Qerro Media Service - QMS: November 2021

The 50 best albums of 2021: 50-41

Our countdown opens with a list of LPs that includes Gojira’s climate-crisis rally-cry and an uplifting house full-length from US producer Eris Drew

This list is drawn from votes by Guardian music critics – each critic votes for their Top 20 albums, with points allocated for each placing. Check in every weekday to see our next picks, and please share your own favourite albums of 2021 in the comments below.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/30/the-50-best-albums-of-2021

Jill Biden decks the White House halls for Christmas – in pictures

The theme for the 2021 White House holiday season is Gifts from the Heart. According to Jill Biden’s office, about 6,000ft of ribbon, more than 300 candles and more than 10,000 ornaments were used this year to decorate. There are also 41 Christmas trees throughout the White House

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/gallery/2021/nov/30/white-house-christmas-decorations-pictures-gallery

At the stroke of midnight Barbados becomes the world’s newest republic

President Sandra Mason was sworn in at a ceremony in the capital Bridgetown attended by Prince Charles and the singer Rihanna

After 396 years, the sun has set on the British monarchy’s reign over the Caribbean island of Barbados, with a handover ceremony at midnight on Monday marking the birth of the world’s newest republic.

As the clock struck 12, the Royal Standard flag representing the Queen was lowered over a crowded Heroes Square in Bridgetown and Carol Roberts-Reifer, chief executive officer of the National Cultural Foundation, made the declaration of Barbados’ transition to its new constitutional status.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/at-the-stroke-of-midnight-barbados-becomes-the-worlds-newest-republic

World’s vast networks of underground fungi to be mapped for first time

Project aims to help protect some of trillions of miles of the ‘circulatory system of the planet’

Vast networks of underground fungi – the “circulatory system of the planet” – are to be mapped for the first time, in an attempt to protect them from damage and improve their ability to absorb and store carbon dioxide.

Fungi use carbon to build networks in the soil, which connect to plant roots and act as nutrient “highways”, exchanging carbon from plant roots for nutrients. For instance, some fungi are known to supply 80% of phosphorus to their host plants.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/nov/30/worlds-vast-networks-of-underground-fungi-to-be-mapped-for-first-time

Despite reports of milder symptoms Omicron should not be understimated

While anecdotal accounts suggest the variant may cause less severe illness and it will take weeks for definitive data

As the world scrambles to contain the new variant, some are hopefully seizing on anecdotal reports from South Africa that it may cause only mild illness. But although previous variants of the coronavirus have been associated with different symptoms and severity, it would be dangerous to assume that Omicron is a viral pussy cat, experts say.

At a briefing convened by South Africa’s Department of Health on Monday, Unben Pillay, a GP from practising in Midrand on the outskirts of Johannesburg, said that while “it is still early days” the cases he was seeing were typically mild: “We are seeing patients present with dry cough, fever, night sweats and a lot of body pains. Vaccinated people tend to do much better.”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/despite-reports-of-milder-symptoms-omicron-should-not-be-understimated

Morrison urges states to ‘not get spooked’ by Omicron and keep borders open for Christmas

Prime minister says ‘we’re not going back to lockdowns’ ahead of national cabinet meeting

Scott Morrison has urged state premiers to “not get spooked” by the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and hold their nerve on internal border closures, while attempting to assure Australians their plans for a more normal Christmas remain on track.

The prime minister will meet with premiers and territory chief ministers at a national cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, as NSW Health said it had detected a likely fifth case of the new variant in the state. The Northern Territory confirmed a case on Monday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/30/morrison-urges-states-to-not-get-spooked-by-omicron-and-keep-borders-open-for-christmas

Who is New Zealand’s new opposition leader Christopher Luxon?

The former Air New Zealand boss is a relative newcomer to politics but has consistently registered in ‘preferred prime minister’ polling

New Zealand has a new leader for its opposition, and – the party hopes – a new challenger to the enduring popularity of Labour’s Jacinda Ardern. The National party is pinning its hopes on Christopher Luxon, a former airline boss and a teetotaller, country music fan, waterskier, relative political unknown and – somewhat unusually for New Zealand politics – an evangelical Christian.

Luxon is the latest in a string of National leaders and will be tasked with uniting a party long plagued by poor polling, minor scandals and political infighting.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/who-is-new-zealands-new-opposition-leader-christopher-luxon

Jussie Smollett was ‘real victim’ of racist attack, lawyer says as trial begins

Ex-Empire actor is accused of hiring two men to fake an attack in Chicago but new evidence could support Smollett’s defense

Jussie Smollett “is a real victim” of a “real crime,” his attorney said in opening statements at the ex-Empire actor’s trial Monday, rejecting prosecutors’ allegation that he staged a homophobic and racist attack in Chicago.

Defense attorney Nenye Uche said two brothers attacked Smollett in January 2019 because they didn’t like him, and that a $3,500 check the actor paid the men was for training so he could prepare for an upcoming music video, not as payment for staging a hate crime, as prosecutors allege. Uche also suggested a third attacker was involved and told jurors there is not a “shred” of physical and forensic evidence linking Smollett to the crime prosecutors allege.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/29/jussie-smollett-trial-racist-attack

New Zealand’s National party anoints ex-airline boss Chris Luxon as leader

Luxon, who has spent just a year in parliament, will be the party’s fifth leader in as many years after he replaced Judith Collins

New Zealand’s opposition has announced a new leader, former airline boss Christopher Luxon, after its leader Judith Collins flamed out of the role last week.

The National party emerged from its caucus meeting on Tuesday to announce Luxon, a political novice and former Air New Zealand chief executive, would be taking the party’s helm. He will be National’s fifth leader in as many years, and will work alongside deputy Nicola Willis. The party was forced into a new leadership vote last week, after leader Judith Collins self-destructed in an ill-fated attempt to take down political rival Simon Bridges.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/new-zealands-national-party-anoints-ex-airline-boss-chris-luxon-as-leader

Australia accused of trying to block Unesco process that could put Great Barrier Reef in danger list

A dozen countries block Morrison government’s ‘highly inappropriate’ push to suspend process for adding sites to world heritage ‘in danger’ list

A dozen countries have accused the Australian government of trying to hit pause on a process that could still lead to the Great Barrier Reef being placed on a list of world heritage sites “in danger”.

But a global climate change policy to guide how more than 190 countries deal with the crisis affecting some of the world’s most special places, couldn’t be agreed on at a major international meeting in Paris.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/30/australia-tries-to-pause-unesco-process-that-can-force-climate-action-to-protect-great-barrier-reef

Who is Parag Agrawal? The new Twitter CEO replacing Jack Dorsey

The relatively unknown chief technology officer faces a political minefield in one of Silicon Valley’s top jobs

Jack Dorsey has stepped down as CEO of Twitter and passed the baton to the relatively unknown executive Parag Agrawal.

Agrawal, who has been with the company for 10 years – most recently as chief technology officer – has emerged from behind the scenes to take over one of Silicon Valley’s highest-profile and politically volatile jobs. But who is he, and what can we expect for Twitter under his leadership?

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source https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/29/who-is-parag-agrawal-new-twitter-ceo

Vale David Dalaithngu: the inimitable actor who changed the movies, and changed us

The star has left behind a profound body of work – and a permanent, inimitable impression on his industry

In the 1976 classic Storm Boy, the great Yolŋu actor David Dalaithngu delivers a line that became immortalised in Australian cinema. “Bird like him, never die,” he says, describing the pelican Mr Percival.

The substance of that line can apply to the man himself, who will live on through the light and shadow of the cinema, on to which he left a permanent and inimitable impression.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/30/vale-david-dalaithngu-the-inimitable-actor-who-changed-the-movies-and-changed-us

Covid news live: WHO warns Omicron poses ‘very high’ risk, new variant detected in at least one dozen countries

The ‘highly mutated’ Omicron variant poses a very high global risk of infection surges, the WHO says; Sweden, Spain and Portugal are the latest countries to confirm the presence of the new variant

UK to ramp up Covid booster jabs and halve minimum gap to 3 months
Omicron variant prompts nervous governments to impose travel curbs
China president Xi Jinping pledges 1b Covid vaccine doses for Africa
Biden says Omicron Covid variant a ‘cause for concern, not panic’
South African scientists explore vaccines’ effectiveness against Omicron
See all our coronavirus coverage

Hi everyone, it’s Samantha Lock here, ready to take you through all the new Covid developments this Tuesday.

It’s been a busy past few days on the Covid front with nations racing to close borders and reimpose restrictions after a new Covid variant was detected last week.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/nov/30/covid-news-live-who-warns-omicron-poses-very-high-risk-new-variant-detected-in-at-least-a-dozen-countries

Susan Neill-Fraser loses latest appeal against murder conviction

Two out of three judges concluded evidence presented was ‘not fresh, not compelling’

Convicted murderer Susan Neill-Fraser has lost her latest bid for freedom, with a Tasmanian court dismissing the Hobart woman’s appeal.

The 67-year-old was found guilty in 2010 of murdering Bob Chappell on the couple’s yacht while it was moored off Hobart on Australia Day the year prior.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/30/susan-neill-fraser-loses-latest-appeal-against-conviction

Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar court set to deliver first verdict on deposed leader

Ousted leader could be jailed for three years if found guilty of incitement against military, and faces a range of other charges

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to hear the verdict in her incitement trial on Tuesday, the first judgment from her many junta court cases that could see her jailed for decades.

The Nobel laureate has been detained since the generals ousted her government in the early hours of 1 February, ending the south-east Asian country’s brief democratic interlude.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-court-set-to-deliver-first-verdict-on-deposed-leader

Queen congratulates Barbados as it becomes a republic

Monarch sends message marking ‘momentous’ day and wishing Barbadians peace and prosperity

As Barbados removes the Queen as its head of state and becomes a republic, the monarch has sent her congratulations on the nation’s “momentous” day.

Prince Charles arrived on the Caribbean island on Sunday to join the inauguration ceremony of the president-elect, Sandra Mason, who replaces the Queen as head of state overnight as Barbados sheds the vestiges of a colonial system stretching back 400 years.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/30/queen-congratulates-barbados-as-it-becomes-a-republic

Lego gives its 20,000 employees three days extra holiday after profits rise 140%

Pandemic lockdowns and continued expansion in China helped the Danish company to continue building its global toy empire

Lego, the world’s largest toymaker, has awarded its 20,000 employees three extra days of holiday and a special bonus after a year of bumper revenues.

The succession of pandemic-forced lockdowns has seen demand for Lego’s signature plastic bricks soar alongside a rapid expansion in China.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/30/lego-gives-its-20000-employees-three-days-extra-holiday-after-profits-rise-140

Covid: UK aims for 500,000 jabs a day in bid to outpace Omicron variant

Ministers to ramp up vaccinations to 3.5m a week as minimum gap for boosters is halved to three months

Ministers are targeting a return to half a million UK Covid jabs a day as the waiting time for boosters was cut to three months in a bid to outpace the Omicron variant that scientists believe is already spreading in the community.

Confirmed Omicron cases rose to 11 in England and Scotland on Monday, with scientific advisers braced for hundreds more to be detected in the next week or so.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/covid-uk-aims-500000-jabs-a-day-in-bid-to-outpace-omicron-variant

MI6 will need to be ‘more open to stay secret’, spy chief to say

Richard Moore expected to admit agency cannot develop tools in house to counter emerging technological threats

MI6 will have to become “more open to stay secret” and work with tech companies to counter threats posed by China and Russia who seek to gain advantage by mastering artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

In his first speech as the foreign spy agency’s head on Tuesday, Richard Moore is expected to admit that “unlike Q in the Bond movies”, MI6 cannot develop the tools it needs in house to counter hybrid physical and virtual threats.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/30/mi6-will-need-to-be-more-open-to-stay-secret-spy-chief-to-say

Taiwan thanks Australian PM and defence minister for grim warning over China

Taiwan says Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton’s comments reiterated the ‘need to guard against the use of Chinese force’

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Taiwan has expressed “sincere gratitude” to the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, and his defence minister for their warnings against Beijing ratcheting up military pressure against the self-ruled island.

Peter Dutton used a significant speech on Friday to argue “dark clouds” were forming and the world should not repeat “the mistakes of the 1930s” while arguing China was expanding its military at a rapid rate and saw countries across the region as “tributary states”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/30/taiwan-thanks-australian-pm-and-defence-minister-for-grim-warning-over-china

Reporter denies William tacitly approved leak of Meghan bullying claims

In BBC documentary, Times journalist Valentine Low plays down rumours of briefing war between royal brothers

Allegations that the Duchess of Sussex had “bullied” two members of staff at Kensington Palace were “absolutely not” leaked with Prince William’s tacit approval, according to the journalist who reported them.

The final part of a controversial BBC documentary on the relationship between Prince William, Prince Harry and the media examined allegations of a briefing war between the brothers.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/29/reporter-denies-william-approved-leak-meghan-bullying-claims

Bill Cosby: prosecutors ask US supreme court to review case against comedian

Lawyers ask court to review ruling that overturned Cosby’s conviction, arguing it could set a dangerous precedent

Prosecutors asked the US supreme court to review the ruling that overturned Bill Cosby’s conviction, arguing in a petition Monday that a decision announced in a press release does not give a defendant lifetime immunity.

Prosecutors said the ruling could set a dangerous precedent if convictions are overturned over dubious closed-door deals. They have also complained that the chief judge of Pennsylvania’s high court appeared to misstate key facts of the case when he discussed the court ruling that overturned Cosby’s conviction in a television interview.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/bill-cosby-prosecutors-ask-us-supreme-court-review-case

Whistleblower tells inquiry of ‘shocking’ abuse at immigration detention centre

Former officer who filmed undercover footage at Brook House, says managers were complicit

A shocking culture of abuse by staff towards detainees at Brook House immigration detention centre was described by a whistleblower giving evidence to a public inquiry into widespread mistreatmeant of detainees at the G4S-run site.

The former Brook House officer Callum Tulley described repeatedly witnessing abusive behaviour by officers towards detainees, and told the inquiry that he was so disturbed by it that he had felt compelled to contact the BBC and begin undercover filming at the centre.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/29/whistleblower-gives-evidence-at-brook-house-inquiry

14in MacBook Pro review: putting power back in Apple’s laptop

New M1 Pro and Max chips, larger screen, long battery life and more ports make for huge upgrade

Apple’s MacBook Pro has been given its biggest upgrade in power, ports and screen quality since 2016, ticking almost every box on the wishlist of eager Mac users.

But the new 14in and 16in models are no longer machines for the average consumer. Costing from £1,899 ($1,999 or A$2,999) they are workstation laptops for creative pros and developers and priced accordingly. They leave the excellent £999 M1 MacBook Air as Apple’s foremost consumer laptop.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/nov/29/14in-macbook-pro-review-apple-laptop-m1-pro-max-screen

Greenpeace: half a century on the frontline of environmental photo activism

On the organisation’s 50th anniversary, former head of photography at Greenpeace International talks about the motives behind the creation of its picture desk

Fifty years ago, on 15 September 1971, a ship named the Greenpeace set out to confront and stop US nuclear weapons testing at Amchitka, one of the Aleutian Islands in south-west Alaska.

Two years later a small boat called the Vega, crewed by David McTaggart, Ann-Marie Horne, Mary Horne and Nigel Ingram sailed into the French nuclear test site area at Moruroa, French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. Photographers had been using their images for years to publicise situations around the world. But Greenpeace was a young organisation pioneering a new kind of activism: this was the moment they began to realise that capturing images of what they were doing and seeing would play a vital role in their work.

Vega boarded by French commandos in Moruroa, 1973

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/29/greenpeace-half-a-century-on-the-frontline-of-environmental-photo-activism

Nurdles: the worst toxic waste you’ve probably never heard of

Billions of these tiny plastic pellets are floating in the ocean, causing as much damage as oil spills, yet they are still not classified as hazardous

When the X-Press Pearl container ship caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean in May, Sri Lanka was terrified that the vessel’s 350 tonnes of heavy fuel oil would spill into the ocean, causing an environmental disaster for the country’s pristine coral reefs and fishing industry.

Classified by the UN as Sri Lanka’s “worst maritime disaster”, the biggest impact was not caused by the heavy fuel oil. Nor was it the hazardous chemicals on board, which included nitric acid, caustic soda and methanol. The most “significant” harm, according to the UN, came from the spillage of 87 containers full of lentil-sized plastic pellets: nurdles.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/29/nurdles-plastic-pellets-environmental-ocean-spills-toxic-waste-not-classified-hazardous

Hybrid warfare: weaponised migration – in pictures

Thousands of migrants, most of them from Iraq and Syria, have attempted to cross the EU border since the summer. The development appeared to signal an escalation of a crisis in which the regime of Belarus’s Alexander Lukashenko has encouraged migrants to illegally enter the EU, at first through Lithuania and Latvia. The two Baltic states, along with Poland, are accusing Lukashenko of ‘hybrid warfare’

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2021/nov/29/hybrid-warfare-weaponised-migration-in-pictures

What will US’s future look like if abortion becomes a crime again?

As Roe v Wade faces a direct challenge, criminal defense attorneys, prosecutors, local judges and cops begin to lay out what it would look like to criminalize abortion

In the early 1970s, law enforcement leaders in Chicago decided the practice of illegal abortion was intolerable in their city and, in a mostly forgotten chapter of history, undertook a campaign to root out those who performed the procedure in secret.

On a tip, police turned their attention to “Call Jane”, a feminist collective of young women who, since 1965, had provided safe but illegal abortions to roughly 3,000 Chicagoans per year. The collective was raided after two Catholic women told police their sister-in-law planned to have an abortion performed by the group.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/29/us-abortion-supreme-court-roe-v-wade

Nursing unions around world call for UN action on Covid vaccine patents

Bodies in 28 countries file appeal for waiver of intellectual property agreement and end to ‘grossly unjust’ distribution of jabs

Nursing unions in 28 countries have filed a formal appeal with the United Nations over the refusal of the UK, EU and others to temporarily waive patents for Covid vaccines, saying this has cost huge numbers of lives in developing nations.

The letter, sent on Monday on behalf of unions representing more than 2.5 million healthcare workers, said staff have witnessed at first hand the “staggering numbers of deaths and the immense suffering caused by political inaction”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/nursing-unions-around-world-call-for-un-action-on-covid-vaccine-patents

Nelson, BLM, and new voices: how Barbados came to cut its ties to crown

Michael Safi reports from the ground as island nation prepares to declare itself a republic

The first time, he stumbled on it by accident, after following a dirt track through fields of sugar cane that came to a clearing. There was a sign, Hakeem Ward remembers, beneath which someone had left an offering.

“The sign said it was a slave burial ground,” he says. “We went and Googled it, and then I realised it was actually one of the biggest slave burial grounds in the western hemisphere.”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/nelson-blm-and-new-voices-how-barbados-came-to-cut-ties-to-crown

‘I owe an enormous debt to therapy!’ Rita Moreno on West Side Story, dating Brando and joy at 90

She overcame racism and abuse to break Hollywood, romanced Brando, dated Elvis to make him jealous, fought hard for civil rights and won an Egot. Now in her 10th decade, she is busier and happier than ever

Rita Moreno pops up on my computer screen in a bright red hat, huge pendant necklace and tortoiseshell glasses. “Well, here I am in my full glory,” she says from her home in Berkeley, California. And glorious she sure is. Moreno is a couple of weeks short of her 90th birthday, but look at her and you would knock off 20 years. Listen to her and you would knock off another 50.

Can I wish you an advance happy birthday, I ask. “Yes, you can. Isn’t it exciting?” Moreno is one of the acting greats. But she could have been so much greater. She is one of only six women to have bagged the Egot (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards), alongside Helen Hayes, Audrey Hepburn, Barbra Streisand, Whoopi Goldberg and Liza Minnelli. Yet she has spent much of her career battling typecasting or simply not being cast at all.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/29/i-owe-an-enormous-debt-to-therapy-rita-moreno-on-west-side-story-dating-brando-and-joy-at-90

The 20 best songs of 2021

We celebrate everything from Lil Nas X’s conservative-baiting Montero to Wet Leg’s instant indie classic – as voted for by 31 of the Guardian’s music writers

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source https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/29/the-20-best-songs-of-2021

A new start after 60: ‘I lost weight, then lost myself - until I became a burlesque dancer’

After the death of her husband, Marilyn Bersey struggled with her identity. But she had been a performer all her life, and suddenly a new world opened up to her

When Marilyn Bersey, 74, stands on stage and removes her last piece of clothing to reveal her nipple tassels, she triggers the pyrotechnics. From the audience there is “the admiration, the affirmation, the claps, the whoops, the cheers”. Well, she explains: “When I retired, I promised myself I wouldn’t be one of those pensioners who sit and knit.”

Becoming a burlesque performer may seem an extreme form of resistance to this stereotype, but Bersey, who lives in warden-assisted accommodation in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, had finally stabilised a huge weight loss. At the same time, she was adjusting to life without her second husband, whom she had cared for through Parkinson’s disease. She was searching for a form of exercise and self-expression that would fit the new shape of her life.

Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/29/a-new-start-after-60-i-lost-weight-then-lost-myself-until-i-became-a-burlesque-dancer

Omicron variant: G7 to hold emergency Covid meeting as Japan closes its borders

South African president and WHO’s Africa chief urge against travel bans, saying they ‘attack global solidarity’

G7 health ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Monday about the new Omicron Covid-19 variant spreading across the world and forcing border closures, as experts race to determine the level of threat posed by the new strain.

The meeting was called by G7 chair Britain, which is among a steadily growing number of countries that have detected cases of the heavily mutated new variant.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/omicron-variant-g7-to-hold-emergency-covid-meeting-as-japan-closes-its-borders

Fiji sends 50 peacekeepers to Solomon Islands

Troops will join Australian-led force that also includes Papua New Guinea.

Fiji will contribute 50 troops to an Australian-led peacekeeping force in Solomon Islands after anti-government rioting that razed parts of the capital, Honiara, the Fijian prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, has said.

The Fijian contingent will lift the number of peacekeepers to about 200 troops and police officers, mostly Australian with a contribution of at least 34 personnel from Papua New Guinea.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/fiji-sends-50-peacekeepers-to-solomon-islands

Lawyers turn to romcoms in fight for rule of law in Poland

Instead of drafting legal papers, award-winning group make short films intended to explain assault on judiciary

It was a summer day in 2017 when Sylwia Gregorczyk-Abram, a 34-year-old lawyer, heard a crazy idea.

She had been messaged by a legal acquaintance, Michał Wawrykiewicz, who like her was worried about changes that Poland’s nationalist government was introducing to the judicial system. He wondered how they could convince people that the independence of the judiciary was not some abstract nicety but the firm ground underpinning democracy.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/lawyers-turn-to-romcoms-in-fight-for-rule-of-law-in-poland

Could the Omicron variant have been avoided? It could set back vaccine successes around the world | Meru Sheel

The new Covid-19 variant highlights the inequity that leaves poorer countries unprotected, posing a risk to their populations – and all of us

I am an epidemiologist working in global health, and have worked in the field of vaccines for nearly 15 years. While the scientific successes of Sars-CoV-2 vaccine development have been surreal, the inequity of the pandemic and access to vaccines has left me despondent.

As Australia reaches almost 90% coverage for two doses of Covid-19 vaccination, it’s a success story worth celebrating. Covid-19 vaccination has already proved to be highly effective at dampening wide-scale community transmission in settings such as New South Wales, where a rapid rollout with high levels of first-dose coverage along with other public health measures helped with the bending of the curve.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/29/could-the-omicron-variant-have-been-avoided-it-could-set-back-vaccine-successes-around-the-world

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, former Cambodian PM, dies aged 77

Leader of royalist Funcinpec party was overthrown as prime minister by Hun Sen, who has ruled country as a despot ever since

Cambodia’s former prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the king’s half-brother who spent his later years in the political shadow of his one-time rival prime minister Hun Sen, has died in France. He was 77.

The information minister, Khieu Kanharith, said he had received the information from the royal palace. The prince, whose royalist political party won elections in 1993, was ousted in a 1997 coup by coalition partner Hun Sen, who remains Cambodia’s authoritarian leader today.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/29/prince-norodom-ranariddh-former-cambodian-pm-dies-aged-77

Covid live news: Omicron variant detected in Canada as Fauci warns two weeks needed to study new strain

Canada has confirmed two cases of Omicron in Ontario in travellers from Nigeria, while top US infectious disease official Dr Anthony Fauci says two weeks will be needed to gather definitive information on the new coronavirus variant

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic with me, Helen Livingstone.

Canada’s health minister says the country’s first two cases of Omicron have been found in Ontario after two individuals who had recently travelled from Nigeria tested positive. They are the first cases to be detected in North America. Canada has banned travellers who have visited southern Africa countries in the past two weeks in a ban which came into effect on Friday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/nov/29/covid-live-news-omicron-variant-detected-in-canada-as-fauci-warns-two-weeks-needed-to-study-new-strain

Britain and Israel to sign trade and defence deal

Pact covers Iran as well as cybersecurity, despite controversy over use of Israeli firm NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware in UK

Britain and Israel will sign a 10-year trade and defence pact in London on Monday, promising cooperation on issues such as cybersecurity and a joint commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

The agreement was announced by Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and her Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, despite evidence that spyware made by Israeli company NSO Group had probably been used to spy on two British lawyers advising the ex-wife of the ruler of Dubai, Princess Haya.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/28/britain-and-israel-to-sign-trade-and-defence-deal

Trump challenges media and Democrats to debate his electoral fraud lie

Former president issues typically rambling statement
Capitol attack: Schiff says Meadows contempt decision soon

Donald Trump has challenged leading editors and politicians to debate him in public over his lie that Joe Biden beat him in 2020 through electoral fraud.

In a typically rambling statement on Sunday, the former president complained about “the heads of the various papers [and] far left politicians” and said: “If anyone would like a public debate on the facts, not the fiction, please let me know. It will be a ratings bonanza for television!”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/29/trump-press-democrats-debate-electoral-fraud-lie-schiff-meadows-capitol-attack

Boy, 14, charged with murder of Ava White in Liverpool

The 12-year-old suffered ‘catastrophic injuries’ after attending city’s Christmas lights switch-on on Thursday

A teenager has been charged with the murder of a 12-year-old girl in Liverpool city centre, police have said.

Ava White had been in the city with friends on Thursday after the switching on of Christmas lights when she suffered “catastrophic injuries” in an assault at 8.39pm, Merseyside police said.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/28/boy-14-charged-with-of-ava-white-in-liverpool

British MPs call for law changes to help young Hongkongers flee to UK

Figures show that 93% of those charged over protests are under 25 and many therefore not eligible to access current UK visa scheme

More than nine in 10 people who have faced protest charges in Hong Kong are too young to access a UK visa scheme dedicated to helping Hongkongers flee to Britain, according to advocates and MPs calling for new laws to assist them.

The release of the figures on Sunday by the advocacy group Hong Kong Watch comes before a parliamentary debate this week on proposed migration law amendments that would widen the pathway for people with British national (overseas) (BNO) status to resettle in the UK.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/british-mps-call-for-law-changes-young-hongkongers-escape-to-uk

UK’s ‘double talk’ on Channel crisis must stop, says French interior minister

Exclusive: Gérald Darmanin says UK ministers must stop saying one thing in private while insulting his country in public

The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, has said British ministers including his counterpart, Priti Patel, should stop saying one thing in private while insulting his country in public if there is to be a solution to the crisis in the Channel.

In an interview with the Guardian, Darmanin strongly criticised what he called “double talk” coming out of London and said France was not a “vassal” of the UK.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/28/uks-double-talk-on-channel-crisis-must-stop-says-french-interior-minister

Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl review – a tyrant’s last stand

The ABC News correspondent offers a sobering glimpse of a man unfit to govern and the chaos wreaked by an ego unable to grasp its own ineptitude

A statue in the US Capitol honours Clio, the marmoreal muse of history. Floating above the political fray, she rides in a winged chariot that allegorically represents time and has a clock for its wheel. Looking over her shoulder as she writes in a stony ledger, she tracks events in serene retrospect. The journalists who nowadays report on happenings in Washington work at a more frantic, flustered tempo, racing to catch up with the chaos of breaking news. Jonathan Karl, a correspondent for ABC News, seems to be permanently breathless. In Betrayal, he runs for cover during an emergency lockdown at the White House, with grenades detonating in the distance. He is roused after midnight by the announcement of Trump’s Covid diagnosis; later, he has to rush to the hospital, ditch his car and scramble into place before the presidential helicopter lands on a strip of road that is suddenly “the centre of the broadcast universe”. And on 6 January Karl keeps up a live commentary as the Capitol is invaded by a mob determined to lynch Vice-President Mike Pence – reviled as a “pussy” by Trump because he refused to overturn Biden’s victory – on a makeshift gallows.

The Capitol was designed as a classical temple consecrated to democracy, which is why Clio is at home there: picture the Parthenon on steroids, topped by the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica. In Betrayal, however, it is the set for a mock-heroic battle between thugs in horned helmets wielding fire extinguishers as weapons and politicians who prepare to fight back with ceremonial hammers torn from display cases and a sword left over from the civil war. Aghast and incredulous, Karl exhausts his supply of synonyms; this final act of the expiring Trump regime is nuts, weird, crazy, kooky and bonkers.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/nov/28/betrayal-the-final-act-of-the-trump-show-by-jonathan-karl-review-a-tyrants-last-stand

Every good dog deserves a musical tribute

Hector, dog of dogs, is the most glorious companion. Simon Tiffin reveals how he came to commission a piece of music that would evoke his spirit when he finally departs this world

One of the earliest signs of spring in my garden is a ring of snowdrops and winter acconites that encircles the trunk of a medlar tree outside the greenhouse. This yellow-and-white display was planted to complement a collection of elegantly engraved, moss-covered mini-headstones that mark the resting places of the previous owner’s dogs. Each of these markers has a simple but evocative dedication: “Medlar, beloved Border Terrier”; “Otter, a little treasure. Sister of Medlar”; “Skip, grandson of Genghis. Sweet eccentric.” Every time I see this pet cemetery I am reminded that, despite a complex denial structure that involves a sneaking suspicion that he is immortal, there will come a time when I have to face the death of Hector, dog of dogs.

Hector is a cockapoo and not ashamed to admit it. He sneers at terms such as “designer dog” and “hybrid” and is rightly proud of his spaniel/poodle heritage. Although many people have an origin myth of how their pet chose them, in Hector’s case it is true. When I went with my wife Alexa to see a friend whose working cocker had recently given birth, a blind, chocolate-brown caterpillar of a pup freed himself from the wriggling furry mass of his siblings and crawled his way towards us. Bonding was instant and, on our side, unconditional.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/28/every-dog-deserves-a-musical-tribute-simon-tiffin-pet-hector-gets-a-hequiem

The Observer view on the Omicron variant | Observer editorial

This time we’ve acted quickly. But there are still lessons to learn

• Coronavirus – latest updates
• See all our coronavirus coverage

Scientists have always warned that the biggest risk to the UK at this stage of the pandemic is the emergence of a more infectious, virulent and vaccine-resistant variant of the virus. It remains to be seen whether Omicron, the new variant of concern identified by the World Health Organization last week is that.

But the structure of Omicron – the number of concerning mutations in its spike protein – and the preliminary evidence that there is an increased risk of reinfection with this variant have rightly prompted a global response to try and contain its spread as much as possible. It will be weeks before we understand how just much a risk Omicron presents. If it is much more infectious than the Delta variant of Covid, its global spread is to some degree inevitable, though it will of course be slowed by vaccines and travel restrictions. It is a relief that the government acted far more promptly to impose travel restrictions on South Africa and other affected countries than it did in the case of Delta and India, where a delay of weeks undoubtedly contributed to the speed at which Delta became the dominant variant here in the UK. But it is concerning that the government has not been testing all arrivals from South Africa in recent days in the same way as, for example, the Dutch government has.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/28/observer-view-on-omicron-variant

How Manchin and Sinema’s status as Senate holdouts is proving lucrative

The Democratic senators have received a flood of money from conservative donors, leading some to raise concerns of corruption

Two Democratic senators threatening to derail Joe Biden’s agenda have been condemned by anti-corruption watchdogs for accepting a flood of money from Republican and corporate donors.

Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema present the last hurdle to the US president’s social spending and climate package after it was passed by Democrats in the House of Representatives earlier this month.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/28/joe-manchin-kyrsten-sinema-build-back-better-plan

Covid update: Australia confirms first Omicron cases

Two international arrivals to New South Wales have tested positive for the new variant, health authorities have confirmed

Two international travellers in NSW quarantine have tested positive to the new Omicron Covid variant, becoming the first cases in Australia.

The results came following urgent genomic testing undertaken by NSW Health on Sunday, after the two travellers arrived in Sydney on Saturday night.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/28/covid-update-nsw-chief-health-officer-says-omicron-may-already-be-here

Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial finally to begin in earnest

British socialite faces six counts alleging that she helped recruit and groom teenage girls for Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse

Ghislaine Maxwell’s sex-trafficking trial is scheduled to start in earnest in federal court in Manhattan on Monday with opening statements about the eagerly awaited case.

The first arguments will set the stage for a six-week trial in which the British socialite’s alleged involvement in Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes will be aired in grueling detail, outlining how prosecutors and defense attorneys will approach the proceedings.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/28/ghislaine-maxwell-sex-trafficking-trial-jeffrey-epstein

Stowaway survives flight from Guatemala to Miami hidden in plane’s landing gear

The Guatemalan man was taken to hospital by immigration officials after emerging from the plane on the tarmac

A stowaway hidden in the landing gear compartment of an American Airlines jet survived a flight from his home country of Guatemala to Miami, where he was turned over to US immigration officials and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

The US customs and border protection agency confirmed the incident in a statement initially cited by Miami-based television station WTVJ, which posted video taken of the man at Miami international airport shortly after the plane landed on Saturday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/28/stowaway-survives-flight-from-guatemala-to-miami-hidden-in-planes-landing-gear

I have fun with my girlfriend, but she has no prospects | Philippa Perry

People are more than the job that they do. Don’t let your friends and family decide for you – let this relationship run its course

The question I’m a 24-year-old guy studying for my masters while working part-time for a management consultancy and I’m also a qualified associate accountant. I recently met a woman on a dating app after being single for a year since the start of the pandemic. She’s a similar age to myself and we’ve been dating for two months. She’s very attractive and nice, and we have a good time together – she can make me laugh.

There is a red flag, though. Although she is in her mid-20s she still lives at home and seems to have no plans or ambitions to move to living independently. Plus, despite having a part-time job, she doesn’t contribute to the household bills. Now I understand that rent is high and people are staying with their parents for longer, but she isn’t even planning on going to college or progressing further in her career. She spends most of her money on going out with friends, holidays and hobbies.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/28/i-have-fun-with-my-girlfriend-but-she-has-no-prospects

Easy rider? We’ll miss the roar, but electric motorbikes can’t kill our road romance

For bikers, combustive power is one of the thrills of a long-haul trip. But flat batteries and charging points will just become part of exciting new journeys

A full tank of gas, a twist of the wrist, the roar of the exhaust as you speed towards the horizon … These are the visceral touchstones of the motorcycling experience, and all are a direct product of petrol-fuelled power, as is much of the biker’s lexicon: “open it up”, “give it some gas”, “go full throttle”. For a motorcycle rider, as opposed to the modern car driver, the journey is a full-body communication game, constantly applying judgment, skill and nerve to control the thousands of explosions that are happening between your thighs in order to transport yourself, upright and in one piece, to your destination.

Yet the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered. By 2050 the European Commission aims to have cut transport emissions by 90%, and electric vehicle technology is striding ahead for cars, trucks, buses and even aircraft. But where does this leave the motorcycle? Can this romantic form of transport and its subcultures survive the end of the petrol age?

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source https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2021/nov/28/easy-rider-well-miss-the-roar-but-electric-motorbikes-cant-kill-our-road-romance

Amyl and the Sniffers review – a blizzard from Oz

Electric Ballroom, London
Channelling singer Amy Taylor’s rage and joyous abandon, the Australian punk band bring their second album to glorious fighting life

We are living through what often feel like end times for genre. If recording studios had windows, rulebooks would be flying out of them constantly, endangering passersby. Crossover smashes such as Lil Nas X’s Old Town Road have been obvious manifestations of this shift. But colouring inside the stylistic lines has been in decline for a while. Few, it seems, want a creative life without hyphens or slashes.

Into this free for all come Amyl and the Sniffers, a punk rock band who do one simple thing very well. This is time-honoured stuff – bass judder, scorched earth guitar, pummelling from the kit – but Amyl and the Sniffers take what could be a played-out sound somewhere unexpected, channelling singer Amy Taylor’s rage and joyous abandon. Rippling with sinew and seemingly limitless life force, Taylor is like a boxer crossed with a wood sprite; sometimes it’s a little like listening to Poly Styrene fronting Motörhead.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/28/amyl-and-the-sniffers-review-a-blizzard-from-oz

Ride on, baby: NZ politician cycles to hospital to give birth – for the second time

Green party MP Julie Anne Genter set off for the hospital while already in labour, and gave birth an hour later

New Zealand MP Julie Anne Genter got on her bicycle early on Sunday and headed to the hospital. She was already in labour and she gave birth an hour later.

“Big news!” the Greens politician posted on her Facebook page a few hours later. “At 3.04am this morning we welcomed the newest member of our family. I genuinely wasn’t planning to cycle in labour, but it did end up happening.”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/ride-on-baby-nz-politician-cycles-to-hospital-to-give-birth-for-the-second-time

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi braced for verdict in incitement trial

The democratically elected leader faces years in jail if she is found guilty on charges that also include corruption, fraud and breaking Covid rules

Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is braced to hear the verdict in her trial for incitement against the country’s military rulers, the first in a catalogue of cases that could see her jailed for the rest of her life.

The Nobel laureate has been detained since the generals ousted her democratically elected government on 1 February, and she is expected to find out about her sentence on Tuesday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/ousted-myanmar-leader-aung-san-suu-kyi-braced-for-verdict-in-incitement-trial

Coalition bill would force social media companies to reveal identities of online bullies

Scott Morrison says companies have a responsibility to remove content when requested by anyone who thinks they have been defamed or attacked

The Morrison government will introduce legislation this week to crack down on abuse and bullying on social media platforms.

Under the laws, social media platforms will be forced to expose the identity of individuals who post defamatory or damaging material anonymously.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/28/coalition-bill-would-force-social-media-companies-to-reveal-identities-of-online-bullies

Sappy ending: Canada digs deep into strategic reserves to cover maple syrup shortage

A poor harvest season and booming demand has prompted Quebec’s syrup ‘cartel’ to release around 22,000 tonnes of the luscious liquid

Maple syrup producers have been forced to raid the world’s only stockpile of the highly valued sweet treat, as surging worldwide demand combined with an unusually short harvest season in 2021.

The Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, sometimes referred to as the “Opec of maple syrup”, has released about 22m kilograms of syrup from its strategic reserve to cover a shortfall driven by a short and warm spring in 2021, Canada’s NPR reported.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/28/sappy-ending-canada-digs-deep-into-strategic-reserves-to-cover-maple-syrup-shortage

Covid live news: UK, Germany and Italy detect Omicron cases; Israel bans all visitors

Mandatory mask-wearing in shops and transport reimposed in England; Anthony Fauci says new variant is probably already in the US; Australia scrambles to prevent outbreak

Australia’s federal health minister said he was meeting the prime minister, Scott Morrison, and the chief health officer, and state and territory counterparts to discuss developments around the Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Greg Hunt did a swift u-turn on Saturday by shutting the country’s border with South Africa and reinstating mandatory quarantine for arrivals from nine southern African countries as concerns about Omicron mounted. States such as South Australia are already tightening up their borders again after only beginning to emerge from the Delta lockdown in place in much of the country since June and July.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2021/nov/28/covid-live-news-uk-germany-and-italy-detect-omicron-cases-israel-bans-all-visitors

Over 100,000 of the most vulnerable people have not had third jab

Cancer patients among those struggling to access their coronavirus booster vaccine

Coronavirus – latest updates

See all our coronavirus coverage

A quarter of people with severely suppressed immunity that leaves them highly vulnerable to Covid have still not had a third vaccination, according to official figures that have caused serious concern among leading cancer charities.

The figure emerged just days after NHS England contacted cancer specialists and services across the country asking them to assist in boosting the numbers, with concerns that it means more than 100,000 extremely vulnerable people are yet to have their third jab. A letter from the NHS sent earlier this month said that 30% were still without the third vaccination, which has since fallen to 25%.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/over-100000-of-the-most-vulnerable-people-have-not-had-third-jab

‘False hope’: family violence program could be putting women at greater risk, critics say

The federal project offers women up to $5,000 to help escape violence, but workers say getting the money is too onerous and complex

Vulnerable women attempting to escape domestic violence are being offered “false hope” by a government program that potentially could be putting them at greater risk, frontline service workers say.

The two-year $145m escaping violence payment trial was billed as a one-off payment of up to $5,000 to “help women establish a life free of violence”. It was announced as part of the government’s “landmark $1.1bn women’s safety package” in the May budget.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/28/false-hope-family-violence-program-could-be-putting-women-at-greater-risk-critics-say

Mayor’s Fund for London reports Naomi Campbell’s charity over debt of £50,000

Regulator to investigate Fashion for Relief after charity for young Londoners says promised sum never paid

A charity whose patron is the mayor of London says the fashion charity founded by the supermodel Naomi Campbell owes it tens of thousands of pounds.

The Mayor’s Fund for London, whose figurehead is the current mayor, Sadiq Khan, says it is owed £50,000 from a pop-up shop created by Campbell’s Fashion for Relief two years ago to raise money for the mayor’s causes.

This article was updated on 27 November to include a statement from Fashion for Relief

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source https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/nov/27/mayors-fund-for-london-reports-naomi-campbells-charity-over-debt-of-50000

Niger: two killed and 17 injured in clash with French military convoy

Force used against protesters who blocked vehicles amid rising anger over France’s presence in former colonies

At least two people were killed and 18 injured in western Niger on Saturday when protesters clashed with a French military convoy they blocked after it crossed the border from Burkina Faso, Niger’s government said.

The armoured vehicles and logistics trucks had crossed the border on Friday after being blocked in Burkina Faso for a week by demonstrations there against French forces’ failure to stop mounting violence by Islamist militants.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/niger-two-killed-and-17-injured-in-clash-with-french-military-convoy

Met police charge man, 19, with six counts of sharing extremist material

Elias Djelloul was arrested in east London on Friday and will appear in court on Monday

A 19-year-old man will appear in court next week accused of sharing extremist material.

Elias Djelloul was arrested at an address in east London on Friday, the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism command said.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/nov/27/met-police-charge-man-19-with-six-counts-of-sharing-extremist-material

Australia Covid news live: country braces for Omicron as states and territories tighten border restrictions on overseas arrivals; variant detected in UK and across Europe

Concerns new Covid variant is already in NSW and NT; UK, Germany and Italy detect cases. Follow all the day’s news live

Good morning! It’s Justine Landis-Hanley here to bring you the news today, Sunday 28 November 2021.

Australia is bracing for Omicron as states and territories tighten border restrictions for overseas arrivals. The variant has already been detected in UK and across Europe.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2021/nov/28/australia-covid-news-omicron-corona-nsw-victoria-nt-uk-europe-politics-canberra-morrison-andrews-perrottet-gunner-africa-

‘Atmospheric rivers’ threaten new floods in hard-hit Washington state

Western areas still assessing millions of dollars’ worth of damage from flooding earlier this month

Residents in Washington state were on Saturday preparing for possible flooding as “atmospheric rivers” once again threatened parts of the US north-west, which saw heavy damage from such extreme weather earlier this month.

Flood watches were issued for much of western and north-central Washington and the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that flooding was possible through Sunday in north-western Washington.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/26/atmospheric-rivers-floods-washington-state

‘Taste this, it’s salty’: how rising seas are ruining the Gambia’s rice farmers

The farmers, mostly women, once grew enough but must now buy imported rice as the climate crisis edges them into poverty

In the sweltering heat of the late-morning west African sun, Aminata Jamba slashes at golden rice stalks with a sickle. “The rice is lovely,” she says, music playing in the background as her son, Sampa, silently harvests the grain. But even if the quality is high, the quantity is not.

While once Jamba could have expected to harvest enough rice to last the whole year, this year she reckons it will last three to four months. After that, she will have to look elsewhere for a way to feed her family and make enough money to live.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/nov/27/taste-this-its-salty-how-rising-seas-are-ruining-the-gambias-rice-farmers

‘There was a prophecy I would come’: the western men who think they are South Pacific kings

Travellers to tiny islands in Vanuatu claim to fulfil a local belief that a mysterious figure from afar will one day bring prosperity. What are they hoping for?

In life, Claude-Philippe Berger styled himself the “traditional king of Tanna”, an island of 30,000 people in Vanuatu. Berger, who was born in 1953 in Casablanca and claimed to have once been a diplomat, first visited the islands in 2011, in hope of veneration. What he found was a South Pacific of the imagination: champagne-coloured beaches, rose sunsets, the rumble of volcanoes. Yet Vanuatu is also threatened by a rising tide, and cyclones regularly hit its scarce infrastructure and fragile agrarian economy.

Later, living in Nice as a supposed king in exile, Berger adopted the studied lifestyle of an obscure European royal: swathed in a blue sash and medals, he could be found cutting ribbons at provincial art exhibitions, or hosting boozy soirees in San Remo, where he and his “royal house” would engage in energetic lobbying of Ni-Vanuatu politicians to have his island throne restored.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/western-men-who-dream-of-being-south-pacific-kings-vanuatu-prophesy

Why Republicans are embracing Kyle Rittenhouse as their mascot

Congress members float the idea of offering the 18-year-old internships as experts say their use of him is ‘a very dangerous thing’

Wearing suits and ties, the two men give the camera smiles and thumbs up. One is Donald Trump, former president of the United States. The other is Kyle Rittenhouse, who killed two people at an anti-racism protest. And behind them is a framed photo of Trump meeting the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un.

The mesmerizing tableau emerged from the ex-president’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this week. It was, in effect, the coronation of Rittenhouse as a future star of the rightwing media, Republican party and “Make America great again” (Maga) movement in their crusade against liberalism.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/27/kyle-rittenhouse-republican-party-trump

Will Rivian’s electric vehicles end Detroit’s reign over the US auto industry?

Investors have salivated over the Illinois automaker – but juggernauts like Ford and GM still have plenty of advantages

Normal, Illinois, a town of just 55,000 people, could be the future of car manufacturing, according to Wall Street traders, at least. Six hours’ drive away in Detroit, home of the US auto industry for more than 100 years, they are not so sure.

The town gained international attention earlier this month after the Amazon-backed Rivian, an electric vehicle startup, went public in one of the biggest stock market debuts since Facebook. Despite the fact that the company has delivered only about 150 trucks, Rivian is now valued at about $100bn, more than either Ford or General Motors, which produced about 10m vehicles between them in 2020.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/26/will-rivians-electric-vehicles-end-detroits-reign-over-the-us-auto-industry

NSW floods: Sydney’s Warragamba Dam spills as warnings issued in Upper Hunter

Dozens of SES flood rescues as flooding forecast in Singleton and Maitland

State Emergency Service volunteers staged two dozen flood rescues and responded to almost 600 requests for help across New South Wales over the past 24 hours as residents in Eugowra prepared to evacuate.

The SES advised river level rises had been observed along the Mandagery Creek upstream of Eugowra.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/27/nsw-floods-sydneys-warragamba-dam-spills-as-warnings-issued-in-upper-hunter

Blind date: ‘He was fully on board when I suggested we order champagne’

Alizée, 25, advertising account manager, meets Rhys, 34, chef

Alizée on Rhys

What were you hoping for?
Good food, meeting someone interesting and that my date would be as tall as me (six-foot gal over here!)

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/27/blind-date-alizee-rhys

Tim Dowling: my laptop’s new lease of life has landed me in a stew

Carrying it under my chin like a teenager, I’m convinced I can use it, watch TV and cook dinner all at once. I can’t …

Three years ago, I bought a laptop, days before flying to America, because the old iPad I had long used for working away from home had just died.

Compared with the other technology in my life, this laptop was like something from the future. I’m not an early adopter. After my phone was stolen on a train, I went in search of the least-desirable model available for purchase: reconditioned, obsolete, unrecommended.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/nov/27/tim-dowling-my-laptops-new-lease-of-life-has-landed-me-in-a-stew

Omicron Covid variant: Greg Hunt backflips as Australia shuts border to southern Africa

Australians attempting to return home from southern Africa will be allowed into the country, but ordered into mandatory hotel quarantine

Australia has suspended flights from nine southern African countries and closed its borders to any foreign nationals who have been to the region, amid concern about the emerging Covid-19 variant of concern, Omicron.

The announcement, made by the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, on Saturday afternoon, followed travel restrictions imposed by the United States, United Kingdom and European Union.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/27/omicron-covid-variant-greg-hunt-backflips-as-australia-shuts-border-to-southern-africa

How Britain could learn from Australia’s mistakes in dealing with migrant boats

Analysis: Australia knows the horror of deaths at sea – and that turn-backs and offshore processing have huge human costs

The prime ministerial language is starkly reminiscent.

In 2013, as asylum seeker boats appeared on Australia’s north and west horizons almost daily, the then prime minister Kevin Rudd said those who were bringing them were “the absolute scum of the earth” and should “rot in hell”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/global/2021/nov/27/australia-knows-the-horror-of-deaths-at-sea-and-what-happens-when-the-response-goes-wrong

Archaeologists unearth mummy estimated to be at least 800 years old in Peru

Remains found inside an underground structure were tied up by ropes and with the hands covering the face

A team of experts has found a mummy estimated to be at least 800 years old on Peru’s central coast, one of the archaeologists who participated in the excavation said.

The mummified remains were of a person from the culture that developed between the coast and mountains of the South American country. The mummy, whose gender was not identified, was discovered in the Lima region, said archaeologist Pieter Van Dalen Luna on Friday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/archaeologists-unearth-mummy-estimated-to-be-at-least-800-years-old-in-peru

Australian TV reporter Matt Doran gives lengthy on-air apology after he ‘insulted’ Adele

Channel Seven reporter says his failure to listen to Adele’s album was a ‘terrible mistake’

Australian TV reporter Matt Doran has made a lengthy, unreserved apology to Adele for failing to listen to her new album before an exclusive interview with the singer, calling the bungle a “terrible mistake”.

Doran made international headlines this week for his interview with the singer, which was canned after he conceded he had only heard one track from her latest work, 30. Sony is refusing to release the footage.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/nov/27/australian-tv-reporter-matt-doran-gives-lengthy-on-air-apology-after-he-insulted-adele

Solomon Islands unrest: three bodies found in burnt-out building

The badly burnt victims were discovered in a building in Chinatown in Honiara after days of rioting

The bodies of three people have been discovered in a burnt-out building in the Solomon Islands capital of Honiara, the first reported deaths after days of rioting.

The charred bodies were discovered in a store in the Chinatown district of Honiara, police said on Saturday.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/27/solomon-islands-unrest-three-bodies-found-in-burnt-out-building

Stephen Sondheim: a daring and dazzling musical theatre icon

The American composer and lyricist, who has died aged 91, shaped the musical artform with his wise, witty and extravagantly clever work

Stephen Sondheim achieved such acclaim – for deepening the content and extending the lyrical ingenuity of musical theatre – that, from the age of 50, each major birthday was celebrated with tribute concerts in London, New York or both.

Watching the composer-lyricist of Sweeney Todd and Follies at such events – taking a bow, with his wry smile – it was impossible not to reflect on our luck in coinciding with the life of someone who would clearly stand in the history of the genre alongside such geniuses as Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Weill, Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2021/nov/26/stephen-sondheim-a-daring-and-dazzling-musical-theatre-icon

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