Category Archives: World News

Victims’ testimony: how Ghislaine Maxwell lured girls into Epstein’s orbit

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In a Manhattan courtroom, four of Maxwell’s accusers painted a powerful story of sexual abuse

  • This article contains descriptions of sexual abuse

Four of Ghislaine Maxwell’s accusers testified against the British socialite at her Manhattan federal court trial, painting a compelling and powerful story of sexual abuse.

These women – Jane, Kate, Carolyn and Annie Farmer – all testified they met Maxwell as teens, and that she lured them into Jeffrey Epstein’s orbit. While the dates and exact circumstances of their encounters with Maxwell differ, they all share striking similarities. Only Farmer used her real full name.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732).

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Covid live: UK cases hit new daily record of 183,037; Spain cuts isolation period to seven days

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Case figures include delayed data from Northern Ireland; Spain cuts quarantine despite record rise in cases

India has recorded another 9,195 confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, according to recently released data from its health ministry.

A further 302 deaths were also recorded, bring the total death toll to 480,592.

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Biden to speak with Putin amid Russia’s increased presence near Ukraine

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Two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including ‘upcoming diplomatic engagements in Russia’

Joe Biden will speak on Thursday with Vladimir Putin regarding the Russian president increased security demands in eastern Europe.

The two leaders will discuss a range of topics, including “upcoming diplomatic engagements in Russia”, said US national security council spokesperson Emily Horne in a statement announcing the call.

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Hong Kong media outlet Stand News to close after police raid

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Reports say editors, board members and pop singer were held in early morning sweep as 200 officers raid office

The most prominent pro-democracy media outlet still operating in Hong Kong, Stand News, said it will shut down after police raided its offices, froze its assets and arrested senior journalists and former board members including pop star Denise Ho.

Authorities deployed an anti-sedition law in their crackdown that was drawn up under British colonial rule and had not been used for decades. A senior police officer accused the online site of “inciting hatred” against the Hong Kong government in news articles and interviews.

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French daily Covid cases above 200,000 as Italy introduces stricter green pass

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France sets European record, as Italy tightens measures against the unvaccinated

France has registered a national and European record for new coronavirus infections as the Omicron variant fuels a surge in cases across the continent, with multiple countries hitting new highs.

France on Wednesday reported 208,000 cases in the previous 24 hours, up from its previous record of almost 180,000 set the day before.

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Speed of Stand News shutdown sends chilling signal to Hong Kong’s media

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Analysis: the police raid and closure of the pro-democracy website has left journalists wondering who will be next

The Christmas attack on Hong Kong website Stand News was no great surprise in a city where all forms of political opposition are being dismantled wholesale, but the scale, speed and nature of the operation to shutter this pro-democracy website were still shocking.

Over 200 police officers swept into the newsroom, and others fanned out over the city making arrests under a harsh sedition law from the days of British colonial rule that had been gathering dust for decades.

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Russian court orders closure of another human rights group

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Memorial Human Rights Centre liquidated a day after its sister group, Memorial, in assault on civil liberties

A Russian court has ordered the closure of the Memorial Human Rights Centre (MHRC), a day after the supreme court revoked the legal status of its sister organisation, Memorial International.

Moscow city court authorised the dissolution of the group – one of Russia’s most venerated human rights institutions – for the “justification of extremism and terrorism” by religious groups including Jehovah’s Witnesses officially considered “extremist” in Russia.

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UK zoo helps lost Mexican fish live to see another Tequila sunrise

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Declared extinct in the wild in 2003, species has been reintroduced to its native river after being bred in Chester

A “charismatic little fish” declared extinct in the wild has been reintroduced to its native Mexico after being bred in an aquarium at Chester zoo.

The tequila fish (Zoogoneticus tequila), which grows to no bigger than 70mm long, disappeared from the wild in 2003 owing to the introduction of invasive, exotic fish species and water pollution.

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‘She stood in silence, remembering’: photographing Gaza under airstrikes

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Fatima Shbair’s photo of a girl in her ruined home is an indelible image of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict’s resurgence in May

For 11 days in May, Fatima Shbair hardly slept. When the most recent rounds of fighting in Gaza broke out between Israelis and Palestinians on 10 May, the 24-year-old freelance photographer said goodbye to her mother and left her home to document the stories of her neighbours in Gaza, as their lives were racked by terror.

The conflict featured waves of pre-dawn Israeli air raids and rocket fire from Gazan territory. Palestinians made up the vast majority of more than 250 people killed.

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The person who got me through 2021: Ami Faku sang the break-up track I listened to on a loop

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I’ve spent 12 months of the pandemic obsessively listening to the song Uwrongo, with its line: “This is not working, go home.” I’m very grateful to its singer

I was born on a farm in northern South Africa. My parents moved nearer to Johannesburg when I was still a baby. They have a photograph of me at maybe six months old, asleep inside my dad’s guitar case. Just picturing it in my mind makes me feel safe. I can hear my dad playing.

When I feel overwhelmed, I need something I can listen to on loop. Not just for hours, but for days, sometimes weeks. I think of these tracks as an aural hood. They hold my head together.

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Denver gunman who killed five in shooting rampage knew victims

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Lyndon James McLeod, 47, who was killed at scene was ‘on radar of law enforcement’, say Denver police

A gunman who killed five people and injured two others in a series of shootings in Denver is believed to have targeted the victims based on previous personal and business dealings and was investigated by police twice in the last two years.

Denver police said that Lyndon James McLeod, 47, who was also killed in the deadly rampage on Monday night, knew most of the victims and was “on the radar of law enforcement”.

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‘Our house was gone, it was sea and sand’: life on the vanishing coasts – in pictures

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Coastal communities in Mexico, Bangladesh and Somalia are struggling to adapt to the climate crisis. Many people have already lost livelihoods and homes to rising waters

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The world in 2022: another year of living dangerously

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The climate, pandemic and tensions between states means the year ahead is likely to be as tumultuous as the last 12 months

On the brink of a new year, the world faces a daunting array of challenges: the resurgent Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism, humanitarian crises, mass migration, and trans-national terrorism. There is the risk of new inter-state conflicts, exacerbated by the breakdown of the rules-based international order, and the spread of lethal autonomous weapons. All in all, for most people on Earth – and a handful in space – 2022 will be another year of living dangerously.

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Gordon Brown: west is sleepwalking into Afghanistan disaster

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Ex-PM warns poverty and starvation mean country is at risk of world’s biggest humanitarian crisis

The west is “sleepwalking into the biggest humanitarian crisis of our times” in Afghanistan, Gordon Brown has warned, as he called for a support package to save the country from economic and social collapse after the Taliban’s takeover.

Four months after the western-backed government was overthrown following a mass military withdrawal, the former UK prime minister said the case for action was not based only on morals but also “in our self-interest”.

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Plastic beads could make nets more visible to cetaceans, scientists say

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Beads add hardly any extra weight to fishing gear and could save thousands of lives, it is claimed

Simple plastic beads could save the lives of some of the thousands of porpoises and other cetaceans that get caught in fishing nets each year, scientists say.

Harbour porpoises use echolocation to find their prey and for orientation. However, their acoustic signals cannot pick up the mesh of a gillnet, and as a result they often become trapped.

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No contact required: Covid fuels vending machine revival in Japan

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After decades of decline, jidō hanbaiki are back in fashion with public wary of human interaction

After a brief wait to the faint whirr of moving machinery parts, the tiny cardboard box that drops into the plastic-covered tray is reassuringly warm. Inside is a perfectly passable burger in a chewy white bun, topped with a blob of ketchup and diced fried onions.

No human interaction occurred in the making of this transaction. The Guardian’s alfresco lunch came courtesy of one of dozens of vending machines in Sagamihara, an unglamorous town near Tokyo.

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Prince Andrew lawyer seeks to halt US case as accuser ‘lives in Australia’

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Lawyer argues court does not have jurisdiction as Virginia Giuffre’s ties to Colorado are ‘very limited’

Prince Andrew’s lawyer has called for the US civil case against the royal over alleged sexual assault to be stopped because his accuser is “actually domiciled in Australia”.

Virginia Giuffre is suing the Queen’s son for allegedly assaulting her when she was a teenager. Andrew strongly denies the allegation.

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Air travel in and out of UK slumps by 71% in 2021 amid pandemic

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Report from aviation analytics firm Cirium shows domestic flights were down by almost 60%

Air travel in and out of the UK slumped by 71% in 2021 as the second year of the Covid-19 crisis took its toll on international flying, according to a report.

Just over 406,000 international flights operated from the UK up to 22 December this year compared with almost 1.4m in 2019 before the pandemic struck and travel restrictions were imposed, the aviation analytics firm Cirium said. UK domestic flights were found to have declined by almost 60%.

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Food fighters: Spain’s annual Els Enfarinats battle – in pictures

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During the annual Els Enfarinats battle in the south-eastern Spanish town of Ibi participants dress in military clothes and stage a mock coup d’etat as they battle using flour, eggs and firecrackers outside the town hall. The 200-year-old tradition is part of the Day of the Holy Innocents celebrations, a time in Spain for pulling pranks

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