Speaking to experts and people on the ground in Pas-de-Calais reveals a different narrative to that told by Rishi Sunak The people from Vietnam trying to get to England on small boats across the Channel stand out from the rest of those drawn to the Pas-de-Calais coastline. They are notably young, many just teenagers. They tend to stick together and eschew the attention of the aid workers offering food and water down at the beach or in the forests where they sleep at night ..read more

It has gone from the sidelines of American sport to become a competitive global phenomenon that might one day make the Olympics. We meet the international teams bringing the cheer When photographer Christian Sinibaldi first visited world champion cheerleaders London’s Unity Allstars Black, in January 2020, he had no expectations. In fact, he admits , he had “a few stigmas associated with cheerleaders”. What he learned that day surprised him. “I loved the energy, the connection between people,” he says. It kickstarted a fascination that would take him around the world to capture a sport on the ..read more

Deputy PM says international partners, including the US, will also be making statements today about similar Chinese cyber-attacks. This live blog is closed Chinese hackers targeted UK’s Electoral Commission and politicians, say security services Andrew Bowie, the energy minister, said the government should have revived investment in nuclear energy “years ago” in an interview this morning. While doing an interview round on behalf of the government, Bowie told Times Radio that the government is investing £350m in nuclear energy. But it should have happened sooner, he said. I make no bones abou ..read more

Vo Van Thuong has resigned after just over a year, as the country continues its ‘blazing furnace’ anti-corruption drive Vietnam’s government has announced the resignation of its second president in as many years amid an anti-corruption drive, sparking concerns for the country’s political stability. President Vo Van Thuong’s alleged “violations and flaws have negatively affected public perception, as well as the reputation of the party and the state”, state media reported on Wednesday, citing an announcement from the Central Committee of the Communist party of Vietnam. No further details of any ..read more

Much is open-ended about this realist yet dreamlike exploration of midlife crisis and regret set in Vietnam The question of what the title means, or what the movie means, remain open; even so, this is a quietly amazing feature debut from 34-year-old Thien An Pham, born in Vietnam and based in Houston, Texas. It’s a jewel of slow cinema set initially in Saigon and then the mountainous, lush central highlands far from the city; it is a zero-gravity epic quest, floating towards its strange narrative destiny and then maybe floating up over that to something else. It’s compassionate, intimate, spir ..read more

When Mr Tienh offered to treat me to lunch, I declined, embarrassed, assuming he couldn’t afford it. This insult to his dignity led to a flash of insight that would last a lifetime It says something that I only remember him as “Mr Tienh”. The small man who taught me such a big lesson may at some point have told me his first name, but it was not one I ever used. Mr Tienh must have been in his 50s, while I was only a few years out of school. So, out of respect, “Mr” he was introduced as, and “Mr” he remained. Back in his home country of Vietnam, the younger generation would automatically have ac ..read more

Campaigning journalist, film-maker, author and fervent critic of US and British foreign policy John Pilger, who has died of pulmonary fibrosis aged 84, was a journalist who never shirked from saying the unsayable. Across half a century, in newspapers and in his documentary films – many for ITV, but later also in the cinema – he became an ever stronger voice for those without a voice, and a thorn in the side of those in authority. He was a fervent critic of US and British foreign policy. In 2006, on a panel at Columbia University, New York, to discuss Breaking the Silence: War, Lies and Empire ..read more

According to a recent report there are more than 58m motorcycles and mopeds in Vietnam. As a mode of transport, motorbike are more popular than cars, buses and trains; and residents transport their goods, animals, family and friends by motorcycle. Such is their ubiquity that Hanoi has voted to ban them by 2030 in an effort to reduce pollution. Photographer Stefan Rousseau took a kerbside view in Hanoi and Hội An ..read more

Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey have shown economic resilience despite wave of defaults As finance ministers and central bankers convened in Marrakech for the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings on 9-15 October, they faced an extraordinary confluence of economic and geopolitical calamities: wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, a wave of defaults among low- and lower-middle-income economies, a real estate-driven slump in China, and a surge in long-term global interest rates – all against the backdrop of a slowing and fracturing world economy. But what surprised ve ..read more

NGO leaders and technical experts who helped secure western aid for official shift to clean energy are being locked up now that they are no longer needed Less than 12 months ago G7 countries agreed to provide billions of dollars to help Vietnam ditch coal. The funding was described as a “gamechanger in the fight against climate change” by Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister. It was designed to help Vietnam achieve a “just and equitable” energy transition, with input from civil society. But in the months that have followed, Vietnam has continued a crackdown on environmentalists, jailing NGO ..read more