Nuclear submarine deal with Australia draws criticism from allies and China amid fears of conflict
Britain and the US are battling to contain an international backlash over a nuclear submarine pact struck with Australia amid concerns that the alliance could provoke China and prompt conflict in the Pacific.
Boris Johnson told MPs that the Aukus defence agreement was ?€?not intended to be adversarial?€? to China. But Beijing accused the three countries of adopting a ?€?cold war mentality?€? and warned they would harm their own interests unless it was dropped.
Minister reveals plans to change laws inherited from EU, with rules on medical devices also in crosshairs
Rules on genetically modified farming, medical devices and vehicle standards will be top of a bonfire of laws inherited from the EU as the government seeks to change legislation automatically transferred to the UK after Brexit.
Thousands of laws and regulations are to be reviewed, modified or repealed under a new programme aimed at cementing the UK?€?s independence and ?€?Brexit opportunities?€?, David Frost has announced.
New efforts will let vast amounts of false material slip through the cracks, according to climate advocates
Facebook has announced new efforts to combat climate crisis misinformation on its platform, including by expanding its climate science center to provide more reliable information, investing in organizations that fight misinformation, and launching a video series to highlight young climate advocates on Facebook and Instagram.
But critics say the new push, announced on Thursday, falls short and will allow vast amounts of climate misinformation to slip through the cracks.
Drawing has been in private hands since around 1910 and is now going on display in Amsterdam
A pencil drawing of a broken old man, head in hands looking utterly exhausted, has been identified as a work by Vincent van Gogh.
The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam said on Thursday that it had authenticated the drawing as being the work of the man himself. Teio Meedendorp, a senior researcher at the museum, said it was a ?€?spectacular?€? discovery shining light on Van Gogh?€?s early career as an artist living in The Hague, a time less well known than his years in Paris or the south of France.
The new international trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, has been accused of rejecting the science behind the climate emergency after a series of tweets came to light showing her dismissing those who believe in global heating as ?€?fanatics?€?.
Labour has condemned the appointment of Trevelyan, who was elevated from junior business minister, which took in the brief of promoting clean growth, to replace Liz Truss, the new foreign secretary, as part of Boris Johnson?€?s reshuffle on Wednesday.
Michael Sussmann is second person to be indicted in William Barr-ordered investigation of the investigators
An attorney who represented Hillary Clinton?€?s 2016 presidential campaign was indicted on Thursday for lying to the FBI.
The development was part of special counsel John Durham?€?s ongoing examination of the origins of the FBI?€?s investigation into ties between Russia and former US president Donald Trump?€?s election campaign.
Tools and bones in Moroccan cave could be some of earliest evidence of the hallmark human behaviour
From the medieval fashion for pointy shoes to Victorian waist-squeezing corsets and modern furry onesies, what we wear is a window to our past.
Now researchers say they have found some of the earliest evidence of humans using clothing in a cave in Morocco, with the discovery of bone tools and bones from skinned animals suggesting the practice dates back at least 120,000 years.
Prince?€?s lawyer claims settlement between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein shields him from sexual assault lawsuit
Prince Andrew can request the unsealing of a 2009 settlement agreement that his lawyer claims protects him from a lawsuit alleging he sexually assaulted a girl two decades ago, a US judge in New York has said.
Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan said in a written order on Thursday that the prince could seek the information to support arguments that the agreement between Virginia Giuffre and Jeffrey Epstein disallows her lawsuit against the prince.
Residents of Shoal Lake 40 can drink from taps thanks to a new water treatment facility but dozens of communities lack access
Residents of a First Nations community in Canada, who were deprived of clean drinking water for nearly a quarter of a century, can now drink from their taps after a water treatment facility became fully operational earlier this week.
Shoal Lake 40, a community on the Manitoba-Ontario border, has been under drinking water advisory since 1997.
A volunteer with the New York City Audubon found nearly 300 carcasses littering the sidewalks below the World Trade Center
Hundreds of birds migrating through New York City this week died after crashing into the city?€?s glass towers, a mass casualty event spotlighted by a New York City Audubon volunteer?€?s tweets showing the World Trade Center littered with bird carcasses.
This week?€?s avian death toll was particularly high, but bird strikes on Manhattan skyscrapers are a persistent problem that NYC Audubon has documented for years, said Kaitlyn Parkins, the group?€?s associate director of conservation and science.
Creator of the landmark ZX Spectrum and the less commercially successful C5 died after a long illness
Sir Clive Sinclair, the inventor and entrepreneur who was instrumental in bringing home computers to the masses, has died at the age of 81.
His daughter, Belinda, said he died at home in London on Thursday morning after a long illness. Sinclair invented the pocket calculator but was best known for popularising the home computer, bringing it to British high-street stores at relatively affordable prices.
Children and adolescents who are infected with Covid-19 rarely have symptoms that last for longer than 12 weeks, according to a review of international research.
The review, published in the Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, suggests that long Covid in children and adolescents is less common than previously feared.
Premier Jason Kennedy admits ?€?we were wrong -and, for that, I apologize?€? as he warns ICU beds may run out in 10 days
Alberta?€?s premier has announced sweeping new restrictions to combat the spread of the coronavirus, admitting the Canadian province was gripped by a ?€?crisis of the unvaccinated?€?.
The new measures marked a major reversal from Jason Kenney?€?s hands-off approach to the pandemic previously, and come amid warnings from frontline medical workers that the province?€?s healthcare system is on the verge of collapse.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has said dozens of people in his inner circle at the Kremlin have tested positive for coronavirus, which has affected more than 7 million people in the badly-hit country.
Earlier this week, the 68-year-old Putin said he was self-isolating after announcing an outbreak among members of his entourage.
An anti-vaxxer mother and her daughter died just days apart in a Belfast hospital after they contracted Covid-19, leaving their family ?€?devastated?€?.
The BBC reported that Sammie-Jo Forde, 32, died in the Ulster hospital on Saturday, where she had been treated on the same ward as her mother, Heather Maddern, 55, who died on 31 August.
James Risch questioned the secretary of state about an official supposedly able to mute the president - ?€?Who is that person??€?
The secretary of state, Antony Blinken, fought back laughter on Capitol Hill on Tuesday as the Republican senator James Risch relentlessly questioned him about a rumor that someone on the White House staff ?€?pushes the button and cuts [Joe Biden] off mid-sentence?€? with a wireless device.
?€?Somebody in the White House has authority to press the button and cut off the president?€?s speaking ability and sound. Who is that person??€? asked Risch, who was also former lieutenant governor of Idaho.
As she celebrates her engagement and fights for her autonomy, we celebrate the best of an artist who helped to define 21st-century pop
Spears previously flirted with dubstep on 2007?€?s Blackout, but it was Hold It Against Me that dragged the then-underground dance music into the mainstream. A decade later, and its blistering amalgamation of industrial EDM and saccharine pop melodies still feels every bit as audacious and innovative.
Amid the complex web of international trade, proving the authenticity of a product can be near-impossible. But one company is taking the search to the atomic level
Five years ago, the textile giant Welspun found itself mired in a scandal that hinged on a single word: ?€?Egyptian?€?. At the time, Welspun was manufacturing more than 45m metres of cotton sheets every year - enough to tie a ribbon around the Earth and still have fabric left over for a giant bow. It supplied acres of bed linen to the likes of Walmart and Target, and among the most expensive were those advertised as ?€?100% Egyptian cotton?€?. For decades, cotton from Egypt has claimed a reputation for being the world?€?s finest, its fibres so long and silky that it can be spun into soft, luxurious cloth. In Welpsun?€?s label, the word ?€?Egyptian?€? was a boast and a promise.
But the label couldn?€?t always be trusted, it turned out. In 2016, Target carried out an internal investigation that led to a startling discovery: roughly 750,000 of its Welspun ?€?Egyptian cotton?€? sheets and pillowcases were made with an inferior kind of cotton that didn?€?t come from Egypt at all. After Target offered its customers refunds and ended its relationship with Welspun, the effects rippled through the industry. Other retailers, checking their bed linen, also found Welspun sheets falsely claiming to be Egyptian cotton. Walmart, which was sued by shoppers who had bought Welspun?€?s ?€?Egyptian cotton?€? products, refused to stock Welspun sheets any more. A week after Target made its discoveries public, Welspun had lost more than $700m from its market value. It was cataclysmic for the company.
Armin Laschet and Olaf Scholz face their toughest grilling of campaign at the hands of two 11-year-olds
When Germany elects a new government on 26 September the average voter age may be over 50, but a week and a half before polling day it is children who are asking the hard questions of the candidates who want to fill Angela Merkel?€?s shoes.
Armin Laschet, of the outgoing chancellor?€?s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and Olaf Scholz, of the centre-left Social Democratic party (SPD), were both left shifting in their seats in what has been hailed as their toughest grilling of the campaign trail - at the hands of two 11-year-olds.
One was a young footballer, another a dentist. Their shocking deaths haunt the families who could not stop their desperate bids to escape
When Zaki Anwari scaled the fence of Kabul airport, he was determined to escape. The 17-year-old footballer with the Afghan national youth team had taken a break from studying maths for his exams to accompany his brother as he tried to catch a flight. Zaki had always told his family he was not interested in going abroad, unless he could return to Afghanistan.
But the Taliban takeover had changed things. Zaki did not have a passport but, as night fell on Kabul after the Taliban took control of the city, he told his brother Zakir that he wanted to leave. Zakir did his best to talk him out of it, but he would not let go of the idea.
Ruling on Duke of Edinburgh's will made to protect ?€?dignity?€? of Queen and her constitutional role
The Duke of Edinburgh?€?s will is to remain secret to protect the ?€?dignity?€? of the Queen because of her constitutional role, the high court has ruled. Philip - the nation?€?s longest-serving consort - died aged 99 on 9 April, just two months before he would have turned 100.
After the death of a senior member of the royal family, it has been convention for over a century that an application to seal their will is made to the president of the family division of the high court. This means the wills of senior members of the royal family are not open to public inspection in the way a will would ordinarily be.
Quarterly figures issued on Thursday showed just over 6.1m applications had been received for the scheme that gives EU citizens, EEA nationals and their families the right to live, work, study or retire in the UK if they were in the country at the time of the EU referendum in 2016.
She was groomed as a child and has endured trauma - and to say she now ?€?looks western?€? is an insult to British Muslims
Dr Gina Vale is a senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation
In her first live interview since joining Islamic State (IS), on ITV?€?s Good Morning Britain, 22-year-old Shamima Begum made her latest appeal to return to the UK. She is one of over 6,000 minors who became affiliated with IS, but ever since the grainy CCTV pictures emerged of her leaving the UK with two east London schoolmates in 2015, her case has captured international media attention.
Begum?€?s case first raises the issue of accountability of minors who become radicalised. At first, media reporting described the three girls as being ?€?lured?€? into IS, comparing their childhood innocence to the monstrosity of their recruiters. The then education secretary, Nicky Morgan, wrote to their school saying, ?€?We hope and pray for the safe return of the pupils?€?. In the rush to explain the fact that young girls could turn away from their lives in Britain to join a terrorist organisation, the ?€?jihadi bride?€? narrative took hold - a catch-all phrase that focuses on girls?€? romantic motives.
York Theatre Royal Tonderai Munyevu reflects on the men who have loomed large in his life in a thought-provoking show
?€?Where are you from??€? It?€?s a question that writer and actor Tonderai Munyevu gets a lot. In the opening moments of Mugabe, My Dad and Me, he recalls it being asked by a white man he was serving in a bar, who went on to offer strong, ill-informed opinions about Munyevu?€?s native Zimbabwe. This show is Munyevu?€?s response.
As the title suggests, it revolves around two men who have loomed large in Munyevu?€?s life, each shaped by Zimbabwe?€?s violent colonial history: controversial former president Robert Mugabe, and Munyevu?€?s heavy-drinking, often absent father. He traces the outlines of their lives both before and after Zimbabwe?€?s independence in 1980, interspersed with his own experience as a member of the diaspora, having moved to the UK as a child. It?€?s an ambitious piece, tackling colonialism, neo-colonialism and different understandings of land, ownership and belonging.
Australia?€?s defence minister says Aukus pact makes region safer and ?€?no amount of propaganda can dismiss the facts?€?
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, has dismissed ?€?outbursts?€? from China over Australia?€?s decision to develop nuclear-powered submarines, as he flagged plans for more US military aircraft to deploy to Australia.
Speaking after talks with the Biden administration in Washington, Dutton said Australia was a ?€?proud democracy in our region?€? and ?€?no amount of propaganda can dismiss the facts?€?.
Scott Morrison will ask state and territory leaders for updates on home quarantine plans, as aged care vaccination mandate comes into force. Follow all the day?€?s news here
Scott Morrison really has been making the rounds this morning. While talking to Melbourne radio station 3AW he hit back at the suggestion that the new submarine would make Australia a nuclear target.
What we?€?ve done is what Australia should do in its national interest.
Australia has to stand up for itself and protect its interests and keep Australians safe.
Do you accept that what?€?s happened here has made China a more significant enemy of Australia?
CBS says it will drop X-Factor-style competition from celebrity-fronted show after widespread criticism
A reality TV show that planned to pit activists against each other in an X-Factor style contest judged by celebrities is to be drastically ?€?reimagined?€? after it sparked a backlash from campaigners.
The Activist, which had been due to air in the US in late October, prompted incredulity among many campaigners and elsewhere when its format was revealed last week, with many labelling it a ?€?tone-deaf?€? distortion of true activists?€? values.
Covid-19 has shown the effectiveness of local partners. If the sector is to respond and rebuild, it must redistribute power
The UK?€?s cut to its aid budget comes to about £4bn a year. Such a dramatic reduction is a blow to many, but most of all to the local organisations who perpetually find themselves last in line for funding.
New research by the Vodafone Foundation reveals that, too often, only a small proportion of philanthropic funding earmarked for African development reaches local, African-led civil society organisations. Instead, most development funding favours intermediaries in the global north and international organisations.
CBS programme has caused a social media storm for its crass choice of format and ill-qualified judges
Producers have billed it as an exciting new twist on reality television: an X-Factor style competition between campaigners that will give them the chance to lobby world leaders at the G20.
But The Activist, a show announced last week by the American network CBS, has already learned to its cost that people power can be unpredictable, ruthless and highly effective.
National disaster declared as crops fail after poor rains and locusts, while ethnic conflicts add to crisis
An estimated 2.1 million Kenyans face starvation due to a drought in half the country, which is affecting harvests.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said people living in 23 counties across the arid north, northeastern and coastal parts of the country will be in ?€?urgent need?€? of food aid over the next six months, after poor rains between March and May this year.
Women around the world are sharing pictures of themselves in traditional colourful clothes in a campaign against the new strict dress code for female students
After street demonstrations across major cities in Afghanistan, women have now taken to social media to protest against the Taliban?€?s hardline policies towards them.
An online campaign has seen Afghan women around the world share photos of themselves wearing traditional colourful clothes, using the hashtag #DoNotTouchMyClothes.
Analysis: the western alliance is the main victim - and China will win out unless US can soothe Paris?€?s anger
Fury in Paris at Australia?€?s decision to tear up plans to buy a French-built fleet of submarines is not only a row about a defence contract, cost overruns and technical specifications. It throws into question the transatlantic alliance to confront China.
The Aukus deal has left the French political class seething at Joe Biden?€?s Trumpian unilateralism, Australian two-facedness and the usual British perfidy. ?€?Nothing was done by sneaking behind anyone?€?s back,?€? assured the British defence minister, Ben Wallace, in an attempt to soothe the row. But that is not the view in Paris. ?€?This is an enormous disappointment,?€? said Florence Parly, the French defence minister.
Following the decision by the US president, Joe Biden, to introduce a vaccine mandate for millions of workers, and the UK government?€?s decision to row back on its push to require vaccine passports for nightclubs and other crowded events, where does the issue of insisting on vaccination stand globally?
Protests, citizens?€? assemblies, local referendums and mutual aid groups are pushing back against attacks on civil society
The past decade has been a bruising one for the health of European democracy. The dramatic authoritarian turns in Hungary and Poland have attracted most attention, but nearly all European governments have chipped away at civil liberties, judicial independence and civil society.
With Covid accentuating many of the challenges posed by populism, disinformation and a collapse in public trust, the narrative of democracy labouring in deep crisis is now well established. Yet as the threats have mounted, so have efforts to defend and rethink Europe?€?s democratic practices.
For those who study the history of the cold war, Washington?€?s new initiative with London and Canberra - known by its acronym ?€?Aukus?€? - has overtones of the name UKUSA, an intelligence-sharing agreement signed 75 years ago now more commonly known as the Five Eyes partnership.
When the seven-page full text of UKUSA agreement was finally released in June 2010, Time magazine called it one of the cold war?€?s most important documents that ?€?reveals one of the foundations of the special relationship the UK and the US still hold dear?€?.
France has expressed fury over Australia?€?s surprise decision to scrap a huge submarine deal in favour of nuclear-powered subs from the US, describing it as a 'stab in the back' from Canberra and a strain on its friendly relationship with Washington. 'We had established a relationship of trust with Australia, this trust has been betrayed,' said the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian
China has launched an emergency response after a 6.0-magnitude earthquake jolted the south-western province of Sichuan on Thursday, killing at least three people. A total of 6,904 people have been evacuated and dozens injured, according to state media reports
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern says her country was ?€?not approached?€? to be part of a new security pact between Australia, the UK and US. ?€?Nor would I expect us to be,?€? she adds. ?€?The anchor of this arrangement are nuclear-powered submarines and it will be very clear to all New Zealanders and to Australia why New Zealand would not wish to be a part of that project.' Since the mid-1980s, New Zealand has had a strict policy keeping its territorial sea, land and airspace as nuclear-free zones
The US, the UK and Australia have announced they are setting up a trilateral security partnership aimed at confronting China, which will include helping Australia to build nuclear-powered submarines. US President Joe Biden, UK prime minister Boris Johnson and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison announced the deal together virtually
California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, has successfully fended off an effort to oust him from office in a special election. He overcame a Republican campaign to unseat him over his liberal policies on immigration, Covid-19 and crime.
Newsom, a first-term governor beset by challenges including the pandemic, extreme drought and severe wildfires, boosted turnout among Democrats with a flurry of late campaigning. In the final days of the race, he appeared alongside President Joe Biden and the vice-president, Kamala Harris, who formerly represented California as a US senator and attorney general
NSW has marked its most deadly day so far during the Delta outbreak with 12 Covid-19 deaths however the case numbers have continued to stabilise with 1,259 cases, 'We?€?ve seen a stabilisation in the last few days and we don?€?t want to see that trend go the wrong way', said premier Gladys Berejiklian. The state also hit its 80% target of over 16-years-olds receiving their first dose of Covid vaccine which has meant NSW Health has lifted the curfew in the Sydney LGAs of concern. Berejiklian also reinforced her message that any further easing of restrictions in the future will only be available to those fully vaccinated saying 'there is no grey area. It's very black and white'
Outlining the government's winter Covid-19 plan, Boris Johnson said the government will 'will keep further measures in reserve. A plan B.' These measures include face masks, advice to work from home and vaccine passports, the prime minister said.
Speaking at a No 10 press conference, Johnson added that 'it might still make the difference between keeping businesses open at full capacity or not'
Large number of US citizens demonstrated against the war in Iraq (and the possible war in Iran) during this October weekend. Massive turnout in Boston and San Fransisco, and also in Chicago, LA and DC people took to the streets. The message was: NO more war in Iraq! NO to a war with Iran!
