A record number of Japanese nationals are working for United Nations agencies around the world.

This growth is the outcome of a five-year plan to install experts in key positions in the sprawling international organization and to counter what Tokyo perceives as China using the UN to exert greater influence over other nations.  

While the experts, analysts and bureaucrats who work for the UN are meant to be non-partisan in their decision-making, Japan is among the nations that have become concerned that instead of remaining neutral, China is utilizing the UN to further its own geopolitical aims.

Some Japanese observers say that while Beijing uses vast amounts of aid to woo developing nations and is rapidly expanding its military capabilities, diplomacy through a multilateral organization such as the UN gives it another tool with which to sway other nations.

Chinese UN staffers pursuing Beijing’s interests?

“China wants to have a number of UN staff that they feel is representative of their population and the amount of money they contribute,” said Stephen Nagy, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s International Christian University.

“And they have been trying, with a lot of success, to get their people on many of the most important committees,” he told DW, adding: “Staff at the UN are supposed to work for the UN, but many people there fear that Chinese staffers are busy advancing China’s interests, blocking action against Beijing.”

One area that Beijing has been particularly sensitive about is criticism of its human rights record against the Uyghur ethnic minority in Xinjiang.

So what’s up with race? The Uyghurs in China

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Critics accuse China of attempting to cover up abuses and of interfering in the drawing up of a UN report by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which was published in August 2022 after months of unexplained delays. The document detailed serious human rights violations in Xinjiang, but Beijing has consistently denounced its findings as fabrications.

In July 2024, a report issued by the UN Watch NGO claimed “the UN is broken” after another review of its human rights record.

The report added, “China and other autocracies have hijacked the mechanism to create a platform for dictators to shower each other with praise and legitimize their rules as sanctioned by the UN.”

While the US and the United Kingdom criticized China in the UN Human Rights Council meeting, Russia, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Tunisia and Algeria praised Beijing’s “promotion of development and diversity in Xinjiang.”

Tokyo pushes back

Nagy said Japan is pushing back in the only way it can.

“Japan is responding because it clearly feels that leadership within the UN is in decline and that it needs to bolster its own presence and make the organization more effective again,” he said.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry announced on December 9 that 979 Japanese nationals were employed at UN agencies as of the end of 2024, the highest since records were first collated in 1990. The total is closing in on the target of 1,000 employees by this year, as announced in 2021.

Japanese nationals are also increasingly in influential positions, with a record 94 at the deputy director level or above at 44 UN agencies.

In contrast, however, there were 794 Chinese employed by the UN in 2009, a figure that had increased to 1,647 in 2023, according to data from the UN website.

Tokyo was motivated to ramp up its UN presence in early 2021, when Chinese nationals headed four UN bodies, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Telecommunications Union and the International Civil Aviation Organization. Similarly, nine of the 15 UN agencies had Chinese deputies.

Japan’s National Security Secretariat and the Foreign Ministry were charged with developing personnel with the required skills to take on global leadership roles and reverse the sidelining of Japan.

Tokyo is also working hard to attract a greater international presence to Japan. The UN University is already headquartered in Tokyo, but the city is also lobbying hard to be selected to host the Asia branch of the International Criminal Court, which is based in The Hague.

Japan’s fear of China — Global Us

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Japan, an ‘idealistic nation’

Others suggest that Japan is primarily motivated by a desire to play its part rather than to counter the growing influence of other nations.

“Japan is an idealistic nation and, since it was formed, has had the belief that the UN would be ready to step into any situation at any time,” said Hiromi Murakami, a professor of political science at the Tokyo campus of Temple University.

“Even if that view is outdated, Japan still expects the UN to be able to step in to solve crises,” she said. “Japan wants to be involved in that and the best way to do that is through increasing our presence within the organization,” Murakami added.

“And I think Japan will continue on this course under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as she has a similar vision for Japan going forward.”

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

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Inflation spiked 0.2 percent in November and 2.7 percent in the past 12 months, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report.

The number comes despite President Donald Trump’s persistent claims that prices are declining. The president has consistently said that prices are declining despite the fact that his reciprocal tariffs have caused prices to increase for products made outside the United States.

The report is the first Consumer Price Index report since the end of the government shutdown. The Bureau of Labor Statistics did not collect data in October because of the shutdown.

Despite President Donald Trump’s claims that ‘prices are down,’ the latest Consumer Price Index report showed inflation jumped. (AP)

The index for food rose by 0.1 percent over the past two months ending in November and by 2.6 percent in the past year. But the increase was more pronounced for products such as bananas, which rose 6.7 percent in the past year; beef and veal, which rose by 15.8 percent; and coffee, which rose 18.8 percent in the last year.

Trump has tried to stave off some of the pinch from the tariffs. Last month, he rolled back tariffs on products including coffee, citrus fruits and other food last month, though continued to defend tariffs.

During his White House address, the president doubled down on his use of tariffs.

“Much of this success has been accomplished by tariffs, my favorite word, tariffs, which for many decades have been used successfully by other countries against us, but not anymore,” he said.

The index for energy also rose 1.1 percent in the past month and increased 4.2 percent in the past 12 months. This comes despite the fact the president has persistently pushed for more oil exploration.

The index for all products except for food and energy rose 0.2 percent in the past two months. The index for shelter rose 0.2 percent.

The index for rent rose 3 percent in the last 12 months and the owner’s equivalent of rent rose 3.4 percent in the past year.

This comes as other economic indicators show signs of an economy slowing down. The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its jobs report for November showing the economy added only 64,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate ticking up.

In his address to the nation on Wednesday evening, the president insisted that prices were falling despite evidence to the contrary.

“Wages are up, prices are down. Our nation is strong. America is respected, and our country is back stronger than ever before. We are poised for an economic boom the likes of which the world has never seen,” Trump said in a Wednesday evening address.

This comes as polling shows Americans do not trust the president on inflation.

The latest NPR/PBS News/Marist poll published this week showed that 57 percent of respondents disapproved of the president’s handling of the economy and only 36 percent of Americans approve of his handling. And only about 30 percent of Americans said the cost of living in their area is affordable.

This comes despite the president persistently saying that “affordability” is a “hoax” as many Democrats ranging from New Jersey’s Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill and New York City’s incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani winning their races because of their persistent campaigning on the subject.

The number also comes as Americans face another potential price increase. At the end of the month, at least 22 million Americans who receive their health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance exchange will see their premiums increase when enhanced tax credits expire.

The House of Representatives is set to leave town on Thursday without holding a vote to extend the credits.

-Andrew Feinberg and Brendan Rascius contributed reporting

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NEED TO KNOW

• Broadway’s 2025 season highlighted bold, risk-taking performances, from solo acts to powerful ensemble casts
• Sarah Snook and Jonathan Groff were among those who delivered standout roles, earning acclaim for their transformative stage presence
• Liberation‘s all-female stars and Purpose‘s perfect cast showcased the power of collective storytelling

Broadway had plenty of big swings this year, but the performances that stuck out weren’t about spectacle alone.

Whether in quiet dramas like John Proctor Is the Villain or crowd-pleasing musicals like Just in Time, the actors who treaded the boards in the second half of the 2024-2025 season and the first half of the 2025-2026 season locked into their roles so fully that everything around them snapped into focus.

These were stars doing work rooted in clarity, confidence and a deep trust in the material; the kind of performances that only lands when there’s no camera between the actor and the audience.

Some of those moments belonged to individual stars who carried their shows on sheer presence and precision, like Jonathan Groff. Others came from ensembles working in perfect sync like the female cast of Liberation, where every performance sharpened the next and the collective impact mattered more than any single turn.

Across the board, 2025 was a year defined by performers willing to take risks and leave every bit of themselves on the stage.

Take a look at PEOPLE’s top 10 Broadway performances (listed in order of their show’s opening):

The Cast of ‘Purpose’

Alana Arenas, Kara Young, Harry Lennix, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Glenn Davis and Jon Michael Hill in ‘Purpose’.

Marc. J. Franklin

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose landed with the force of a revelation — and its power came from an ensemble working at absolute full tilt. LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Harry Lennix, Jon Michael Hill, Alana Arenas, Morgan Jasper, Glenn Davis and Kara Young (who picked up her third consecutive acting Tony Award for the role) built a family drama that simmered and flared in equal measure, charting a Southern Black household confronted with old wounds, buried secrets and the question of who gets to shape their shared legacy. No single performance dominated; instead, the cast moved with uncanny cohesion, each actor sharpening the stakes for the next. It was a masterclass in collaborative storytelling — proof that sometimes the most thrilling performance of the year belongs not to one star, but to an ensemble breathing the same fire.

Sarah Snook in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’

Sarah Snook in ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’.

Marc Brenner

It wasn’t enough for Sarah Snook to play just one role for her Broadway debut; she had to tackle 26! In this thrilling one-woman production of Oscar Wilde’s gothic horror, the Succession star fearlessly executed a theatrical high-wire act, cycling through every character in the story with razor-sharp precision and breathtaking balance. Technology multiplied her presence, but Snook’s talent remained the centerpiece. It was a mesmerizing, tour-de-force turn that rightfully earned her a Tony and recharged this 135-year-old classic.

Jasmine Amy Rogers in ‘BOOP! The Musical’

Jasmine Amy Rogers in ‘BOOP! The Musical’.

Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

BOOP! revived Betty Boop for a new generation, but its real magic trick was turning Jasmine Amy Rogers into a star right before our eyes. As the iconic cartoon come to life, the newcomer radiated a fizzy, irresistible charm, grounding all of director Jerry Mitchell’s high-concept whimsy with real emotional warmth and a comic charm to irresistible to resist. Her voice was bright, agile and packed with firepower, snapping each number into place with show-stealing confidence. It was a breathtaking Broadway debut; the kind that makes you realize you’re watching a star take shape in real time.

Sadie Sink in ‘John Proctor is the Villain’

Sadie Sink in ‘John Proctor Is the Villain’.

Julieta Cervantes

Sadie Sink brought a different kind of action to Broadway. After fighting monsters in the Upside Down, the Stranger Things star returned to the lights of the rialto for the first time in a decade in John Proctor Is the Villain, playing Shelby — a high school junior caught in a classroom reckoning over power, gender and truth. It was a performance Sink played with a sharply tuned emotional awareness that made every moment of Shelby’s anger, confusion and dawning clarity feel painfully real. By the time the character finally found her voice, Sink had delivered one of the season’s most quietly devastating performances: intimate, fearless and hard to shake.

Jonathan Groff in ‘Just in Time’

Jonathan Groff in ‘Just in Time’.

Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman

Jonathan Groff tears into Broadway’s hit Bobby Darin bio-musical with a volcanic, full-body performance that never lets up. Sweaty, breathless and gloriously alive, the Tony Award-winning actor electrically captures the “Mack the Knife” crooner’s nightclub-animal magnetism while showing off his own knockout musical talent, emotional range and irresistible presence. Oh, and he does it all while working the room with a fearless, up-close presence, pulling the crowd into the action with him. This is a star working at full burn, who leaves the stage sizzling in his wake.

Catch him in the show through Sunday, March 29, 2026.

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Jinkx Monsoon in ‘Oh, Mary!’

Evan Zimmerman for Murphymade

Cole Escola’s Oh, Mary! is a deliriously unhinged comic fever dream, and Jinkx Monsoon tore through it with total command. As a boozy, attention-hungry Mary Todd Lincoln, the two-time RuPaul’s Drag Race winner delivered a performance so precisely chaotic, it felt like a master class in comic control. She moved at lightning speed between wounded, wicked and wickedly funny, conducting the audience with every raised eyebrow and deadpan pause. Every line landed with that signature Jinkx timing — sly, lethal and impossibly precise — confirming once again that she’s one of the most versatile talents working on the stage today. 

Monsoon returns to Oh, Mary! from Jan. 8, 2026 to Feb. 1.

Joshua Henry in ‘Ragtime’

Matthew Murphy

Every actor in the Lincoln Center Theater’s revival of Ragtime is working at the top of their game, but there’s a moment in “New Music” where Joshua Henry breaks out from the pack. As Coalhouse Walker Jr. tries to get his estranged love Sarah to forgive him, Henry sings a note so resonant that it doesn’t just inspire Sarah to come downstairs and embrace him — it also makes you want to get out of your seat and do the same! From there, Henry’s performance only deepens. He plays Coalhouse with a quiet, righteous resolve that gradually tightens into heartbreak, fury and hard-won grace. And in every song, that unmistakable Henry baritone channels Coalhouse’s passion and pain so clearly, his story becomes the production’s beating heart. 

Ragtime is now playing through June 14, 2026 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

The Women of ‘Liberation’

Betsy Aidem, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio, Adina Verson, Audrey Corsa and Susannah Flood in the Broadway production of ‘Liberation’.

Little Fang

Liberation thrives on the courage and unity of its ensemble. Led by Susannah Flood and joined by Betsy Aidem, Audrey Corsa, Kayla Davion, Kristolyn Lloyd, Irene Sofia Lucio and Adina Verson, the cast delivers a performance built on trust, precision and shared purpose. Set around a 1970s consciousness-raising group and braided with present-day reflection, the play asks its characters to strip themselves down — emotionally, politically and, at one charged moment, literally — in service of examining power, identity and the cost of hard-won freedom. Each woman brings a distinct voice to the work, moving seamlessly between humor and heartbreak while never losing sight of the collective whole. Together, they make Liberation a powerful reminder that some of the year’s most essential performances come from artists willing to stand fully seen and fully together.

Liberation is in performances at the James Earl Jones Theatre through Feb. 1, 2026.

Kristin Chenoweth in ‘The Queen of Versailles’

Julieta Cervantes

Say what you will about The Queen of Versailles; the musical may have felt like it was still under construction, but Kristin Chenoweth’s performance supplied the Stephen Schwartz show with a sturdy foundation that kept it standing. As Florida socialite Jackie Siegel, the Tony winner opened the show with a glossy, glam promise and then — echoing Siegel’s still-unfinished 90,000-square-foot mansion — let the cracks surface, exposing the desperation, ambition and heartbreak under all that shine. Most impressively, she did all of that while ditching her signature wink-to-the-audience comedic broadness, opting instead for something quieter and more lived-in. It was a sharply focused turn, powered by vocals that cut cleanly through the musical’s excess. Sometimes, one singular performance can still carry a show.

The Queen of Versailles closes at the St. James Theatre on Dec. 21.

Nicholas Christopher in ‘Chess’

Matthew Murphy

Lea Michele and Aaron Tveit may be the marquee names powering this starry revival, but Nicholas Christopher is the one who walks away with the show. As Russian chess champ Anatoly Sergievsky, Christopher carries himself with a controlled, almost haunted calm, as if every move on the chessboard lands somewhere deep inside him. The moment he sings, though, the restraint shatters — his rich, muscular voice rising with such force and clarity you can feel the character’s entire inner life snap into focus. It’s a revelatory, star-making performance that reintroduces the stage veteran as a bankable Broadway talent. 

Honorable Mentions

Natalie Venetia Belcon in ‘Buena Vista Social Club’.

Matthew Murphy 

• Natalie Venetia Belcon, whose Tony-winning performance in Buena Vista Social Club carried quiet authority and gravitas, anchoring the show with a presence that’s both restrained and deeply felt.
• George Clooney showed that his screen charisma translates effortlessly to the stage with his Broadway debut in Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Lea Salonga and Bernadette Peters in Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, for turning an evening of Sondheim into a celebration of Broadway history in motion while proving that greatness doesn’t dim — it deepens.
• Robyn Hurder proved she’s this generation’s Chita Rivera, embodying the true meaning of being a triple-threat talent with her star-making role in SMASH.
• Louis McCartney, who hurls himself headfirst into Stranger Things: The First Shadow, giving the blockbuster stage event its bruised, human center.

Louis McCartney in ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’.

Manuel Harlan

• Andrew Durand, for spending half of Dead Outlaw standing motionless onstage. Who knew stillness could be such a daring performance choice that made the show’s tension and emotional release land even harder?
• Rebecca Naomi Jones offered luminous work in Hadestown, adding a fresh voice to a role audiences thought they already knew.
• Will Harrison, whose ferocious commitment in Punch made the play’s violence, vulnerability and reckoning impossible to ignore.
• Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock‘s fierce, tightly coiled work in Little Bear, Ridge Road turned a family drama — which closes on Dec. 21 — into something quietly devastating.
• Mark Strong and Lesley Manville bring towering gravitas and emotional precision to Oedipus, anchoring the tragedy with devastating authority.
• June Squibb makes history in Marjorie Prime, the 96-year-old filling every moment of the heartbreaking drama with quiet wisdom and aching humanity.

Want to buy a ticket to a Broadway show? Check out PEOPLE’s guide to getting the best seats at the best price — without the drama!

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A ‘diabolical’ Wizard of Oz show charging £75 for tickets was hit with mass audience walk-outs and demands for refunds – as attendees branded it the ‘worst they’ve ever seen’.

Inept performers injuring themselves, random breaks in the action and a bizarrely suggestive cucumber scene were among the complaints from the Brighton performance – and now the producer has spoken out to defend the show.

Wicked Wizard Of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular showed at Brighton Centre on Tuesday and Wednesday this week as part of its UK tour, where tickets cost between £30 and £75.

The production company, World’s Biggest Productions, touted it as a ‘breath-taking’ interpretation where ‘panto meets Cirque’.

But audience members disagreed, complaining they were misled by false advertising and that the spectacle fell well short of their expectations.

The show got off to a flat start, and things only went downhill from there, according to a number of scathing reviews from the first night.

The Wizard himself opened the performance with a rendition of Happy Birthday on the piano whilst ‘technical faults’ were ironed out backstage.

Things finally got moving with an odd scene where two cowboys took turns to stack cardboard boxes on top of each other.

Wicked Wizard Of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular received a barrage of scathing reviews after its showing in Brighton this week

Audience members complained of amateur performers and unexplained lulls in the action at Brighton Centre

David Parker from Crawley, who watched the show with his partner and daughter, said the show was ‘so bad it was laughable’.

‘One performer did six tumbles and got five wrong,’ he told BBC Radio Sussex.

The group walked out ten minutes into the second half at the insistence of Mr Parker’s nine-year-old daughter.

He recalled one actor ‘eating a cucumber and spitting it on another performer’, and another ‘using a cucumber in a very provocative manner’.

Deborah Collins, another unfortunate spectator, made a break for it even earlier.

‘My husband and I left at the interval. I have never left a show early, it was that bad,’ she told The Argus.

‘It was an amateur production, completely mis-advertised. We thought we were sneaking out until we got to the foyer and saw hundreds had also decided to leave.’

Mike Naunton told the publication the show was ‘absolutely diabolical’. 

‘I would guess half the audience left during or before the interval,’ he added.

Meanwhile, James Macmillan said the sound was ‘appalling’ and the dancing was ‘awful’.

‘I have seen better at a holiday hotel in Turkey,’ he said.

Some of the dissatisfied reviews left in Facebook comments

For Georgina Alexandra, the cucumber scene was the final straw – which she referred to as a ‘gloryhole skit’.

Katherine Hollisey-McClean, reviewing the show for Sussex World, lamented having to stay for the whole performance.

She wrote: ‘After just 15 minutes of this bizarre panto/circus/musical, I really wanted to [leave].’

The journalist recalled the performance grinding to a halt for ten minutes while The Greatest Showman blared over an empty stage, before the cast reappeared without explanation.

The audience could reportedly hear panicked shouting from behind the curtain during the lull.

Keely Beecroft from Seaford was equally unimpressed, insisting the ‘awful’ show was a ‘misrepresentation’ of what was advertised.

She told the BBC that the lighting was dodgy and one of the acrobats even injured themselves during their tumbles.

Production company World’s Biggest Productions touted the show as a ‘breath-taking’ interpretation where ‘panto meets Cirque’

One of the performers reportedly injured themselves in a fudged acrobatics move

The disastrous reviews continued on the Ticketmaster website, where on wrote: ‘This must be the worst production I’ve seen in a long time.

‘As I’m writing this, it is only halfway through and so many people have walked out.’

Another wrote: ‘Childish. The “acrobats” were very basic.

‘Lots of people left early and we didn’t even make it to half time. We feel conned.’

As the reviews piled up, Jon Conway, the show’s producer, was forced to speak out and explain the shambles.

He said: ‘Wicked Wizard Of Oz: A Cirque Spectacular opened its tour three weeks ago to great critical acclaim and fantastic audience reviews at the Winter Gardens Blackpool.

‘Due to unforeseen technical issues on the first performance in Brighton last night a number of items had to be cut for safety reasons and the show had to start 25 minutes late.

‘We acknowledge that some audience members were disappointed and will be contacting them.

‘However, more than two thousand people gave the show a rapturous reception at the finale and all issues have been resolved for tonight’s sell out performance.’

Daily Mail has contacted World’s Biggest Productions for comment.

Some had better assessments of the show

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China is to tax contraception for the first time in more than three decades in a move aligned with efforts to get more families to have children.

Contraceptive drugs and products such as condoms will no longer be exempt from China’s 13% value added tax from January 1, the country’s newest tax laws have revealed.

The move comes as the country’s birth rate declines. In 2024, 9.5 million babies were born in China, about one-third fewer than the 14.7 million born in 2019, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Image:
China has moved on from the decades when it used a one child policy in an attempt to curb a massive population boom. Pic: Reuters.

As deaths have outpaced births in China, India overtook it as the world’s most populous country in 2023.

But the tax change has been ridiculed on on Chinese social media by people who have joked that they would be fools not to know that raising a child is more expensive than using condoms, even if they are taxed.

“That’s a really ruthless move,” said Hu Lingling, mother of a 5-year-old who said she is determined not to have another child. She said she would “lead the way in abstinence” as a rebel.

“It is also hilarious, especially compared to forced abortions during the family planning era,” she said.

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Three things you might have missed in China.

More seriously, experts are raising concerns over potential increases in unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases due to higher costs for contraceptives.

Read more:
China’s population falls for the first time in 60 years
China’s demographic sparks fears for retirement

In previous decades China’s huge population growth prompted the ruling Communist Party to ban couples from having more than one child in a rule that enforced from about 1980 until 2015, through fines and other penalties.

In some cases women underwent forced abortions and children born over the one child limit were deprived of an identification number, effectively making them non-citizens.

The government raised the birth limit to two children in 2015. Then, as China’s population began to peak and then fall, it was lifted to three children in 2021. Contraception has previously been actively encouraged and easily accessed, sometimes for free.

Image:
The limit was lifted to three children in 2021 under President Xi Jinping.  Pic: AP

Director of the University of Virginia’s Demographics Research Group, Qian Cai said: “Higher prices may reduce access to contraceptives among economically disadvantaged populations, potentially leading to increases in unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections. Those outcomes could, in turn, lead to more abortions and higher health-care costs.”

She also said the new taxes would have a “very limited” effect on reproductive decisions.

“For couples who do not want children or do not want additional children, a 13% tax on contraceptives is unlikely to influence their reproductive decisions, especially when weighed against the far higher costs of raising a child,” she said.

But University of Wisconsin-Madison senior scientist Yi Fuxian said imposing the tax was “only logical”.

“They used to control the population, but now they are encouraging people to have more babies; it is a return to normal methods to make these products ordinary commodities,” he said.

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AFC have sanctioned India’s Mohun Bagan for refusing to visit Iran for their Asian Champions League match in September.

Published On 18 Dec 202518 Dec 2025

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Indian club Mohun Bagan Super Giant have been banned from Asian Football Confederation competitions and ordered to pay more than $100,000 for refusing to travel to Iran for an Asian Champions League Two clash with Sepahan SC in September, the Asian football body said in a statement.

In a decision on Wednesday, the AFC’s disciplinary and ethics committee excluded Mohun Bagan from the next edition of the Asian competition they qualify for, up to the 2027-28 season.

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The Indian champions were also handed a $50,000 fine and told to pay an additional $50,729 for damages and losses incurred by the AFC and Sepahan. Mohun Bagan have also forfeited any subsidy for participating in the continental second-tier tournament.

Mohun Bagan were withdrawn from the competition after they refused to travel to Iran for the group stage match, citing a lack of security assurances and medical insurance coverage in Iran, and their matches were declared null and void by the AFC.

The club had moved to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), asking for the match to be relocated to a neutral venue, but CAS turned down their initial request.

“The players decided they can’t take this risk, where lives and their families’ future are at stake. So we have to stand with them,” a senior Mohun Bagan official told the Reuters news agency.

Mohun Bagan have five players from Australia, Spain and the United Kingdom, countries that have advised their citizens against travel to Iran, the official added.

The club also did not travel to Iran last year for a match against Tractor SC scheduled for October 2, 2024, the day after Iran launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. Mohun Bagan were withdrawn from the tournament as a result.

Mohun Bagan are considering appealing against the suspension, the official said.

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Sentencing bill plan for fewer offenders to go to jail will undermine VAWG strategy, victims’ commissioner claims

Here are some more extracts from the statement about the VAWG strategy issued by Claire Waxman, the incoming victims’ commissioner for England and Wales. Here comments about funding were quoted at 9.25am. But other points are worth noting.

• Waxman says that, while elements of the plan are welcome, it remains to be seen if, overall, it will provide what is needed.

While many individual initiatives are welcome, it remains to be seen whether the overall Strategy provides the scale, pace, and leadership required to match the government’s ambition – and truly tackle this emergency.

In terms of specific measures, the national rollout of the Child House model – pioneered by Lighthouse in London – is a welcome step I have long called for. It marks vital progress towards delivering on the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

There is more about the Child House model here, and more on the Lighthouse here.

• She also welcomes the expansion of Operation Soteria, a police/CPS partnership to improve the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences.

I also welcome initiatives such as the expansion of Operation Soteria to reduce the re-traumatisation too many victims experience in the trial process. Long after my 2019 rape review, ‘end-to-end’ reform of the justice system for serious sexual offences is finally in sight – but only if the government now delivers on its commitment to independent legal advice for rape survivors, and tackles the long waits for justice.

Without clear, sustainable investment and cross-government leadership, I am concerned we run the risk of the Strategy amounting to less than the sum of its parts; a wish-list of tactical measures rather than a bold, unifying strategic framework.

The Sentencing Bill underlines this lack of cohesion. Victims need confidence that the system will protect them, yet under the proposals in the bill, the reality is that many abusers will avoid prison entirely or benefit from early release – undermining the very safety this Strategy seeks to guarantee.

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UK willing to share with EU allies risks of using frozen Russian allies to help Ukraine, No 10 suggests

Downing Street has indicated that Britain is prepared to share the risks with European allies of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine.

At the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson was repeatedly asked if the government was willing to accept Belgium’s requests to share the risk of unlocking frozen Russian assets for use in Ukraine.

He indicated the Government would, telling reporters:

I think it’s evident within the government’s actions that what we want to see is those immobilised assets used to support Ukraine.

We believe that delivering these funds sends a very clear signal to Putin that he cannot outlast the support of the UK and our allies, that is what we remain focused on.

ShareKemi Badenoch soldering a circuit board during a visit to Evolve Dynamics, a company working on drone technology, in Farnham, Hampshire, today. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PAShare

Part of the VAWG strategy being announced shortly will involve getting schools to teach their pupils more about consent, misogyny and healthy relationships. One person who might not approve is Nick Gibb, the former Tory schools minister. In a memoir published recently, Reforming Lessons: Why English Schools Have Improved Since 2010 and How This Was Achieved, written with Robert Peal, he is critical of interventions like this. He says:

On the question of adding non-academic subjects to the national curriculum, calls in the media that ‘schools should really teach [insert favoured issues here]’ are the bane of life of any school reformer interested in raising standards … In 2018, Parents and Teachers for Excellence (a campaign group sympathetic to our reforms) decided to monitor this phenomenon, which they termed ‘curriculum dumping’. That year, they identified 213 such calls for the school curriculum to incorporate new topics, including knife crime, obesity, gambling, litter picking, bushcraft, sadomasochism, Love Island, sign language, the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, revenge porn, tree climbing, trampolining, and, rather extraordinarily, ‘how to swear’. In individual cases, all of these issues (well, almost all) had merit in being known, but taken together, no school in the country has enough hours in the year to cover such a panoply of fleeting media fancies.

Many ex-ministers write books, but mostly they focus on politics. Gibb was unusual because he did the same job, on and off, for more than 10 years, and he became a proper expert in his portfolio. As a political memoir, his book is exceptional because it’s a serious book about policy. For anyone at all interested in education, Reforming Lessons is a good read.

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Ash Regan faces two-day suspension from Holyrood over code of conduct breach during gender recognition row

Severin Carrell

Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.

Ash Regan, a former Scottish National party minister who defected to Alex Salmond’s nationalist party Alba, faces a two-day suspension from the Scottish parliament for breaching its code of conduct in a row over gender recognition.

Holyrood’s standards committee has recommended Regan, who now sits as an independent after quitting Alba some months after losing a leadership contest, be suspended on a Wednesday and Thursday – its busiest two days. That needs to be approved by a full vote in parliament, after the Christmas recess.

It ruled she had breached the MSP’s code by posting a claim on the social media site X which attacked the Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, over remarks Chapman made about the UK supreme court ruling on the definition of woman.

Chapman has been one of Holyrood’s most vociferous supporters of trans rights; Regan is one of its most vociferous gender critical activists.

Regan said on X: “I’ve formally reported Maggie Chapman MSP to the presiding officer and standards committee following her dangerous dismissal of the supreme court’s ruling on the Equality Act as a ‘political attack’. MSPs have a duty to uphold the law, not undermine it.”

After considering a report from Holyrood’s ethics commissioner, the committee unanimously agreed this was a breach of part 9.1 of the code of conduct, which bars MSPs from disclosing, communicating or discussing complaints about other MSPs before a report on that complaint has been published.

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VAWG minister Jess Phillips says UK will consider results of Australia’s social media ban for under-16s ‘very closely’

In interviews last week, Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, played down the prospect of the UK following Australia and banning under-16s from having their own social media accounts. She did not rule out the idea, but she said she did not believe it would be easy to enforce.

But, in her interviews this morning, Jess Phillips, the minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls (VAWG) sounded much more positive about the Australian experience, saying the government would consider it “very closely”. She told Times Radio:

What I would say is that you cannot have a violence against women and girls policy that doesn’t look at the online environment, or certainly one that looks at misogyny and the behaviours of boys who grow into men without looking at an online world …

The government will be looking very, very closely at what is happening in Australia, and we would always take the best of what is available around the world with regard to the safety and security of children.

But Phillips also said the UK had been a “trailblazer” for online safety.

Today, when the full policies are announced in the violence against women and girls strategy, you will see that online harm, online harms to children, are very, very much part of that.

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Updated at 12.38 CET

MPs cheer as speaker tells them employment rights bill has received royal assent

The employment rights bill has received royal assent, which means it is now the Employment Rights Act and it is law, Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker, told the Commons this morning. Labour MPs cheered when they heard the news.

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Voters overwhelmingly favour UK rejoining Erasmus student exchange scheme, poll suggests

Richard Adams

Richard Adams is the Guardian’s education editor.

The British public supports the government’s decision to rejoin the Erasmus youth education and work experience programme, according to snap polling released by YouGov.

The pollsters asked 7,300 adults about one element of the scheme – UK students spending “a year at European universities as part of their UK degrees courses without paying extra fees, and vice versa for European students” – and found that 65% would support it and only 12% were opposed, while 22% answered “don’t know”.

The good news for the government is that younger people aged 18 to 24 – those most likely to take part – were even more enthusiastic.

However the question didn’t note the £570m cost to the UK for one years’ membership, which shadow education secretary Laura Trott described as “nuts”. It also didn’t mention that the Erasmus+ programme includes far more than university students: before the UK left in 2020 schools were its most active participants.

The question’s mention of studying “without paying extra fees” suggests that the higher education element will operate as it did prior to 2020, although that remains to be set out, according to university leaders.

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Jess Phillips’s statement to MPs about the VAWG strategy will start after noon, after the business statement is over. After that, there will be two more ministerial statements – from Luke Pollard, the armed forces minister, on Ukraine, and from Alison McGovern, the local government minister, on local government reorganisation.

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Crown court backlog for England and Wales rises to almost 80,000

The crown court backlog in England and Wales has risen to nearly 80,000 cases in a new record high, PA Media reports. PA says:

Data published this morning showed the open caseload was 79,619 at the end of September, up 2% from 78,096 at the end of June.

It is also up 9% from the same point a year earlier, according to Ministry of Justice figures.

The number of cases open for a year or more passed 20,000 for the first time at 20,155 at the end of September, which is up 25% year on year and up 6% from the end of June.

Open caseload refers to the number of outstanding cases.

Ministry of Justice projections published earlier this month suggested the crown court backlog could reach a high estimate of 125,000 by the end of this parliament under current conditions. David Lammy, the deputy PM and justice secretary, says his plans to limit jury trials will help to reduce this.

Commenting on the figures today, Lammy said:

This Government inherited a system on the brink of collapse.

Victims’ lives are being put on hold as cases are kicked several years into the future.

The scale of this crisis means tinkering at the edges is not enough. We simply cannot spend our way out of this mess – only fundamental reform can give the brave survivors of crime fairer and faster justice.

Crown court backlog figures for England and Wales Photograph: MoJShare

Here is Jessica Elgot’s full story about Keir Starmer planning to hold the king’s speech more or less straight after the elections next year for the Scottish parliament, the Senedd in Wales and English councils. They take place on Thursday 7 May.

Henry Zeffman from the BBC says the king’s speech will take place either on Tuesday 12 May or Wednesday 13 May.

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Tories propose re-allocating £17bn in government spending for defence, mostly from net zero projects

Kemi Badenoch has vowed to scrap green spending to pay for a multibillion-pound fund to rearm the UK, PA Media report. PA says:

Accusing Labour of failing to invest in the UK’s armed forces, the Conservative leader has proposed reallocating £17bn to “accelerate” Britain’s “war readiness”.

She said: “We must ensure our armed forces are equipped and ready to defend our country, because defence of the realm must be the first priority of any government.”

The money includes £11bn from the national wealth fund that is currently allocated to net zero projects, with the fund itself turned into a new national defence and resilience bank.

Another £6bn over three years would be taken from the government’s research and development budget and given to the Ministry of Defence to invest in new technology.

Alongside investment from the private sector, the Tories said they expected their plan to mobilise £50bn for defence.

Shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge said the money would “deliver the drone revolution our armed forces require” and create a “more lethal” military.

As well as investing in UK defence firms, the money is expected to be used to build more resilient supply chains, reducing Britain’s reliance on “hostile states” such as China.

Labour has previously pledged to raise defence spending to 2.5% of GDP from 2027 and to 3% by the end of the decade.

The Tories claim that, together, these measures would fund a £50b “sovereign defence fund”. In a briefing, this is how they explain it.

-£6bn (£2bn per annum over the course of this parliament) would be reallocated from the Research and Development (R&D) budget in the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology to the MOD. It is well known that defence technology and innovation can have spillover effects into other sectors, like communications and transport, causing a multiplier effect.

-£11bn ringfenced from the national wealth fund (NWF) – which will become the national defence and resilience bank (NDRB). This funding is currently allocated to many of Ed Miliband’s costly eco-projects. We would leave the remainder of financing in the fund for national resilience like water and transport.

-Approximately £33bnn of private finance via NDRB mobilisation. The existing NWF target of mobilising £3 of private investment for every £1 of public investment would remain for the SDF – so this could unlock tens of billions of pounds in private investment.

In response, a Labour party spokesperson said:

The Tories are gaslighting the British public on defence.

These are yet more fantasy figures from a Conservative party that cut defence by £12bn in their first five years in power. Look at their record: their time in office starved our forces of funding, drove down morale and left Britain less safe. They did it before, and they’d do it again.

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Labour MPs denounce plan to limit jury trials as ‘madness’ and likely to ’cause more problems than it solves’

Almost 40 Labour MPs have signed an open letter to Keir Starmer describing the government’s plans to limit access to jury trials as madness.

In the letter, organised by Karl Turner, who is normally a loyalist, the MPs say:

The drastic restriction of the right to trial by jury is not a silver bullet. To limit a fundamental right for what will make a marginal difference to the backlog, if any, is madness and will cause more problems than it solves.

Letter by Labour MPs condeming plan to limit trial by jury Photograph: Karl Turner

The government has a working majority of 167 and so, even if all 39 MPs who have signed the letter were to vote against the government when it legislates for its plans next year, they would not be enough to see it defeated.

But there are other Labour MPs who share the concerns of this group, and the government is already under strong pressure to a sunset clause on the plans – meaning the jury trial restrictions were time-limited for just a few years – as a compromise.

Ben Quinn has more on the story here.

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Schools in England warning of rise in misogyny towards teachers, says Phillips

Schools have warned of growing misogyny from pupils towards teachers and a lack of avenues to seek help about concerns over sexually aggressive behaviour, Jess Phillips, the VAWG minister, has said. Jessica Elgot has the story.

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Sentencing bill plan for fewer offenders to go to jail will undermine VAWG strategy, victims’ commissioner claims

Here are some more extracts from the statement about the VAWG strategy issued by Claire Waxman, the incoming victims’ commissioner for England and Wales. Here comments about funding were quoted at 9.25am. But other points are worth noting.

• Waxman says that, while elements of the plan are welcome, it remains to be seen if, overall, it will provide what is needed.

While many individual initiatives are welcome, it remains to be seen whether the overall Strategy provides the scale, pace, and leadership required to match the government’s ambition – and truly tackle this emergency.

In terms of specific measures, the national rollout of the Child House model – pioneered by Lighthouse in London – is a welcome step I have long called for. It marks vital progress towards delivering on the recommendations of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse.

There is more about the Child House model here, and more on the Lighthouse here.

• She also welcomes the expansion of Operation Soteria, a police/CPS partnership to improve the prosecution of rape and serious sexual offences.

I also welcome initiatives such as the expansion of Operation Soteria to reduce the re-traumatisation too many victims experience in the trial process. Long after my 2019 rape review, ‘end-to-end’ reform of the justice system for serious sexual offences is finally in sight – but only if the government now delivers on its commitment to independent legal advice for rape survivors, and tackles the long waits for justice.

Without clear, sustainable investment and cross-government leadership, I am concerned we run the risk of the Strategy amounting to less than the sum of its parts; a wish-list of tactical measures rather than a bold, unifying strategic framework.

The Sentencing Bill underlines this lack of cohesion. Victims need confidence that the system will protect them, yet under the proposals in the bill, the reality is that many abusers will avoid prison entirely or benefit from early release – undermining the very safety this Strategy seeks to guarantee.

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Updated at 11.04 CET

Starmer planning to hold next king’s speech soon after May elections

Jessica Elgot

Jessica Elgot is the Guardian’s deputy political editor.

Keir Starmer is planning for a new king’s speech after the crunch May elections as a reset moment for the government amid speculation over the prime minister’s future.

Senior sources in parliament said planning was under way to end the parliamentary session the week after local elections in England, making it a significantly longer session than normal, and nearly two years since Labour first set out its legislative agenda.

Labour is facing a potentially devastating set of results in England, Wales and Scotland, with the possible loss of hundreds of council seats to Reform and the Greens in England as well as defeat for the first time in Wales, where Plaid Cymru and Reform are leading in the polls.

In Scotland, the Scottish National party are polling on course to maintain power despite pre-election hopes that Labour’s Anas Sarwar could become first minister. Critics of Starmer’s leadership have repeatedly named May as the moment when would-be leadership challengers could call for him to stand aside.

The last king’s speech was in July 2024, weeks after Labour won the general election, but a combination of parliamentary rebellions, international and economic turmoil and defeats in the House of Lords has meant the government needs more time to complete the legislation.

The relatively late end to the session will raise some hopes among supporters of assisted dying that it may be possible to complete the bill, which will fall if it does not pass by the end of the session. They expect many opponents will try to use procedure to talk out the private members’ bill and bar it from progressing.

Further changes to the House of Lords are among a number of measures expected in the king’s speech, including introducing a mandatory retirement age of 80.

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Potential lack of funding for plan to prevent violence against women ‘deeply concerning’, says victims’ commissioner

Good morning. The government is finally publishing its violence against women and girls (VAWG) strategy. In its manifesto Labour said it wanted to halve VAWG within a decade, and so this is a vital policy area. Publication of the strategy has been delayed three times. In the Commons on Monday, in response to an urgent question on this, Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and VAWG, said the delays were down to her. “It is entirely my fault because, with every iteration, the strategy was not ambitious enough. I could have done it more quickly, and then it would not have been as good,” she said.

Although the document is being published today, the VAWG strategy is being promoted via a budget-style, week-long media strategy. We have already had announcements form the Home Office covering extra spending for abuse victims, specialist NHS help for abuse victims, and all police forces introducing specialist rape and sexual offence teams.

And, overnight, the government has been briefing on plans to tackle misogynist behaviour in schools. Alexandra Topping and Rajeev Syal have the details here.

Phillips has been giving interviews this morning and she has described these measures as particularly important because, while other aspects of the strategy deal with the consequences of VAWG, this aspect deals with prevention. She told Times Radio:

I’m a bit sick, I have to say, as somebody who’s campaigned on this for many years, of just trying to put nicer plasters onto ever growing scars, and so we’ve got to – the government is really, really focused on the prevention.

But how good is the strategy overall? Claire Waxman, the incoming victims’ commissioner for England and Wales, has issued a statement saying that, while the plan contains many welcome measures, potential lack of funding is “deeply concerning”. She says she is worried it could end up as “less than the sum of its parts”.

She says:

Ultimately, the success of this strategy hinges on whether delivery partners are equipped to succeed. Early indications around funding are deeply concerning. The strategy introduces welcome measures in schools and the NHS which will, by design, drive up disclosures and referrals to police and victim services. Yet frontline services are already overstretched and struggling to meet need, and the criminal justice system remains in crisis.

Funding is critical. Driving up demand without increasing capacity puts victims at risk and threatens to destabilise the very partners the strategy relies upon. This concern is heightened by the lack of meaningful consultation. Victim services are not an optional extra to this strategy – they must be the backbone of it.

Without clear, sustainable investment and cross-government leadership, I am concerned we run the risk of the strategy amounting to less than the sum of its parts; a wish-list of tactical measures rather than a bold, unifying strategic framework.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: The Ministry of Justice publishes its latest figures on the courts backlog.

9.30am: Emma Reynolds, the environment secretary, takes questions in the Commons.

11am: Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, and John McDonnell, the Labour MP, speak at a press conference held by relatives and supporters of the Palestine Action-lined hunger strikers.

After 11.30am: Jess Phillips, the VAWG minister, makes a statement to MPs about the government’s plan to tackle violence against women and girls.

Morning: Kemi Badenoch is on a visit in east Hampshire.

Noon: The Bank of England announces its decision on interest rates.

The government is also making announcements via 13 written ministerial statements, covering police funding, the cost of the government’s response to the Covid inquiry, the Minette Batters review of farm profitability, and the inquiry into conditions at the Manston asylum centre.

If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (normally between 10am and 3pm at the moment), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.

If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.

I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.

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Updated at 10.44 CET

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He was rarely silent. For over five decades, he transformed German cinema, directed more than 150 short and feature films, and influenced the LGBTQ+ movement. His work was often uncomfortable, colorful, angry, sometimes offensive, but always thought-provoking.

Rosa von Praunheim, who has died on December 17 in Berlin at the age of 83, leaves his mark as a pioneering figure of queer cinema.

Born as Holger Radtke, von Praunheim emerged as one of the most outspoken activists in the gay movement in Germany during the early stages of his career. He fought for visibility and demanded change, sometimes using forceful methods to achieve his goals.

One notable incident was his 1991 live broadcast, in which he publicly outed German television stars Hape Kerkeling and Alfred Biolek without their consent. This radical act generated significant scandal at the time and caused considerable distress to the entertainers involved; it remains controversial to this day.

This incident illustrates how uncompromising von Praunheim could be and highlights his belief that openness was essential for progress. While his critics accused him of crossing boundaries, his supporters praised his courage. Throughout his career, von Praunheim navigated the complex terrain between these two perspectives.

Rosa von Praunheim at the Berlinale’s Teddy Awards, which honors LGBTQ+ films, in February 2025Image: Christophe Gateau/dpa/picture alliance

His farewell film: ‘Satanic Sow’

He stayed artistically engaged throughout his life, creating films, writing books and directing plays. His final work, “Satanic Sow” (2025), became a legacy film: autobiographical and experimental, serving as both a reflection on his life and a farewell. Von Praunheim described the film as “a poem — and a very experimental one at that.” When asked why he made it, he responded simply, “I make films and plays all the time, so there’s no particular reason. I just do it to be creative.”

In ‘Satanic Sow,’ von Praunheim revisited his life and some of the 150 films he madeImage: Rosa von Praunheim Filmproduktion

In a December 2025 interview with DW, filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim, spoke candidly about his impending death: “It’s the end of my life, and I soon will die. I have a brain tumor and don’t have much time left.”

“I’m looking forward to dying. It’s a wonderful feeling to rest, not to be constantly running around and shooting one film after another. I’ll be glad when I find my peace,” he added.

A key figure in the LGBTQ+ movement

Von Praunheim was known as a person full of contradictions. Loud in his art, quiet in his personal life. When asked what he liked about filmmaking, he replied dryly, “Nothing, really. It’s always full of tension and fear of doing something wrong.”

Behind the enfant terrible filmaker was someone filled with doubts who chose to press on regardless.

With his drama film “It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives” (1971), von Praunheim became a crucial voice in the LGBTQ+ movement, shining a light on gay life and sparking meaningful discussions.

The avant-garde film ‘It Is Not the Homosexual Who Is Perverse, But the Society in Which He Lives’ called for equality in all areas of lifeImage: EuroVideo

An emancipatory call for gay men to organize and fight for their freedom, it inspired the formation of many homosexual activism groups in West Germany and Switzerland.

His films challenged societal norms, broke taboos and confronted audiences with various issues. In his later years, he adopted a calmer demeanor. “When I was young, I was radical. For a long while, I haven’t been so actively involved in the gay and political scene. I make my art, and that’s it.”

Rosa von Praunheim in 1973Image: Volkmar Hoffmann/picture alliance

For von Praunheim, art didn’t necessarily need to be experimental: “I think queer cinema can be like any other cinema, completely individual. There are hundreds of ways to go about it. But queer cinema should also be radical and give society the middle finger.”

This attitude shaped his work and that of many who followed him. He hoped for “peace and justice” for the future of the LGBTQ+ community. He knew that this task would remain challenging even in the 21st century: “Many people aren’t very progressive and want everything to stay the same. Change drives them crazy, so they hate anything that doesn’t conform to the ‘norm.'”

Rosa von Praunheim extended his artistic exploration of issues such as sexuality, identity and society in his paintingsImage: picture alliance/dpa

Expressing his queerness

He believed there was only one way to promote tolerance in society: “Expressing your queerness and supporting the feminist movement. It’s good to have a group of people who support each other.”

He didn’t expect his last film, “Satanic Sow,” to attract much attention. “I thought people wouldn’t understand it, and I’m glad that some people like it.”

‘Satanic Sow’ won a Teddy Award at the Berlin International Film Festival this yearImage: Rosa von Praunheim Filmproduktion

Just a few days before his death, Rosa von Praunheim and his long-time partner Oliver Sechting got married.

It is a quiet farewell to a loud life. Von Praunheim provoked, inspired, hurt and healed. He opened doors where others saw none and showed that art can serve as a tool for freedom, visibility and change.

The DW interview with Rosa von Praunheim was conducted by Dima Elagin.

This article was originally written in German.

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The Vatican on Thursday accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan and announced that Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, will become the next archbishop of New York.

This is a breaking news story; check back for updates.

Ashley Carnahan is a writer at Fox News Digital.

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