Colin and Donna Craig-Brown have named the 17.4lb tuber Doug and have been taking him for walks
A giant 7.9kg potato found in a New Zealand couple’s overgrown garden may set a new world record for the largest of its kind ever to be discovered.
Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were doing a spot of weeding in their Hamilton back yard, when Colin’s hoe hit something below the ground.
Continue reading...Analysis: President faces an uphill battle to undo a system that has led to a bloated property sector
Xi Jinping’s to-do list has seen a lot of ticks in recent months: more flights into Taiwan’s defence zone; suppressing dissenting voices in Hong Kong; clipping the wings of tech barons; outlawing the out-of-school tutoring industry. The list goes on.
However, one key initiative – introducing a local property tax – has attracted fewer headlines but is apparently so controversial within China’s ruling Communist party that even Xi is still only able to deal in trial schemes rather than wholesale change.
Continue reading...Attack on mayor’s delegation adds to 530 already killed by jihadist groups in southwest Niger this year
Gunmen killed 69 people including a local mayor in a jihadist attack in a remote area of south-west Niger, the country’s interior minister has confirmed, amid a wave of violence against civilians that has swept the country this year.
A delegation led by the mayor of Banibangou was ambushed on Tuesday about 50 km (30 miles) from the town, near the border with Mali. The area is overrun by militants associated with a local affiliate of Islamic State that has killed hundreds of civilians in rural communities this year.
Continue reading...Lawyers expected to argue for dismissal of Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing Duke of York of sexual abuse when she was under 18
A US federal judge in New York on Thursday scheduled a 4 January hearing where lawyers for Britain’s Prince Andrew are expected to argue for a dismissal of Virginia Giuffre’s lawsuit accusing the Duke of York of sexually abusing her when she was under 18.
US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan issued the scheduling order one day after saying he expected Giuffre’s civil case to go to trial between September and December 2022, provided it is not settled or dismissed.
Continue reading...Celebrations back in full swing for first time since pandemic began but many fear festival will bring fresh surge
It is the festival that celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, and this year Diwali held a special significance for India as it got back into full swing for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Oil lamps lit up windows, shops, homes and monuments across the capital, Delhi, and devotees gathered at temples and shrines, as excitement over the festival, severely dampened last year by Covid-19, gripped the country once more.
Continue reading...When the Kenyan woman died nine years ago, the army closed ranks – it’s time to find out what happened and why
The last time 21-year-old Agnes Wanjiru was seen alive in public, she was leaving a hotel bar with two soldiers.
Her body was found by a hotel worker two months later, stuffed into a nearby septic tank, naked but for her bra. The mother of a five-month-old baby, Agnes was a hairdresser who turned to sex work to support herself and her daughter, and had gone to the hotel expecting it to be full of partying British soldiers. An inquest later concluded that one or more of them must have killed her.
Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...As the London Korean film festival kicks off, Youn Yuh-jung, talks about how her portrayals of racy grannies and scheming maids scandalised the nation
In her Oscar-winning turn in last year’s Minari, Youn Yuh-jung played the mischievous granny you wished you’d had: the one who ignores your fun-sucking parents, takes you on wild adventures and teaches you to do your own thing. “You’re not a real grandma,” her Americanised grandson tells her. “They bake cookies! They don’t swear! They don’t wear men’s underwear!” In real life, Youn is pretty similar: lively, funny, unpretentious, and, she admits, not all that good at cooking. The 74-year-old actor has had an unconventional life and career, and most of us in the west know only a tiny fraction of it.
“My problem is, I don’t plan anything!” Youn laughs over Zoom from Los Angeles. Unlike her character in Minari, she speaks fluent English, although she apologises for it not being good enough.
Continue reading...Reports say Ethiopia wants to buy Bayraktar TB2 drones after military cooperation agreement was signed with Ankara
Ethiopia’s government has forged an alliance with Turkey, amid reports that it wants to deploy armed Turkish drones in its bitter war against forces from the region of Tigray.
Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, signed a military cooperation agreement on a visit Ankara in August with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Continue reading...Cases at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths forecast by February
Uneven vaccine coverage and a relaxation of preventive measures have brought Europe to a “critical point” in the pandemic, the World Health Organization has said, with cases again at near-record levels and 500,000 more deaths forecast by February.
Hans Kluge, the WHO’s Europe director, said all 53 countries in the region were facing “a real threat of Covid-19 resurgence or already fighting it” and urged governments to reimpose or continue with social and public health measures.
Continue reading...Pill can be taken twice daily at home and priority will be given to elderly patients and those with health vulnerabilities
The UK medicines regulator has become the first in the world to approve an oral antiviral pill for Covid in a move that paves the way for tens of thousands of vulnerable patients to receive the treatment from this winter.
Nearly half a million doses of molnupiravir, a pill that can be taken twice daily at home, are due for delivery from mid-November and will be given as a priority to elderly Covid patients and those with particular vulnerabilities, such as weakened immune systems. The drug will initially be given to patients through a national study run by the NHS.
Continue reading...Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in Hinduism and is celebrated by Hindus all over the world. It is also known as the festival of lights
Continue reading...This little known and preventable disease disfigures those it does not kill – and a new campaign hopes to raise awareness and eradicate it entirely
Warning: this article includes graphic images some readers may find disturbing
Fidel Strub was three when the inside of his cheek started to itch. After a few days, it felt like it was burning, then it began to smell as if it was rotting. A splitting headache came next before his whole body started to feel uncomfortably hot.
“I remember darkness came,” he says. “I had a hammering headache and a burning body. When I opened my eyes, any light stung them and it burned like hell. It was easier to close my eyes for less pain. I could do nothing but lie on the floor.”
Continue reading...Women’s rights activists fear for their lives as Afghanistan’s new rulers infiltrate, detain, beat and torture groups of protesters
A month ago, Reshmin was busy organising protests against Taliban rule in online groups of hundreds of fellow women’s rights activists. Now the 26-year-old economics graduate must operate clandestinely, dressing in disguise and only demonstrating with a select few.
“If things continue like this, there will be no future for women in Afghanistan. It’s better if the future never arrives,” says Reshmin, who spoke to the Guardian using only her first name, which means “silk” in Farsi, out of security concerns. “Each time we go out, we say farewell because we might not make it back alive.”
Continue reading...Lawyers say ruling is ‘highly significant’ and likely to impact future prosecutions amid intensifying national security crackdown
Hong Kong’s top court has quashed attempts by the city’s government to prosecute people for rioting or illegal assembly even without being present at the scene – a ruling lawyers described as a landmark.
The five-judge panel in Hong Kong’s court of final appeal, headed by chief justice Andrew Cheung, unanimously rejected an earlier ruling by a lower appeal court that people, such as supporters, could be criminally liable without being actually present under the common law doctrine of “joint enterprise”.
Continue reading...The documents, necessary for entry into bars and sporting venues, are being sold by unscrupulous health workers for less than £20
The Lesotho government’s plans to implement a Covid passport system this week are being undermined by widespread fraud involving certificates being sold to unvaccinated people.
Covid-19 vaccination certificates are being sold for less than £20 by unscrupulous health workers to the largely vaccine-averse population in Lesotho, where there has been little positive campaigning around the jabs.
Continue reading...Among under-18s, vaccine uptake is low, and there is a growing issue with misinformation spread on social media and at school. Is there anything a concerned caregiver can do?
Throughout the pandemic, Anna has worked for the NHS. She has seen the effects of Covid-19 first-hand and, although she worked remotely because she was in a vulnerable group, other colleagues – she is a physiotherapist – were deployed to Covid wards at the height of hospital admissions. “At the trust I work for, they’re setting up a long-Covid service,” she says. She comes home and her son Sam, 16, listens to her talk about it – and yet he is adamant that the coronavirus isn’t happening or that, if it is, it’s not serious. “You know: ‘Covid is a load of rubbish – it’s all about control’,” she says. “It’s all very conspiracy theory, a lot of his stuff.” He was adamant from the start that he wouldn’t be having the vaccine if and when it became available for his age group, and he has stuck to it. “He is very resistant,” says Anna. “He is pretty determined not to conform anyway. Part of it, I think, is him being a teenager, and the other bit of it is conspiracy theory: ‘It’s all a big con.’” His main source of information since the start of the pandemic has been social media, says Anna. “He watches a lot of YouTube.”
Just over a month ago, YouTube announced it would remove videos that spread misinformation about all vaccines, and would ban the accounts of anti-vax activists; it had already banned content with false claims about Covid vaccines last year. Facebook did the same in February this year, though a quick search reveals misinformation is still easy to find (one post I found within minutes claimed 80% of vaccinated women had miscarriages). On TikTok, “unvaxxed” content racks up hundreds of thousands of views. Last month, NewsGuard, an organisation that rates the credibility of news organisations and monitors misinformation, found Covid conspiracy theories were being viewed by millions on TikTok, and, in its research, children under 13 – the lower age limit – were able to access the app.
Continue reading...Researchers say leaves of the matalafi plant could also potentially be used to treat cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases
Leaves from a plant which can be found “in back yards across Samoa” could be as effective as ibuprofen in lowering inflammation and could even be used to treat illnesses such as Parkinson’s and cancer, a new study has found.
For centuries, the leaves of the psychotria insularum plant, known locally in Samoa as matalafi, have been used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation associated with fever, body aches, swellings, elephantiasis, and respiratory infections.
Continue reading...US investigation finds civilian deaths did not violate law of war as strike attempted to target Islamic State
A US drone strike in Kabul in August that killed 10 Afghan civilians was a tragic mistake but did not violate any laws, a Pentagon inspector general said after an investigation.
Three adults, including a man who worked for a US aid group, and seven children were killed in the 29 August operation, with the target believed to have been a home and a vehicle occupied by Islamic State militants.
Continue reading...Microsoft founder says research and development budgets should focus on weaknesses exposed by rapid spread of Covid
A global research effort worth tens of billions of dollars is needed to ensure the world is better prepared for the next pandemic, which could be far worse than Covid, Bill Gates has said.
The Microsoft founder said the “completely horrific” death toll and economic damage inflicted by coronavirus should drive funding into projects aimed at improving vaccines, treatments and diagnostic tests that will be needed to contain the next pandemic more effectively.
Continue reading...Fossil fuels are surging in post-pandemic recovery as scientists warn 1.5C emission limits will be reached in 11 years
Global carbon emissions are shooting back to the record level seen before the coronavirus pandemic levels, new analysis has shown. Scientists said the finding is a “reality check” for the world’s nations gathered at the Cop26 climate summit.
The emissions driving the climate crisis reached their highest ever levels in 2019, before global coronavirus lockdowns saw them fall by 5.4%. However, fossil fuel burning has surged faster than expected in 2021, the international research team said, in stark contrast to the rapid cuts needed to tackle global heating.
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