Author: The Guardian

A prominent liberal priest faces expulsion from the Russian Orthodox church for refusing to read out a prayer asking God to guide Russia to victory over Ukraine.In a verdict published on Saturday, a church court said Aleksiy Uminsky should be “expelled from holy orders” for violating his priestly oath. The decision was forwarded for approval to Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian church who strongly backs President Vladimir Putin.The case shows how the church is clamping down on internal dissent as it throws its support behind Putin and his “special military operation” in Ukraine, which is now nearing the…

Australian Open director Craig Tiley has defended the health of the tournament after the Victorian government spent tens of millions of dollars to support Tennis Australia during the coronavirus pandemic.The 2024 event is targeting a record 1 million visitors and will start on Sunday for the first time, extending the duration of the so-called “Happy Slam” by one day.”This is Victoria’s event, it’s the Victorian taxpayers’ event and it’s their event,” Tilly said at the launch of the championship at Melbourne Park. But as speculation continues about the future of the tennis calendar, Tilley denied the Australian Grand Slam would…

I like to bore everyone relentlessly with this story over and over because I can’t quite believe it happened to me. There I am in 1998, standing in the bathroom of a suite in the Beverly Hilton hotel, Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California. It’s about an hour before I have to be in a car to go to the Oscars, the real live Oscars at the Shrine Auditorium.And I was thinking to myself as I was looking into a mirror about Kate Winslet, who was nominated for an Academy Award that night for Titanic. “I think she’s not looking into…

U.S. climate envoy, former secretary of state and presidential candidate John Kerry plans to leave the Biden administration later this winter to instead help Joe Biden’s reelection bid for the White House, Kerry’s office said.Kerry informed his staff early on Saturday after speaking with Biden this week, his spokesman told Reuters.Political news outlet Axios first reported the news about the 80-year-old Kerry on Saturday.Kerry was instrumental in brokering the 2015 Paris climate agreement and the consensus reached at the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 in Dubai in December calling for a shift away from fossil fuels.He initially said he believed Biden’s…

A prolonged conflict in the Red Sea and escalating tensions across the Middle East risk having devastating effects on the global economy, reigniting inflation and disrupting energy supplies, some of the world’s leading economists warn this weekend.Before a statement expected on Monday by Rishi Sunak in the House of Commons about UK and US airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, economists at the World Bank say the crisis now threatens to feed through into higher interest rates, lower growth, persistent inflation and greater geopolitical uncertainty.After a second night of strikes against the Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen, President Joe Biden said…

HHow to replace something that is irreplaceable? The news that Manchester City will be without Erling Haaland until the end of the month, extending his availability to two months, is a blow that would make almost any club drunk, but usually, not this one.If it sometimes feels like Guardiola likes to set a challenging puzzle for his bright sparks, Kevin De Bruyne has almost grown weary of any navel-gazing as he plays in his first game since August Greedily filling his pockets every Premier League game. Guardiola stressed: “After five months he is not ready for 90 minutes but his…

Thousands of marchers descended on Washington DC on Saturday to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and to protest US aid to Israel, more than three months into an Israeli offensive against Hamas that is killing 250 Palestinians per day, according to the Oxfam charity.The protest, called a march on Washington for Gaza, was promoted as likely to be the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in the US since the 7 October attack on southern Israel by Hamas fighters emerging from Gaza, which killed almost 1,200 people and led to a massive military response from Israel, backed by the US government.Oxfam…

wattWhat is the best measure of success on the British and Irish Lions Tour? At Andy Farrell’s inaugural press conference on Thursday, the three men in the top seats gave their answers. For Farrell, it’s all about scoring runs in the Test series. The rest, the warm-up tests and the tour, are just part of the preparation.”It’s about success,” he said over and over again. The rest, which he describes as “the rugby brand” and “all those parts,” is someone else’s business. Farrell’s aim is to win, as he has been since making his rugby league debut for Wigan in…

There is often a danger of long heralded comebacks turning into anticlimaxes but Kevin De Bruyne is simply not the sort of footballer to fall into that particular trap. Not content with scoring a sublime equaliser five minutes after stepping off the bench, Manchester City’s ­playmaker ­reignited Pep Guardiola’s title hopes by creating a classy stoppage-time winner for his fellow substitute Oscar Bobb.It was De Bruyne’s first Premier League appearance since the season’s opening day. Since then there has been a hamstring to repair but, on this evidence, the Belgian is fully restored to former glories.Indeed Liverpool, Aston Villa, Arsenal and…

When I moved from Wollongong to Sydney in 2004, the only person I knew was a childhood friend who had relocated to the big smoke. Naturally, his social group quickly became mine. Hailey, one of the girls in this group of friends, caught my attention.One day I plucked up the courage to ask Hailey’s flatmate whether she thought I could be in with a shot. Her advice was less than encouraging: “I’m just not sure you’re her type.”Perhaps it was hubris, naivety or both, but I decided that since none of Hailey’s previous boyfriends had lasted, being different was a…