Asia Pacific World news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/you-ruined-me-new-zealands-abuse-survivors-speak-at-landmark-inquiry Photograph: velkol/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photograph: velkol/Getty Images/iStockphoto Charlotte Graham-McLay in Auckland 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/fire-crews-battle-blaze-at-bolton-student-housing-building <p>Witnesses describe flames ‘crawling up cladding’ of six-storey building on Bradshawgate</p><p>Fire crews are putting out the “last pockets of fire” at a student accommodation building blaze in Bolton.</p><p>Images posted on social media showed firefighters tackling flames coming out of the windows on the top floors and “crawling up the cladding” of a building known as the Cube on Bradshawgate.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/fire-crews-battle-blaze-at-bolton-student-housing-building">Continue reading...</a> Bolton UK news Greater Manchester Sat, 16 Nov 2019 07:36:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/fire-crews-battle-blaze-at-bolton-student-housing-building Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Guardian staff and Press Association 2019-11-16T07:36:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/arizona-quadruple-amputee-police-video-teenager <ul><li>Prosecutors drop disorderly conduct charges against teen</li><li>Police called after trash can overturned at care home</li></ul><p>Disturbing video footage of a 15-year-old quadruple amputee being tackled, pinned to the ground and verbally abused by a sheriff’s deputy is now the focus of an internal investigation by Arizona’s Pima county sheriff’s department.</p><p>The footage shows the shirtless boy, who cannot move, screaming as a sheriff’s deputy pins him to the ground while yelling at the teen to stop resisting.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/arizona-quadruple-amputee-police-video-teenager">Continue reading...</a> Arizona US policing US news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 18:20:58 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/arizona-quadruple-amputee-police-video-teenager Photograph: KOLD Photograph: KOLD Edward Helmore in New York 2019-11-15T18:20:58Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/venice-council-flooded-moments-after-rejecting-climate-crisis-plan <p>Rightwing parties reject proposals as lagoon city faces worst flooding in 53 years </p><p>Veneto’s regional council rejected a plan to combat climate change minutes before its offices on the Grand Canal, in Venice, were flooded, it has emerged as the city continues to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/waves-in-st-marks-square-as-venice-flooded-highest-tide-in-50-years">battle high water</a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/waves-in-st-marks-square-as-venice-flooded-highest-tide-in-50-years"> levels.</a></p><p>Venice has been hit by recurrent flooding since Tuesday, with 70% of the lagoon city engulfed on Friday morning as the <em>acqua alta</em>, or high water, level reached 1.54 metres amid heavy downpours. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/venice-council-flooded-moments-after-rejecting-climate-crisis-plan">Continue reading...</a> Italy Europe Climate change Environment World news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 15:21:04 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/venice-council-flooded-moments-after-rejecting-climate-crisis-plan Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images Angela Giuffrida in Rome 2019-11-15T15:21:04Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/russian-meddling-report-dissidents-widow-goes-to-law <p>Marina Litvinenko to try to force British government to publish document</p><p>The widow of a Russian dissident murdered in London plans to challenge a government decision not to publish a report on alleged Russian meddling in Britain, a lawyer representing the widow said.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/05/johnson-delay-on-russia-dossier-helps-putin-says-litvinenko-widow">Johnson delay on Russia dossier helps Putin, says Litvinenko widow</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/russian-meddling-report-dissidents-widow-goes-to-law">Continue reading...</a> Alexander Litvinenko Russia Vladimir Putin Boris Johnson Politics UK news World news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 22:25:38 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/russian-meddling-report-dissidents-widow-goes-to-law Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian Reuters 2019-11-15T22:25:38Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/rudy-giuliani-2016-election-hillary-clinton-fbi-remarks-active-misunderstanding <p>Giuliani says of 2016 remarks implying he spoke to ‘active’ FBI agents: ‘I mean they are not old men, they can still do things’</p><p>Rudy Giuliani offered the FBI an extraordinary – and seemingly implausible – explanation for “misleading” remarks he made on television just a month before the 2016 election about a “surprise” that could derail the Hillary Clinton campaign.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/14/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-insurance-loyal">Rudy Giuliani says Trump will stay loyal to him but jokes that he has 'insurance'</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/rudy-giuliani-2016-election-hillary-clinton-fbi-remarks-active-misunderstanding">Continue reading...</a> Rudy Giuliani Hillary Clinton US elections 2016 FBI Donald Trump US news US politics Fri, 15 Nov 2019 17:44:37 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/rudy-giuliani-2016-election-hillary-clinton-fbi-remarks-active-misunderstanding Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington 2019-11-15T17:44:37Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-tweets-attacking-yovanovitch-were-witness-intimidation-video <p>The US president has denied that attacks directed at the former US ambassador to Ukraine, as she testified in the second day of impeachment hearings, amounted to witness intimidation. ‘Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad,’ Trump wrote in tweets which were dramatically read aloud to Yovanovitch at the hearing. Democrats immediately accused Trump of attempting to intimidate a witness.</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/trump-impeachment-inquiry-marie-yovanovitch">Ukraine ambassador describes Trump’s ‘shocking’ smear campaign against her</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-tweets-attacking-yovanovitch-were-witness-intimidation-video">Continue reading...</a> Donald Trump Trump impeachment inquiry US politics US news Fri, 15 Nov 2019 21:19:01 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/15/donald-trump-tweets-attacking-yovanovitch-were-witness-intimidation-video Photograph: EPA Photograph: EPA 2019-11-15T21:19:01Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/15/prince-andrew-says-he-let-the-side-down-over-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-video <p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/prince-andrew">Prince Andrew</a> has admitted he failed to uphold the standards of the royal family when he visited <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/jeffrey-epstein">Jeffrey Epstein </a>after the paedophile’s release from prison.</p><p>In an interview with the BBC’s Newsnight programme, the first time he has spoken publicly about his friendship with Epstein, the prince also said he had ‘no recollection’ of meeting Virginia Giuffre, the woman who claims to have been coerced into having sex with him.</p><p>The interview with Emily Maitlis will be broadcast on Saturday night</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/prince-andrew-on-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-i-let-royals-down">Prince Andrew on friendship with Jeffrey Epstein: I let royals down</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/15/prince-andrew-says-he-let-the-side-down-over-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-video">Continue reading...</a> Prince Andrew Jeffrey Epstein Newsnight BBC Fri, 15 Nov 2019 23:01:54 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/15/prince-andrew-says-he-let-the-side-down-over-friendship-with-jeffrey-epstein-video Photograph: bbc newsnight Photograph: bbc newsnight 2019-11-15T23:01:54Z https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/16/trump-impeachment-inquiry-highlights-from-day-two-video <p>The second day of impeachment hearings featured compelling testimony from Marie Yovanovitch, the former US ambassador to Ukraine who was sacked by Trump. Yovanovitch evidence drew links between corrupt elements in Ukraine and the Trump administration's push to force her from her post. She said she was 'shocked and devastated' by Trump's personal attacks on her. As she spoke, Donald Trump attacked her on Twitter, prompting the Democrat chair of the hearing, Adam Schiff, to read the tweets to Yovanovitch in real time. 'The effect is intimidating,' she said, as Democrats accused the president of witness intimidation on a day of high political drama&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/15/impeachment-hearing-key-takeaways-what-happened-marie-yovanovitch-trump">Trump smears and witness drama: key Marie Yovanovitch takeaways</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/16/trump-impeachment-inquiry-highlights-from-day-two-video">Continue reading...</a> Trump impeachment inquiry Donald Trump Trump administration Politics US politics US news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 02:46:34 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2019/nov/16/trump-impeachment-inquiry-highlights-from-day-two-video Photograph: Reuters Photograph: Reuters 2019-11-16T02:46:34Z https://www.theguardian.com/cities/video/2019/nov/13/its-not-fair-why-havanas-taxi-drivers-outearn-doctors-video <p>Cuba's strange dual system means that public sector workers and those in private enterprise are paid in different currencies. Laura, a GP, earns Cuban pesos, whereas Rogelio, who was a doctor, now makes more in an hour as a taxi driver than he used to in a month because he is paid in 'convertible pesos', which are worth 24 times more. As doctors and teachers struggle to buy basic goods, is it time for change?</p><ul><li><b>Divided Cities episode 1</b> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/video/2019/nov/06/make-spain-great-again-does-melilla-really-need-a-trump-style-wall-video">‘Make Spain great again’: does Melilla really need a Trump-style wall?</a></li></ul> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/video/2019/nov/13/its-not-fair-why-havanas-taxi-drivers-outearn-doctors-video">Continue reading...</a> Cuba Cities Americas Work & careers Economics Socialism Wed, 13 Nov 2019 12:00:15 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/cities/video/2019/nov/13/its-not-fair-why-havanas-taxi-drivers-outearn-doctors-video Photograph: Guardian Photograph: Guardian Anetta Jones, Max Duncan Jess Gormley and Chris Michael 2019-11-13T12:00:15Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2019/nov/07/meet-the-people-on-a-mission-to-live-forever-video <p>What if you could cheat death and live for ever? To people in the radical life extension movement, immortality is a real possibility. Leah Green spends a long weekend at RAADfest, a meeting of scientists, activists and ordinary people who want to extend the human lifespan. So is reversing your age a real possibility? And what’s behind the wish for immortality? </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2019/nov/07/meet-the-people-on-a-mission-to-live-forever-video">Continue reading...</a> Death and dying Las Vegas Health & wellbeing US news Older people Science Thu, 07 Nov 2019 11:28:21 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/video/2019/nov/07/meet-the-people-on-a-mission-to-live-forever-video Photograph: The Guardian Photograph: The Guardian Leah Green, Shay Notelovitz, Paul Boyd, Simon Roberts and Ben Kape 2019-11-07T11:28:21Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/09/bringing-sunshine-to-government-house-linda-hurley-leads-war-widows-in-song <p>At the Legacy widows morning tea, Linda Hurley, the wife of the Australian governor general, David Hurley, leads the crowd in You Are My Sunshine. The song has become a staple that she deploys to boost morale of staff and guests at official functions. Every song is an all-in special and not knowing the words is no excuse – guests are provided a Government House song book so they don’t stumble as they are led through a repertoire that includes It’s a Long Way to Tipperary, When the Red, Red Robin and Singin’ in the Rain</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/09/bringing-sunshine-to-government-house-linda-hurley-leads-war-widows-in-song">Continue reading...</a> Australian politics Sat, 09 Nov 2019 18:43:19 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/09/bringing-sunshine-to-government-house-linda-hurley-leads-war-widows-in-song Photograph: The Guardian Photograph: The Guardian 2019-11-09T18:43:19Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2019/nov/04/the-one-in-a-hundred-a-deeply-personal-perspective-on-surviving-the-drought-video <p>The price of grain is rising, dam levels have fallen, there's no more feed. Everywhere is dust, crops have been wiped. Australia is in the grip of the worst <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/drought">drought</a> in 100 years, worse than many can remember.&nbsp; On these once fertile farmlands cattle farmers, grain growers and others living through the drought are carrying the weight of the emotional, economic and psychological effects. New South Wales farmer Jason Maloney shares his experience of trying to stay afloat during the 'one in 100'&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/20/resisting-droughts-day-zero-the-nsw-towns-close-to-running-dry">• Resisting drought's day zero: the NSW towns close to running dry</a></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2019/nov/04/the-one-in-a-hundred-a-deeply-personal-perspective-on-surviving-the-drought-video">Continue reading...</a> Drought Rural Australia Environment Climate change Extreme weather Australia news New South Wales Farming Mon, 04 Nov 2019 04:22:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2019/nov/04/the-one-in-a-hundred-a-deeply-personal-perspective-on-surviving-the-drought-video Photograph: Suzanne Kim Photograph: Suzanne Kim Suzanne Kim 2019-11-04T04:22:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/15/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures <p>The pick of this week’s best flora and fauna photos from around the world, including a tired tiger and sea goldies</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/15/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a> Wildlife Environment Animals World news Zoology Biology Science Fri, 15 Nov 2019 15:10:57 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/15/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP Compiled by Eric Hilaire 2019-11-15T15:10:57Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/14/richard-browning-breaks-world-record-in-85mph-jet-power-suit-video <p>British inventor Richard Browning has broken his own record for the fastest flight in a jet suit. The self-proclaimed 'Jetman' took off from Brighton beach, attempting to break his own previous record of 32mph, set in 2017. He&nbsp; reached 85mph, more than 50mph faster than his previous record. Browning said before the flight he was hoping to show how the technology used in the suit had progressed since the previous record was set</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/14/richard-browning-breaks-world-record-in-85mph-jet-power-suit-video">Continue reading...</a> UK news Brighton Thu, 14 Nov 2019 19:03:41 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2019/nov/14/richard-browning-breaks-world-record-in-85mph-jet-power-suit-video Photograph: REX/Shutterstock Photograph: REX/Shutterstock 2019-11-14T19:03:41Z https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/14/christopher-nunns-best-photograph-a-picnic-in-the-shadow-of-war <p>‘I spotted them from a bus, two girls having a picnic in Ukraine. This was before the war turned bad. Back then, no one would have believed how bad things would get’</p><p>I took this in Donetsk, Ukraine, in 2014, just as the war with Russia started. It was immediately after <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/27/ukraine-donetsk-airport-russia-fighter">the first battle for Donetsk airport</a>, the first time war came to the city. I was on the bus back to my apartment when I spotted this car and people having a picnic next to it. I got off, and we got talking and had a few drinks. It was a chance meeting, they were all excited to meet a foreigner – they had never met an English person before.</p><p>I was taking pictures and they were posing, just young people having fun. This shot was a snapshot, they weren’t really paying attention to me when I took it, but when I looked through my photographs later it stood out. I like the fact you can’t see the girls’ faces. I don’t know them, so I would have felt uncomfortable sharing a picture of them drinking, which might represent them negatively.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/14/christopher-nunns-best-photograph-a-picnic-in-the-shadow-of-war">Continue reading...</a> Photography Ukraine War reporting Exhibitions Culture Art Art and design World news Media Thu, 14 Nov 2019 06:00:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2019/nov/14/christopher-nunns-best-photograph-a-picnic-in-the-shadow-of-war Photograph: Christopher Nunn Photograph: Christopher Nunn Interview by Diane Smyth 2019-11-14T06:00:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/14/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2019-in-pictures <p>From mystical woodlands to majestic whales, here are the winners and runners-up of this year’s competition. They were recently announced at the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/NatureTalksPhotoFestival/">Nature Talks photo festival</a> in the Netherlands<br></p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/14/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2019-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a> Wildlife Environment Photography Art and design Culture Animals World news Thu, 14 Nov 2019 13:17:03 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2019/nov/14/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2019-in-pictures Photograph: Csaba Daróczi/2019 Nature Photographer of the Year Photograph: Csaba Daróczi/2019 Nature Photographer of the Year 2019-11-14T13:17:03Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/14/behrouz-boochani-welcomed-to-freedom-in-new-zealand-as-he-arrives-at-auckland-airport-video <p>After six years forcibly held by Australia’s offshore processing regime in Papua New Guinea, most of it incarcerated on Manus Island, the Kurdish Iranian journalist and refugee advocate Behrouz Boochani arrives in New Zealand. Boochani flew into Auckland via a convoluted route, with a one-month visa, and hopes to live in the US, which has accepted him for resettlement. 'I think this is the first time that I feel happy that I survived,' Boochani said. Asked how freedom felt, he said: 'I think I should have a smoke first.'</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/14/behrouz-boochani-welcomed-to-freedom-in-new-zealand-as-he-arrives-at-auckland-airport-video">Continue reading...</a> Australian immigration and asylum Manus Island Refugees New Zealand Australia news Behrouz Boochani Thu, 14 Nov 2019 10:41:22 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/video/2019/nov/14/behrouz-boochani-welcomed-to-freedom-in-new-zealand-as-he-arrives-at-auckland-airport-video Photograph: The Guardian Photograph: The Guardian David Fanner 2019-11-14T10:41:22Z https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/nov/14/election-2019-is-scotland-moving-towards-independence-podcast <p>Scotland correspondent Libby Brooks tells Rachel Humphreys how the chaos of Brexit has put independence back centre stage at this election. Plus: Sayeeda Warsi on the Conservative party’s enduring problem of Islamophobia</p><p>When Scottish voters said no to independence in the referendum of 2014 it did not settle the question “for a generation” as some on the winning side had wished. Instead, there was a surge in support for the Scottish National party, which in turn promised to return to the independence question as soon as a referendum was judged to be winnable. The political shock of Brexit provided a new impetus and now as Scottish voters contemplate the election of 2019, they are being prompted to think about it as a chance to consider their future not just in the EU but in the UK as well. </p><p>The Guardian’s Scotland correspondent, <strong>Libby Brooks</strong>,<strong> </strong>has been on the campaign trail with Boris Johnson, who has promised that a Conservative government would block any attempts by the SNP to push for a new referendum. And she tells <strong>Rachel Humphreys </strong>about meeting independence supporters as they contemplate the best way of persuading “no” voters to come around to breaking with the UK. </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/nov/14/election-2019-is-scotland-moving-towards-independence-podcast">Continue reading...</a> Scottish independence UK news Scotland Scottish politics Scottish National party (SNP) Conservatives Nicola Sturgeon Boris Johnson General election 2019 Brexit Thu, 14 Nov 2019 03:00:27 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2019/nov/14/election-2019-is-scotland-moving-towards-independence-podcast Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Libby Brooks and Sayeeda Warsi ; produced by Hannah Moore, Courtney Yusuf and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Phil Maynard and Nicole Jackson 2019-11-14T03:00:27Z https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/factcheck-how-park-ranger-numbers-stack-up-amid-debate-over-bushfire-readiness <p>Some of the loudest accusations of mismanagement have come from within parties in government</p><p>As catastrophic fire gripped New South Wales, claiming four lives, injuring dozens and destroying hundreds of homes, there have been claims and counterclaims about whether the state was properly prepared and what more, if anything, could have been done.</p><p>Some of the loudest accusations of mismanagement have come from within parties in government. The deputy premier, John Barilaro, claimed the fires showed a policy of what he called “locking up” national parks that had not worked. He said it was the legacy of former Labor premier Bob Carr, influenced by conservationists’ ideological opposition to hazard-reduction burning, but did not explain how this influence had been exerted.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/factcheck-how-park-ranger-numbers-stack-up-amid-debate-over-bushfire-readiness">Continue reading...</a> Bushfires Australia news New South Wales Natural disasters and extreme weather Fri, 15 Nov 2019 19:00:16 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/16/factcheck-how-park-ranger-numbers-stack-up-amid-debate-over-bushfire-readiness Photograph: Darren Pateman/AAP Photograph: Darren Pateman/AAP Adam Morton Environment editor 2019-11-15T19:00:16Z https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/ghana-fisheries-observer-vanishes Illegal fishing by Chinese-owned trawlers is costing the country millions – and one of the officials trying to stop it has now been missing for months<p>In his cramped living room in an Accra backstreet, Bernard Essien pulls out a sheet of paper – a statement signed by his elder brother Emmanuel and addressed to the Ghanaian police. Two weeks before 28-year-old Emmanuel vanished at sea, his handwritten account and accompanying video footage alleged illegal fishing by a trawler he had been working on. If the allegation was proved true, the ship’s captain faced a minimum fine of $1m.the case of a</p><p>Emmanuel Essien was a fishing observer, one of Ghana’s front line defenders against an overfishing crisis that is among the worst in west Africa. Illegal and destructive practices by foreign-owned trawlers are draining the Ghanaian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/17/illegal-fishing-by-foreign-trawlers-costs-ghana-50-million-dollars-a-year-researchers-say" title="">economy of an estimated £50m a year</a>. For those living along Ghana’s 350-mile coastline, overfishing has driven small pelagic species known as “people’s fish”, the staple diet, to the verge of collapse.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/ghana-fisheries-observer-vanishes">Continue reading...</a> Ghana Africa Fishing Global development Sat, 16 Nov 2019 07:35:30 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/16/ghana-fisheries-observer-vanishes Photograph: AB Forces News Collection/Amy M. Ressler/Alamy Photograph: AB Forces News Collection/Amy M. Ressler/Alamy Karen McVeigh in Accra and Nancy Dzradosi 2019-11-16T07:35:30Z https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/giant-dildos-and-vibrating-beds-sexpo-is-serious-about-the-business-of-sex-its-also-hilarious <p>Our noise at the beginning is pitiful and lacking energy, like a barely concealed fake orgasm</p><p>It’s 3pm at a strip show and the MC, a man with the energy of four breakfast radio DJs, says “Melbourne make some noise.”</p><p>“Yay, yay!” we reply.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/giant-dildos-and-vibrating-beds-sexpo-is-serious-about-the-business-of-sex-its-also-hilarious">Continue reading...</a> Sex Melbourne Thu, 14 Nov 2019 17:00:44 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/14/giant-dildos-and-vibrating-beds-sexpo-is-serious-about-the-business-of-sex-its-also-hilarious Photograph: Supplied Photograph: Supplied Brigid Delaney 2019-11-14T17:00:44Z https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/vagina-museum-camden-london-muff-busters-world-first <p>Muff Busters exhibition begins in Camden in hope of tackling myths on ‘taboo’ body parts</p><p>In a bright indoor space in Camden’s Stables Market, a giant tampon is flanked by giant menstrual cups. Illustrations of female genitalia are dotted around the walls and some underwear is in a glass case.</p><p>This is the <a href="https://www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/pages/exhibitions">world’s first vagina museum</a> dedicated to gynaecological anatomy, which opens this weekend in north-west London.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/vagina-museum-camden-london-muff-busters-world-first">Continue reading...</a> Museums Exhibitions London Biology UK news Women Culture Life and style Science Art and design Fri, 15 Nov 2019 12:03:18 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/nov/15/vagina-museum-camden-london-muff-busters-world-first Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Isabel Infantes/AFP via Getty Images Sarah Marsh 2019-11-15T12:03:18Z https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/nov/16/winter-weight-gain-datablog <p>It turns out temperature plays a big role in affecting appetites and the reason goes a lot deeper than you may think</p><p>I have spent this morning checking my fridge as frequently as a spurned lover checking their phone. I am similarly disappointed at what I find.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/nov/09/coca-cola-world-biggest-plastics-polluter-again-datablog">Coca-Cola is world's biggest plastics polluter – again | Mona Chalabi</a> </p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/nov/16/winter-weight-gain-datablog">Continue reading...</a> Winter Health Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2019/nov/16/winter-weight-gain-datablog Photograph: Mona Chalabi/The Guardian Photograph: Mona Chalabi/The Guardian Mona Chalabi in New York 2019-11-16T06:00:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/a-letter-to-our-neighbours-with-a-baby <p>‘A single layer of brick was our only protection from months of nightly screaming’: the letter you always wanted to write</p><p>It’s been three years, and your child is now a lively and boisterous toddler. I hear her shouting with glee and running around until there is a crash, and then I hear your voices through our shared walls, scolding or soothing depending on the mishap. I don’t doubt you’re good parents. There seems to be a lot of love in your household.</p><p>My wife and I are childless through choice, but we have never judged anyone’s decision to become parents. This was tested to the limit when we moved in next door to you, only a few days before your daughter was born.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/a-letter-to-our-neighbours-with-a-baby">Continue reading...</a> Family Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:45:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/a-letter-to-our-neighbours-with-a-baby Composite: Getty Composite: Getty Anonymous 2019-11-16T06:45:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/tim-dowling-killed-keyboard-will-squirrel-be-next <p>‘Are you challenging me?’ I say to my enemy. ‘Because I’m in a mood to accept’</p><p>With a deadline looming and the morning fast evaporating, I am standing on a box in the cupboard where the washing machine is, looking for a can of plastic cleaning spray I bought two years ago.</p><p>“Ah-ha!” I say.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/tim-dowling-killed-keyboard-will-squirrel-be-next">Continue reading...</a> Family Life and style Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:30 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/tim-dowling-killed-keyboard-will-squirrel-be-next Photograph: baona/Getty Images/iStockphoto Photograph: baona/Getty Images/iStockphoto Tim Dowling 2019-11-16T06:00:30Z https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/jamiacan-father-raf-hero- <p>My Welsh mother met my father during the war. From childhood, I have grown to dread the question: ‘Where are you from?’<br></p><p>I was in primary school the first time it happened. The boy who sat at the desk to my right – the one who used to pinch my arm whenever the teacher’s back was turned – finished talking about his father’s war experience of heat and flies and deserts while driving tanks across Egypt, and looked at me smugly as if to say, “Beat that.” It was my turn to describe my father’s contribution to the war effort. I stated clearly that my father served in the RAF. On the piano at home stood a photograph of a young man in RAF uniform, with an enigmatic smile, head tilted at a slightly rakish and daredevil angle, holding a pipe in his hand. In my eyes he was the epitome of wartime British heroism.</p><p>Before I could describe the photograph, I was interrupted by the teacher who told me to sit and listen carefully. I sat. The entire class was stunned. Silenced by her anger, they stared at me, the culprit, as the teacher issued a warning about the dire consequences of telling lies. She insisted that there were no “coloured” people in Britain during the war, that no coloured people served in any of the armed services, and certainly not in the RAF, the most elite branch of the British military.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/jamiacan-father-raf-hero-">Continue reading...</a> Family Race Life and style Windrush scandal UK news World news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 06:00:29 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/nov/16/jamiacan-father-raf-hero- Photograph: Michel Huneault/The Guardian Photograph: Michel Huneault/The Guardian Hazel Carby 2019-11-16T06:00:29Z https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/greta-thunberg-sparks-surge-in-sailboat-hitchhiking <p>Since climate campaigner’s transatlantic adventures, more people are looking to travel by sail</p><p>Hitching a ride on a sailing boat across the Atlantic might sound like a far-fetched endeavour reserved for the famous and well-connected. But Greta Thunberg has now <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/nov/13/greta-thunberg-to-hitch-a-ride-to-europe-with-australian-youtube-influencers">managed it twice in three months</a> – and her antics appear to be inspiring a growing, if nascent, movement in sail-hitching.</p><p>Maritime hitchhiking has hitherto been reserved for sailors looking for experience on different routes and vessels.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/greta-thunberg-sparks-surge-in-sailboat-hitchhiking">Continue reading...</a> World news Travel and transport Environment Water transport Greta Thunberg Fri, 15 Nov 2019 11:30:32 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/15/greta-thunberg-sparks-surge-in-sailboat-hitchhiking Photograph: Greta Thunberg Handout/EPA Photograph: Greta Thunberg Handout/EPA Jessica Murray 2019-11-15T11:30:32Z https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/nov/16/20-photographs-of-the-week <p>Bushfires in New South Wales, protests in Chile and Iraq, escalating violence in Hong Kong and floods in Venice – the best photography in news, culture and sport from around the world this week</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/nov/16/20-photographs-of-the-week">Continue reading...</a> News photography Photography Art and design Culture World news Sat, 16 Nov 2019 08:45:58 GMT https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/nov/16/20-photographs-of-the-week Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP/Reuters Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP/Reuters Jim Powell 2019-11-16T08:45:58Z