Cathay Pacific apologises over inflight Family Guy episode with Tiananmen Square scene

Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, has apologised over the inclusion of a Family Guy episode in its inflight entertainment system that features a scene depicting Tiananmen Square. The airline told the South China Morning Post it had apologised to customers after a complaint was raised on social media that the episode might breach Hong Kong’s national security laws. “We emphasise that the programme’s content does not represent Cathay Pacific’s standpoint and have immediately arranged to have the programme removed as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the carrier told the outlet. The US animated comedy series is known for pushing boundaries and sensitivities. In the seven-second scene, main character Peter Griffin is depicted standing next to a protester in front of a line of Chinese tanks – mirroring famous scenes of an unknown individual now known as “Tank Man” that were captured during the Chinese military massacre of student protesters on 4 June 1989 in Beijing. Cathay Pacific told SCMP it had ordered its third-party provider to thoroughly investigate and strengthen oversight. The Tiananmen massacre is one of the most sensitive topics inside China and is strictly censored. For three decades Hong Kong hosted an annual vigil, with sometimes hundreds of thousands attending to mourn the victims by candlelight. However in the aftermath of pro-democracy protests in 2019, Hong Kong and Chinese authorities launched a sweeping crackdown on opposition and dissent, and introduced draconian national security legislation. People attempting to organise or attend Tiananmen vigils of any size since 2020 have been prosecuted, although some government officials say private markings of the date are acceptable. The crackdown has targeted activism and politics, as well as academia and culture in Hong Kong. Any depiction or reference to the protests or related subjects are considered highly sensitive. In January, Amazon Prime’s blockbuster TV series – Expats – was released everywhere except in the city it was set, Hong Kong. The series featured scenes from the 2014 protest movement. And in 2021, Disney+ launched in Hong Kong, but with a missing episode from The Simpsons. The missing episode depicted Tiananmen Square, and a plaque that reads “On this site, in 1989, nothing happened”.

Wednesday briefing: What Jaguar’s radical rebrand reveals about the shift to electric cars

Good morning. Over the past few days, you may have been wondering why a neon pink tank has been following you round the internet. Relax: this isn’t an algorithm judging your taste and predicting your next purchase. It isn’t a tank, either. It is a Jaguar Type 00, it is the subject of an unholy quantity of media coverage, and it may be a vision of the electric future. Or: it may be a sharp bit of marketing whose weirdest features will never make it to the cars Jaguar actually sells. Either way, it’s a story with a lot to tell us about how the rush for electric is changing the car industry. For today’s newsletter, Jasper Jolly, who covers the automotive industry for the Guardian, explains why. Here are the headlines. In depth: ‘The idea of a car being woke is strange – it’s a status symbol about wealth’ The first sign that Type 00 discourse might become a problem was the appearance of a teaser video online before the launch itself. The “copy nothing” campaign, which featured a group of stern-faced models in fluorescent outfits getting out of a lift on what I suspect to be Mars, was celebrated by Jaguar’s managing director, Rawdon Glover, as a way to “move away from traditional automotive stereotypes”, presumably because there weren’t any cars in it. Weird car guys and their fellow travellers, meanwhile, lost their minds about it being “woke”. Nigel Farage said Jaguar deserved to go bust; Andrew Tate called it “gay bullshit”; Giles Coren has written about it three times now. Whether any of the players actually mean any of what they say or care about it for reasons beyond their personal brand is another question. To everyone else, it just looked like a totally generic bit of marketing guff; ironically enough, “copy nothing” seems pretty derivative of Apple’s old “think different” campaign, among about a million other familiar reference points. (“Delete ordinary,” Jaguar also said. “Go bold. Braindump spacecar.” OK, I made one of those up.) Anyway, then the car itself appeared, and you will not believe this but it was pink!!! People on TikTok hated it, the Daily Mail reported. But if this is really a car for the woke mob, the £100,000 tag on the road version being released in 2026 seems like quite an improbable price point. (Also, it doesn’t really scan that it would look so much like Elon Musk’s hideous and extremely anti-woke Cybertruck.) “The idea of a car being woke is quite strange to me,” Jasper Jolly said. “This kind of car, especially, is a status symbol about wealth. That is the market that Jaguar is interested in.” *** What is a concept car, anyway? In theory, a concept car is a vision of the future: a way to test out radical styling or technological advances outside the confines of competitively priced mass production. They drive the technology forwards, the rationale goes, whether they work out or not. (Although it is a shame that the Plymouth Voyager III, which briefly appeared in 1990, didn’t lead to us all driving cars with a detachable minibus for the family at the back.) In reality, of course, they are above all marketing exercises, and a way for car salesmen to feel a bit like Steve Jobs when they get on stage at the product launch. If the features that attract the coverage never make it to the road, who cares? “They try to be as ambitious as possible, then they retreat a bit in the versions that they actually sell,” Jasper said. “The extent of the retreat is different for each brand. My sense here is that a lot of it will end up in the production version.” Those have already been tested, wrapped in hilariously cloak-and-dagger black-and-white wrapping paper to disguise what it will look like, but it appears to be the same sort of thing with four doors instead of two. Even so, the road version of this one is unlikely to feature a “travertine” (a type of limestone, apparently) plinth or a brass spine down the middle. You may also have options other than electric blue or pink. *** Why does this one look like it belongs to Fascist Dystopian Barbie? Look, it’s not for me, and nobody cares about that. But it’s also not for the ageing market that buys Jaguars in ever smaller numbers, and Jaguar Land Rover care about that very much indeed. The problem, said Jasper, is that “when people talk about classic Jaguars, they talk about the E-Type – but that car is a symbol of the 60s. The other image that comes up again and again is Inspector Morse driving his Jaguar – you can’t get much further from the market that they are hoping to reach.” The slightly sinister phrase for the desired shift is from “a legacy automotive brand” to “a pure luxury brand”: basically, if you can remember what they used to look like, they would rather not hear from you. “This is not a depiction of how we think our future customers are,” Glover told the FT. “We don’t want to necessarily leave all of our customers behind. But we do need to attract a new customer base.” For a sense of who that might be, ask yourself where you tend to see cars like this – gigantic things that make you feel more powerful than the losers on the pavement because they’d barely dent the bonnet if you ran them over. The answer tends to be in the interchangeable luxury districts of cities like London, Paris and Dubai, where the supercars are 10 a penny (and, generally, attracting parking fines or stuck in traffic rather than purring along the open road). “They’ve already said their first showroom [actually, they call them ‘brand stores’] is going to be in the Paris fashion district,” Jasper said. “Yes, they’re going for a younger person, but it’s not a ‘woke’ younger person. And it’s not that young – in luxury car terms, ‘young’ is your 30s or 40s. It’s an international moneyed elite, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they’re thinking about tech entrepreneurs or people with inherited wealth.” As Jeff Dodds, former marketing director of Honda, grimly puts it in this roundup of reaction: “Inspector Morse wouldn’t go near it, but if his grandson has just launched a cybersecurity startup then he might.” *** What does the Type 00 tell us about the market for electric cars? I hate to break this to you, but while the Jaguar press release claims that it decided to make its new cars look so funny because they are a “fearlessly creative” tribute to “the DNA of the brand”, it’s mostly because everyone has stopped buying the old ones – even, for the most part, the classic car enthusiasts who have been popping off on the internet about it. As Jasper points out in this excellent analysis piece, sales have fallen from 180,000 in 2018 to fewer than 67,000 in 2023. (It has now stopped selling new ones altogether.) It may therefore make sense to completely reinvent the brand. What’s interesting about this is the fact that the transition to electric provides such an ideal moment to do it – when people expect cars to be a bit different anyway, and may be more open-minded about what they buy than they have been in the past. “You’ve seen a slew of Chinese carmakers coming into the industry in the UK, for example, and they’re establishing a foothold that would have been very difficult for them in the past,” Jasper said. China now has a remarkable 76% of the global market. The other reason for this: electric cars are just … a bit more similar than the petrol kind. “In the past, a Jaguar ad would have been all about what power comes out of the engine,” Jasper said. “All that is absent from what they’re saying here – the only kind of technical aspect anyone cares about is range. So they have to differentiate themselves in other ways.” The natural conclusion of this is the line in the Jaguar marketing guff that describes the car as a “physical manifestation” of the brand, perhaps in the same way that a loaf of bread is a physical manifestation of Hovis, and my face right now is a physical manifestation of the rolling eyes emoji. And if Jaguar can sell enough brand physical manifestations when they finally put them on the market, all the mockery will have been thoroughly worth it. What else we’ve been reading When ChatGPT first launched, the main worry was about students misusing it for their studies. As it turns out, all kinds of people are using ChatGPT to solve their life problems, including marital issues and sending simple emails. Elle Hunt takes a look at the potential consequences of overreliance on generative AI chatbots can do to us. Nimo Austerity architect George Osborne recently took home a million-pound “windfall” from a financial firm he is a partner in – more proof that the ex-chancellor is a “walking advert” for a wealth tax, Polly Toynbee argues. Charlie Lindlar, acting deputy editor, newsletters A $295m (£234m) Florida mansion offers a prospective buyer pretty much every luxury amenity they could think of. One thing it cannot guarantee, however, is protection against the climate crisis, Oliver Milman reports. Nimo It’s December, and thus the start of gift guide season. For the Filter, Guardian writers suggest the Christmas gifts they buy again and again for their loved ones, from PJs to peace lilies. Charlie There has been a lot of speculation about what a Donald Trump presidency will mean for various issues. Pamela Duncan, Will Craft, Lucy Swan and Heidi Wilson have helpfully pulled together relevant data to lay out what the upcoming Trump term could look like in charts and maps. Nimo The front pages The Guardian leads with “Turmoil in South Korea after president declares martial law” while the Financial Times has “South Korean president backs down after parliament rejects martial law”. “Letby is quizzed in jail over more baby deaths” reports the Daily Mail. The Express has “‘Do the right thing and back our farmers!’” over inheritance tax. The Telegraph says “Whitehall reverts to working from home”. “Full steam ahead” – that’s the Daily Mirror on rail renationalisation. “Jail sentences to be last resort” is the splash in the Times. “It’s Kate to be back” – the Metro marks the “smiling princess” returning to royal duties. The i tags its top story as an exclusive: “GCSEs and A-level exams in most subjects to go digital by 2030”. Today in Focus The Syrian civil war and a stunning reversal for the Assad regime Foreign correspondent Ruth Michaelson explains how President Bashar al-Assad’s government lost Aleppo, Syria’s second-biggest city, and who the Islamist militants are who have taken control there. Cartoon of the day | Martin Rowson The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad For Muslims, Friday prayers, or Jummah, have always been a time to dress your best – and a new exhibition looks at what that means today, for British Muslim men of all generations. Dr Fatima Rajina, a sociologist, and Rehan Jamil, a social documentary photographer, spent the last eight months documenting Muslim men’s fashion choices. Their project has culminated in an exhibition in Oxford House, Bethnal Green, east London, called Jummah Aesthetics: British Muslim Men and Their Sartorial Choices. Rajina and Jamil discovered an eclectic mix of styles, as well as some clear trends. There were obvious generational differences, for example – older men were more likely to don bright, colourful garb, while younger men often opted for navy, blue and grey. Rajina says she hopes to change the way Muslim men are viewed by academia, as a lot of research is focused on radicalisation. Jamil says: “Fashion is such a great medium for storytelling, and this kind of visibility could foster mutual appreciation and understanding between different communities.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

‘We’ve seen this before’: residents of rebel-held Aleppo fear regime onslaught

A billboard of the Syrian president that once overlooked a central square in Aleppo has been burned almost beyond recognition, but the influence of Bashar al-Assad is still felt in the now rebel-held city as residents live in fear of bombardment by his regime. “The biggest fear, one shared by all the people of Aleppo right now, is the airstrikes,” said Mahmoud, a 50-year-old man who declined to share his family name, concerned that Assad could regain control of the city and punish accused critics as he did eight years ago. Damascus, backed by the Russian military, has pummelled neighbourhoods across central Aleppo and neighbouring Idlib with airstrikes since insurgents seized control of Syria’s second city last weekend while army forces retreated south. Two days ago, Mahmoud heard a strike hit in his neighbourhood close to the entrance of Aleppo university hospital. The next day, a wave of airstrikes struck five healthcare facilities in Idlib and a camp for the displaced, killing at least 18 people, and more strikes targeted central Aleppo. On Tuesday afternoon, a strike hit a rural area to the city’s south-east, injuring four. Mahmoud said he was now avoiding filling up his car at any of the few petrol stations in Aleppo that still have fuel, fearing that the long lines of cars could be a target. “We’ve seen this before,” he said. “We know this regime doesn’t care about people’s lives.” For the residents of Aleppo, the main sign that Islamist militants from the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) are now in control of the city are the pickup trucks full of armed fighters on the streets, or the militants in their green camouflage uniforms standing on street corners. Insurgents in civilian clothes guard shuttered government buildings, banks remain closed and many of the estimated 2 million residents of Aleppo have opted to remain home. The UN’s office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) describes “long queues for bread under precarious conditions”. Electricity has flickered back on for several hours after long cuts in recent days, but water and power remain intermittent. Although Damascus promised to retain telecoms services in the city, the two main Syrian mobile networks remain out of service. Residents depend on their home internet services to keep in touch with their neighbours over social media. “I heard HTS and other groups are trying to reinstate the internet, but they’re just starting in one area and they might need time to expand as Aleppo is so big,” said Mahmoud. “I think it’s just a matter of time before more services are provided.” He disliked seeing the fighters in pickup trucks patrolling the streets, but said he was yet to interact with them. Mahmoud felt reassured about the intentions of HTS – and its nominal political arm, the Salvation government, in Idlib – for governing Aleppo after he attended a speech given by an imam at a mosque in the central al-Mohafaza neighbourhood. Standing in front of its bright blue tiles and polished stone archways, imam introduced himself as a returning preacher with long-held ties to the neighbourhood. “None of you will be harmed, not your money, not your religion, not your honour,” said the imam, adding that representatives from the Salvation government would ensure basic services and keep the city’s bread ovens on. “God forbid if anyone has been subjected to abuse, don’t keep silent … we will not allow any of you to be harmed,” he told them. Despite their promises to keep the lights on and bread ovens warm, along with pledges of protection, the insurgents remain unable to shield those in newly opposition-held areas from airstrikes. Mohammed al-Bashir, the nominal prime minister appointed by the Salvation government, condemned the strikes launched by Damascus as “brutal crimes”. The humanitarian coordination office for north-west Syria, a body that normally attempts to regulate aid into rebel-held Idlib, appealed to the UN and its security council to act and protect civilians from the waves of airstrikes launched by Damascus and their Russian allies. Syrian civil defence, known as the White Helmets, said that as of 1 December, Syrian and Russian airstrikes on Aleppo and Idlib had killed 56 people and wounded 238 since HTS launched its sweeping operation last week. Mustafa Abedou, a pharmacist and medic, said he was among crowds of people who fled Idlib for a refugee camp on its outskirts, fearing the centre of the opposition-held city would be targeted. Instead, he said, the camp was targeted along with Idlib’s residential neighbourhoods yesterday in a wave of airstrikes targeting locations far beyond the frontlines. Abedou said he feared he could hear another jet in the sky as he spoke. “The Assad regime attacks any city that is no longer under their control, like Aleppo,” he said. “These war planes are attacking vital sites, hospitals or markets to press on opposition forces. It’s terrible, and everyone is afraid of these attacks, even though the battle is almost 20 miles away.” Syria’s state news agency said Syrian and Russian warplanes launched more air and missile strikes into southern Idlib on Tuesday. Areas of northern Hama, where insurgents fought to claim towns north of the provincial capital, were also said to have been attacked. Assad’s willingness to employ massive force against his own population reminded Abedou and Mahmoud of battles from the height of Syria’s bloody civil war, including Damascus’ fight to take control of Aleppo that ended in 2016. Abedou, who also works for the medical relief organisation MedGlobal, said an ambulance driver from their team and a security guard were killed in the strike on Aleppo university hospital earlier this week. He said he feared Assad’s willingness to resume the airstrikes that brought the city to its knees a decade ago. Doctors across Idlib and Aleppo, he added, had begun circulating training materials about how to respond should Assad choose to employ chlorine gas attacks as he did in the past, or even the deadly nerve agent sarin which his regime used to kill more than 1,400 people in a Damascus suburb in 2013. “We are afraid, maybe he will use these things again. There are no red lines for this regime, and he might attack again,” said Abedou. Mahmoud said he and others also fear the airstrikes, but he is growing increasingly concerned about supplies of food and basic medicines. Food prices for many essentials such as tomatoes, peppers and sugar have doubled. The Syrian pound had fallen in value on Aleppo’s hidden market since the insurgent takeover, making goods even more expensive. “I fear it’s only a matter of time before things become more chaotic, maybe with people taking the opportunity for looting, and that food and medicine could become scarce. Some pharmacies are open, but if they can’t bring new supplies they will run out,” he said. “People aren’t working which means they aren’t getting paid, especially people working with the state or government, so they won’t be able to buy basic food and necessities.” “Uncertainty is what rules for all the people in Aleppo, it’s very hard to anticipate what might happen next,” he said. “Including whether the regime will launch an all-out attack to recapture the city.” Ranim Ahmed contributed reporting

Three climbers from the US and Canada missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain

Rescue teams looking for three climbers who went missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain have expressed “grave concerns” over the party’s welfare in the rugged terrain, as bad weather hampers search efforts for the second day in a row. US nationals Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian man flew by helicopter on Saturday to a camp on Aoraki Mount Cook with plans to summit the 3,724 metre (12,218 ft) mountain. The three men did not show up for their return flight on Monday morning, triggering the search-and-rescue effort. Police are working with the US and Canadian embassies to inform and support the families of the three men. They have withheld details of the Canadian national until authorities can contact his family. Helicopters and department of conservation staff were deployed to search the mountain on Monday. But on Wednesday Aoraki area commander inspector Vicki Walker told Radio New Zealand bad weather would probably force rescuers to delay a further search until Thursday. Rescuers have focused their attention on the Zurbriggen ridge – believed to be the route the missing party took. On Monday, the search team unearthed several climbing-related items – including an ice-axe and a jacket – believed to belong to the trio. A group of climbers descending the ridge told search teams they had spoken with a group heading up the mountain, believed to be the missing climbers, Walker said. The ascending climbers had indicated their intention to summit the mountain, she said. The routes are well-used but “things can change [and] the weather can change, that makes your intended route unsustainable,” Walker said. “We do hold grave concerns for the party.” Weather forecaster Metservice said gales, snow and thunderstorms were expected late on Wednesday, with weather due to clear on Thursday morning. Aoraki Mount Cook is the highest peak in the Southern Alps – a harsh but scenic mountain terrain extending down much of the South Island. Over the past century, dozens of climbers have died on Mount Cook, where rockfalls are common, avalanches often occur at higher altitudes and weather can deteriorate quickly. Local media reported in 2014 that 78 people had died since 1907. Scores more have died in the surrounding national park, which is known for its mountains and glaciers. Reuters contributed to this report

French government teeters on brink of collapse as no-confidence vote looms

France is staring into the unknown as the minority government of the prime minister, Michel Barnier, faces near-certain defeat in a no-confidence vote that could dramatically intensify the political crisis in one of the EU’s key member states. If the vote on Wednesday is carried, Barnier’s administration, which took office only in September, would be the first in France to be ousted with a motion of no confidence since 1962. Its fall, at the hands of the far-right and leftwing parties, would be a significant blow to Europe weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House. The vote risked making “everything more difficult and more serious”, a sombre Barnier told MPs on Tuesday, adding that France’s situation was already “difficult in budgetary and financial terms” and “very difficult in economic and social terms”. In a television interview late on Tuesday, Barnier warned there was “a lot of tension in France” but said that for the country to regain political stability he should remain in office. He added: “The moment is serious. It is difficult, but the stakes are not impossible.” The hardline interior minister Bruno Retailleau said that if the government was toppled it would “throw France and the French into an insufferable situation”. Those backing the motion were playing “Russian roulette” with its future, he said. A parliamentary debate is due to start at 4pm local time, followed by a vote roughly three hours later. Two separate no-confidence motions have been tabled, by the far-left and far-right opposition, with the former widely predicted to pass. The president, Emmanuel Macron, who is on a visit to Saudi Arabia, is expected to return to France for what the media have described as a “moment of truth” that risked “plunging France into the great political and financial unknown”. France’s political crisis, brewing over the past three months, finally erupted on Monday when Barnier said he would push the social security component of his fragile government’s 2025 budget through parliament without a vote. The constitutional measure allowing him to do so, known as article 49.3, offers MPs the chance to challenge the government’s move through a no-confidence motion voted on within 48 hours. If the vote is successful, the government is out. “Blocking this budget is, alas, the only way the constitution gives us to protect the French people from a dangerous, unfair and punitive budget,” Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Rally (RN), the largest single party in parliament, said on Tuesday. Barnier, appointed by Macron after snap June elections returned a lower house divided into three roughly equal blocs without a clear majority, tried to win MPs’ backing for a belt-tightening budget to restore France’s dire finances. His proposals included tax increases and public spending cuts totalling about €60bn (£50bn) aimed at reducing the country’s public-sector deficit to about 5% of GDP, down from 6.1% this year – more than double the ceiling permitted in the eurozone. Despite a range of concessions from the veteran conservative prime minister, both the left-leaning New Popular Front (NFP) alliance and the RN, which together have enough MPs to unseat the government, are due to present no-confidence motions. Le Pen has confirmed that her party will vote for the NFP’s motion, tabled by the radical left Unbowed France (LFI), but the far-right party’s own no-confidence motion was not expected to find enough support on the left of the national assembly. France’s finance minister, Antoine Armand, told France 2 public television that opposition MPs would be “damaging” the country by ousting the government. “Who will bear the consequences?” he asked. “First and foremost, the French.” If Barnier’s government does fall, it would be the shortest-lived of any administration since the start of the Fifth Republic in 1958. Although the prime minister would have to offer his resignation, Macron could ask him to stay on in a caretaker capacity. The president would then have to nominate a new premier, but that could well not come before next year. France’s constitution does not permit parliament to be dissolved twice in the space of a year, so there can be no new elections before July. A caretaker government would in principle be able to pass special emergency budget legislation that would roll over spending limits and tax provisions from this year to next, meaning there would no immediate risk of a US-style government shutdown. Although LFI and its allies have consistently contested Barnier since he took office, Le Pen’s RN – which in effect holds the government’s fate in its hands – has until now refrained from pulling the trigger by voting with the left-leaning opposition parties. The decision to do so also represents a gamble for the RN’s figurehead, who is awaiting judgment in a case of alleged misuse of EU funds and, if found guilty in March, could be ruled ineligible for France’s next presidential election, due in 2027. Le Pen has spent years trying to present the RN as a responsible party of government and while polls suggest a majority of its voters would back a move to bring down the government, more moderate conservatives may well be put off.