America’s Backyard Isn’t as Quiet as It Looks

© Enea Lebrun/Reuters

© Enea Lebrun/Reuters

© Sara Andreasson

Separate weather systems brought torrential rainfall to Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia
Sri Lanka and Indonesia have deployed military personnel to help victims of devastating flooding that has killed nearly 1,000 people across four countries in Asia in recent days.
Separate weather systems brought torrential, extended rainfall to the entire island of Sri Lanka and large parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, southern Thailand and northern Malaysia last week.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Aidil Ichlas/Reuters

© Photograph: Aidil Ichlas/Reuters

© Photograph: Aidil Ichlas/Reuters


















































































Ukraine will top agenda, but meeting comes as positive sentiment towards Germany in Poland hits near record lows
When the Polish and German governments meet on Monday for annual political talks in Berlin – the first since Friedrich Merz became chancellor – the headlines are likely to be dominated by Ukraine.
Amid growing US pressure for a peace deal with Russia, Warsaw and Berlin will want to send a signal of support for Kyiv and of unity between central Europe’s largest – and militarily strongest – countries.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images
Country seen as champion of equal rights faces reckoning after senior politician says she felt compelled to quit
Increasing hate, threats and harassment against female politicians are scaring women away from public life and forcing them to censor themselves, the Swedish government’s equality agency has said, warning that this poses a “big threat to democracy.”
Women’s safety in politics has come under heightened scrutiny in the Scandinavian country since October, when Anna-Karin Hatt resigned as leader of the Centre party after only five months in office, citing hate and threats.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Johan Dali/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Johan Dali/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Johan Dali/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock
Put some artful oomph into your festive season with our bumper guide, featuring everything from a satanic South Park shirt to Marina Abramović’s penis salt and pepper pots
Is there an overly sweary person in your life? Do you have a friend who’s utterly bereft without The Traitors? Would anyone you know like to shake up their cocktail-making? And do you ever wish your neighbours’ doormat was, well, a bit more kinky?
Well, look no further! Our bumper Christmas gift guide has arty present suggestions galore for all these people – and many more. Dig in before the jingle bells rush!
Continue reading...
© Composite: Guardian Design;

© Composite: Guardian Design;

© Composite: Guardian Design;
The Irish politician was targeted in 2022, in the final weeks of her run for office. She has never found out who made the malicious deepfake, but knew immediately she had to try to stop this happening to other women
When Cara Hunter, the Irish politician, looks back on the moment she found out she had been deepfaked, she says it is “like watching a horror movie”. The setting is her grandmother’s rural home in the west of Tyrone on her 90th birthday, April 2022. “Everyone was there,” she says. “I was sitting with all my closest family members and family friends when I got a notification through Facebook Messenger.” It was from a stranger. “Is that you in the video … the one going round on WhatsApp?” he asked.
Hunter made videos all the time, especially then, less than three weeks before elections for the Northern Ireland assembly. She was defending her East Londonderry seat, campaigning, canvassing, debating. Yet, as a woman, this message from a man she didn’t know was enough to put her on alert. “I replied that I wasn’t sure which video he was talking about,” Hunter says. “So he asked, did I want to see it?” Then he sent it over.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Polly Garnett/The Guardian

© Photograph: Polly Garnett/The Guardian

© Photograph: Polly Garnett/The Guardian


















