A court in Bangladesh has sentenced the British MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
In a ruling on Monday, a judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother, brother and sister.
The return of Nobel laureate Han Kang; film-making under the Nazis; stuck in a time loop; Scandinavian thrills; and essential stories from postwar Iraq
We Do Not Part Han Kang, translated by e yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (Hamish Hamilton)
The Korean 2024 Nobel laureate combines the strangeness of The Vegetarian and the political history in Human Acts to extraordinary effect in her latest novel. Kyungha, a writer experiencing a health crisis (“I can sense a migraine coming on like ice cracking in the distance”), agrees to look after a hospitalised friend’s pet bird. The friend, Inseon, makes films that expose historical massacres in Korea. At the centre of the book is a mesmerising sequence “between dream and reality” where Kyungha stumbles toward Inseon’s rural home, blinded by snow, then finds herself in ghostly company. As the pace slows, and physical and psychic pain meet, the story only becomes more involving. This might be Han’s best novel yet.
On the Calculation of Volume I and II Solvej Balle, translated by Barbara J Haveland (Faber)
“It is the eighteenth of November. I have got used to that thought.” Book dealer Tara Selter is stuck in time, each day a repeat of yesterday. Groundhog Day it ain’t; this is more philosophical than comic – why, she doesn’t even bet on the horses – but it’s equally arresting. Tara slowly begins to understand how she occupies space in the world, and the ways in which we allow our lives to drift. At first she tries to live normally, recreating the sense of seasons passing by travelling to warm and cold cities. By the end of volume two, with five more books to come, we get hints of cracks appearing in the hermetic world – is Balle breaking her own rules? – but it just makes us want to read on further.
Through static compositions and observational detail, the documentary explores how Laos’s visitors and residents inhabit the same spaces in very different ways
Shot in Laos, Kimi Takesue’s idiosyncratic documentary gazes upon sights and vistas that would not be out of place on travel postcards. Minimal in its camera movements, the film looks at glimmering golden temples, waterfalls cascading down silver rocks, and processions of monks moving through lush landscapes. It also shows what is absent from glossy brochures, namely the intrusion of tourists. The disruption to the local rhythm of life is at once visual and aural: we see throngs of wandering visitors, their casual clothes of shorts and T-shirts a stark contrast to the ancient architecture. Their occasionally rowdy leisure activities are intercut with more mundane moments from the locals’ everyday lives, like schoolchildren heading to class or laywomen offering alms to monks by the roadside.
There’s a sense of tension between the static camera and the movements that occur within the frame. Scenes of tourists being loaded on to buses bring to mind Jacques Tati’s 1967 classic Playtime, which gently pokes fun at the idea of an authentic cultural experience attained via consumerist means. The point of view in Takesue’s film, however, is on shakier grounds. Some of the visual juxtapositions veer towards reiterating well-worn binaries between the east and west, the regional and the global. For instance, most of the tourists seen in Onlookers are white; in truth, visitors to Laos largely come from neighbouring Asian countries. Likewise, the Laotian population is also far from homogeneous: one sequence shows middle-aged men playing a game of catch, with the caption telling us they are “arguing in Lao” – yet some of them are speaking Vietnamese.
Auctioneer found the Flemish artist’s masterpiece – depicting a crucified Christ – in a Paris mansion as he was preparing for the property to be sold
A long-lost painting by baroque master Peter Paul Rubens has sold at auction in France for €2.3m ($2.7m) – well beyond its asking price.
The work, of Jesus Christ on the cross and painted in 1613, was unearthed by auctioneer Jean-Pierre Osenat in a Paris mansion last year after being hidden for more than four centuries.
Broken ceasefires, bombing, ground incursions and mounting deaths: Israeli imperialism is now expanding across the region
It is clear now that the ceasefire in Gaza is only a “reducefire”. The onslaught continues. There are near-daily attacks on the territory. On a single day at the end of October, almost 100 Palestinians were killed. On 19 November, 32 were killed. On 23 November, 21. And on it goes. Since the ceasefire, more than 300 have been killed and almost 1,000 injured. Those numbers will rise. The real shift is that the ceasefire has reduced global attention and scrutiny. Meanwhile, Israel’s emerging blueprint becomes clearer: bloody domination not only in Gaza, but across Palestine and the wider region.
A “dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal”, is how Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described this post-ceasefire period. Israeli authorities have reduced attacks and allowed some aid into Gaza, she said, but “the world must not be fooled. Israel’s genocide is not over.” Not a single hospital in Gaza has returned to being fully operational. The onset of rain and cooling weather has left thousands exposed in dilapidated tents. Since the ceasefire on 10 October, almost 6,500 tonnes of UN-coordinated relief materials have been denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities. According to Oxfam, in the two weeks after the ceasefire alone, shipments of water, food, tents and medical supplies from 17 international NGOs were denied.
Residents in Batn al-Hawa have all but given up hope and blame the Gaza war which, they say, has created ‘an atmosphere of hate’ towards them
The dome of the al-Aqsa mosque gleamed in the late afternoon autumnal sun as Zohair Rajabi looked out from his balcony towards the skyline of Jerusalem’s Old City. Christian pilgrims spilled out of buses, while observant Jewish worshippers gathered outside the gate to the Western Wall.
New flags now fly a few metres from Rajabi’s home. Blue and white and bearing the Star of David, they mark where residents were evicted recently from their homes by Israeli police. After more than 20 years of activism, Rajabi knows his days in Batn al-Hawa, a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood less than a mile south of the Old City, are almost certainly numbered.
Reports highlight devastating impact of slashed funding, especially in parts of Africa, that could lead to 3.3m new HIV infections by 2030
In Mozambique, a teenage rape victim sought care at a health clinic only to find it closed. In Zimbabwe, Aids-related deaths have risen for the first time in five years. In Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), patients with suspected HIV went undiagnosed due to test-kit stocks running out.
Stories of the devastating impact of US, British and wider European aid cuts on the fight against HIV – particularly in sub-Saharan Africa – continue to mount as 2025 comes to an end, and are set out in a series of reports released in the past week.
A fishy festive centrepiece that’s ready in next to no time but still has pizzazz
While I tend to stick pretty close to tradition when it comes to my Christmas Day side offerings, I can’t remember the last time I cooked a turkey or goose as the showstopper. You see, my family is mostly made up of pescatarians, so anything larger than a chicken or cockerel (my personal favourite) for the meat eaters is just excessive. So, alongside a lovingly cooked smaller bird, I also make something fishy – hopefully something with a bit of star-quality, but not too shouty. A dish that will be delicious, fancy, but stress-free all at the same time. These pan-fried monkfish fillets are this year’s solution. It’s the sort of dish that can be made in next to no time while everything else finishes off in the oven, but that still has all the glitz and glamour of Christmas.
The Wiggles want to make one thing very clear: they do not condone the use of MDMA.
After two of its members appeared in a controversial TikTok video, the group – which has entertained children around the world for decades – issued a statement on the weekend denying any suggestion it supports the use of drugs.
Exclusive: Pollution targets set out alongside nature recovery projects to allay concerns over housebuilding
Wood-burning stoves are likely to face tighter restrictions in England under new pollution targets set as part of an updated environmental plan released by ministers on Monday.
Speaking to the Guardian before the publication of the updated environmental improvement plan (EIP), the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, said it would boost nature recovery in a number of areas, replacing an EIP under the last government she said was “not credible”.
Paquetá critical of lack of support during spot-fixing case
‘It’s ridiculous to have your life affected for two years’
West Ham’s Lucas Paquetá hit out at a lack of “psychological support” from football authorities, in an astonishing online outburst in the wake of his bizarre sending-off late on during his side’s 2-0 defeat by Liverpool.
The 28-year-old midfielder, who was left in limbo for two years during a Football Association investigation into spot-fixing allegations, was shown two yellow cards, both for dissent, within seconds of one another by the referee Darren England.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
Extreme weather has killed nearly 1,000 people across southern and south-eastern Asia as cyclones turbocharged rain systems across the region
Tropical cyclones have combined with heavy monsoon rains to lay waste to swathes of Asia, killing close to 1,000 people and leaving many more homeless.
Parts of the Indonesian archipelago have been particularly hard hit, with the death toll reaching 442 following flooding that began about a week ago, a number that is expected to rise. Nearly 300,000 people have been displaced and nearly 3,000 houses damaged, including 827 that were flattened or swept away.
Creating customised cans for Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon’s big day was a first for Sydney’s Willie the Boatman brewery. But personalised nuptial drinks are a growing trend
When Pat McInerney named one of his first beers after Anthony Albanese over a decade ago, he didn’t anticipate catering the future prime minister’s wedding.
“Before he was prime minister he was a very regular customer,” said McInerney, the founder of Sydney brewery Willie the Boatman. “He genuinely loved coming in and was warmly welcomed.”
The Albanese government has announced a major overhaul of the defence department, aimed at tackling budget and timeline blowouts, on the same day it confirmed Australia was tracking a Chinese navy flotilla in the Philippine Sea.
In the biggest changes to the defence bureaucracy in Australia since the mid-1970s, Labor will merge three agencies: the capability acquisition and sustainment group, the guided weapons and explosive ordinance group, and the naval shipbuilding and sustainment group.
Social media videos of women riding motorbike and dancing in the streets in the Islamic Republic have gone viral. But after war, and the crushing of the ‘Women, life, freedom’ movement what is life really like? Deepa Parent reports
In recent months videos of women in Iran riding motorbikes, dancing in the streets, and defying mandatory hijab laws have been popping up across social media. It seems that three years after the ‘Women, life, freedom’ movement swept across the country, women’s lives have been transformed. But is this the real picture?
Photographer Kiana Hyeri recently visited for the first time in three years. She says she was amazed at the number of women in Tehran, the country’s capital, with bare heads and crop tops. Especially because the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, a young Kurdish woman, picked up by the morality police for infractions of the hijab law had been so brutally repressed.
Choosing to bring intentionality to our speech challenges our tendency to abandon and disconnect from those we do not agree with
Making sense of it is a column about spirituality and how it can be used to navigate everyday life
When it comes to difficult conversations, I have a way to go. I often swing between hyper-assertiveness and retreating entirely, but both avoid vulnerability. I often tell myself silence is “skilful”, though it can easily turn into passive aggression. And avoidance has consequences – not speaking out of fear can create distance and irreparable damage to relationships and communities.
As the Buddhist activist-scholar bell hooks says: “to know love we have to tell the truth to ourselves and to others … Commitment to truth telling lays the groundwork for the openness and honesty that is the heartbeat of love.” That, to me, is the kind of love I aspire to, even if I often miss the mark.
There’s a lot of pressure to make a splash, but you can create beautiful festive decor on a budget – just ask the people who do it all year round
It has been Christmas in the retail world for weeks but most of us are only now getting the decorations out at home. How can you reuse and recycle what you already have to create the perfect festive feel? Shop window-dressers – or visual merchandisers, as they are also known – share their tips for capturing the magic of the most wonderful time of the year.
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