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Donald Trump elected US president in stunning political resurrection (mer., 06 nov. 2024)Former president defeats Kamala Harris as voters send Republican back to White House for second term US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker Donald Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States in a stunning political resurrection that sent shockwaves through America and around the world. Trump becomes the first convicted criminal to win the White House. At 78 he is also the oldest person ever elected to the office. Continue reading...
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US election 2024 live: Donald Trump defeats Kamala Harris to win historic second term as president (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Former president will return to White House after sweeping key early battleground states US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker Republicans have taken control of the US Senate and are fighting to keep their majority in the US House, which would produce a full sweep of GOP power in Congress alongside president-elect Donald Trump in the White House, reports the Associated Press (AP). A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda. Or if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House. Vote counting in some races could go on for days, and control of the House is too early to call, reports the AP. Continue reading...
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Roars of delight from the Maga faithful as Donald Trump does the unthinkable (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Supporters at Trump’s Florida watch party were ecstatic – their man looked to be heading back to the White House US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker The news came at 1.20am. Playing on a giant TV screen, Fox News declared that Donald Trump had won the all-important state of Pennsylvania. The room erupted in roars and shrieks of joy. “It’s over!” shouted one man, turning to hug a stranger. “Fuck Joe Biden!” shouted a young bro in a black Maga hat. “Fuck her!” The crowd broke into chants of “USA! USA! USA!” – for them, a positive affirmation. For the rest of the world, it may have sounded like the ugly threat of a superpower bully it no longer understands. Continue reading...
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US election 2024 results live: Donald Trump wins presidency, defeating Kamala Harris (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Live election results and maps as Trump wins the White House US election 2024 – live news updates Full US Senate, House and governor election results The winner of the election is determined through a system called the electoral college. Continue reading...
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US Senate, House and governor elections 2024: results from all 50 states as Republicans win Senate (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Voters have elected a Republican majority in the Senate. They have also been electing members of the House of Representatives and state governors Live 2024 presidential election results US election 2024 – live news updates The US legislature, Congress, has two chambers: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Continue reading...
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From abortion to immigration, here’s what’s at stake if Trump wins the election (Sun, 03 Nov 2024)
A second Trump term will threaten everything from freedom of the press and gun safety to foreign policy and climate change. The impact will be felt in many aspects of American life and across the world US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker If Donald Trump returns to the White House for a second term as president, the impact will be felt in many aspects of American life and also across the world. On almost every issue of domestic US policy – from immigration to the environment to gun laws to LGBTQ+ rights – Trump has tacked far to the right of the American mainstream. Continue reading...
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Biden’s home town says farewell to ‘Scranton Joe’: ‘We were very proud of him’ (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The deep connection between Joe Biden and this scrappy city is everywhere, from Biden Way to a life-size cutout at Hank’s Hoagies There’s the President Joseph R Biden Jr Expressway that winds off the interstate into the center of Scranton. Then there’s Biden Street, tucked along one side of the square that houses the towering stone courthouse and the sparkling electric city sign downtown. Then there’s Biden Way, an honorary thoroughfare at the intersection of North Washington Avenue and Fisk Street, where the 46th president was born and lived until he was 10. At Hank’s Hoagies, just down the street from Biden’s childhood home in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, there is a life-size cutout of Biden and shelves of presidential memorabilia. The 46th president is also a member of the restaurant’s hall of fame. Continue reading...
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Fear triumphs over hope as Trump wins the presidency – how did it happen? (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
To elect Donald Trump once may be regarded as a misfortune; to elect him twice looks like craziness US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker Sometimes fear triumphs over hope. Donald Trump’s shocking victory in the 2016 US presidential election was described as a leap into the political unknown. This time there is no excuse. America knew that he was a convicted criminal, serial liar and racist demagogue who four years ago attempted to overthrow the government. It voted for him anyway. Continue reading...
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Tracking abortion ballot measures: Missouri and Arizona vote to expand rights as Florida rejects protections (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Four other states also pass measures in favor of reproductive rights – follow our tracker as voters decide to expand or restrict access to abortion US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker Americans in 10 US states voted on Tuesday on whether to enshrine the right to abortion into their state constitutions. In a major victory, Missouri voted to amend its state constitution to protect abortion rights – a move that sets the state up to become the first since the fall of Roe v Wade to overturn its near-total abortion ban. Continue reading...
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A peaceful but determined resistance to Trump must start now | Robert Reich (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
I still have faith in America. But we must mobilize to protect those at risk if Trump achieves his worst impulses US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker I won’t try to hide it. I’m heartbroken. Heartbroken and scared, to tell you the truth. I’m sure many of you are, too. Donald Trump has decisively won the presidency, the Senate, and possibly the House of Representatives and the popular vote, too. I still have faith in America. But right now, that’s little comfort to the people who are most at risk. Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading...
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Today is a day of despair for America. We are plunged into an anticipatory grief | Moira Donegan (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
As we face another Trump presidency, I hope we can turn our attention to the most vulnerable: those who are less safe today than they were yesterday US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Today is a day of despair, and it would be futile to tell those who fear and grieve for what is to come in America that they will be OK. It would also be dishonest: many of us, in truth, will not be OK. Donald Trump has decisively won the American election. He and his Republican allies have promised mass deportations that will ruin lives and sunder families; they have threatened to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and appoint the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F Kennedy Jr to a position of authority on public health. They have pledged vast cuts to social security and Medicare, the persecution of dissidents and violent suppression of Trump’s political enemies. There will almost certainly be a nationwide abortion ban and this will further degrade women’s citizenship, rob them of their dignity, steal their dreams and ruin their health. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
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Inflation pain helped secure Trump win but his policies mean higher prices (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Markets expect his policy package to harm trade and growth but reduce business taxes Dollar soars as markets bet that Trump has won election Business live – latest updates US election 2024 – live news updates Higher share prices. A stronger dollar. A less rapid pace of interest rate cuts. The financial market reaction to Donald Trump’s return to the White House was swift and predictable. The man who will become his country’s 47th president has made no secret of what he plans to do: cut taxes, impose heavy tariffs on imported goods, place curbs on migration, and slash red tape. Continue reading...
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The thought of a Trump presidency is eating me alive | Francine Prose (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
I look the way people do outside the intensive care unit, as they wait to learn whether a friend will survive. Our friend, in this case, is democracy US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker I’m neither the calmest nor the most anxious person. But as Donald Trump’s presidential victory seems more certain by the minute, I feel sick to my stomach with worry. I hoped to go to sleep on election night knowing Harris had won, and that we were safe. But that is not what was in store for us. The anxiety I’m feeling right now started months ago. During the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, my hair began falling out and one of my eyelids started twitching. Classic signs of stress, said a doctor friend. On Halloween, talking with a colleague, I realized that we looked and sounded the way people look and sound outside the intensive care unit, as they wait to learn whether a friend or relative will survive. Francine Prose is a former president of PEN American Center and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Continue reading...
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Starmer and Badenoch congratulate Trump on ‘historic election victory’ – UK politics live (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Both PM and leader of the opposition offer congratulations with more full-throated support from Tory rightwingers such as Truss and Braverman Another Labour politician who has criticised Donald Trump strongly in the past is Emily Thornberry, shadow foreign secretary when Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader and now chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee. In an interview on the Today programme this morning she said Trump’s victory (or apparent victory – he still has not officially hit 270 electoral college votes) was “disappointing”, and that it made the world “unpredictable”. When it was put to her that she described him as a “racist, sexual predator” when he visited the UK during his first term as president, she replied: Well, he is. But he is the president of the United States, and we need to work with him. I know that many Londoners will be anxious about the outcome of the US presidential election. Many will be fearful about what it will mean for democracy and for women’s rights, or how the result impacts the situation in the Middle East or the fate of Ukraine. Others will be worried about the future of NATO or tackling the climate crisis … The lesson of today is that progress is not inevitable. But asserting our progressive values is more important than ever - re-committing to building a world where racism and hatred is rejected, the fundamental rights of women and girls are upheld, and where we continue to tackle the crisis of climate change head on. Continue reading...
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Middle East crisis live: new Israeli defence minister says Trump presidency will ‘bring back hostages’ and defeat Iran (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Comments by Israel Katz follow protests over the firing of his predecessor by Netanyahu See all our Middle East crisis coverage Lebanon’s army has issued a warning to residents in the Ghobeiry area of the southern suburbs of Beirut that today between 10.30am and 1.30pm it will “detonate unexploded ordnance” in the area. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered his congratulations to Donald Trump, who appears on course for re-election in the US. Dear Donald and Melania Trump, congratulations on history’s greatest comeback! Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America. This is a huge victory! In true friendship, yours, Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu. Continue reading...
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Trump tariffs would halve UK growth and push up prices, says thinktank (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
NIESR warns Republican nominee’s protectionist policies, including against Britain, would harm domestic economy US election 2024 – live news updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker UK growth is likely to be halved by Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential race if goes on to impose the swingeing new tariffs he has threatened, a leading thinktank has warned. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the protectionist measures planned by the Republican challenger for the White House would result in weaker activity, rising inflation and higher interest rates from the Bank of England. Continue reading...
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Girls Aloud to release first song since 2012, solely with vocals by late Sarah Harding (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Group revisit their chart-topping 2004 cover of the Pretenders’ I’ll Stand By You to benefit BBC Children in Need Girls Aloud are to release their first single since 2012, a new version of their cover of the Pretenders’ I’ll Stand By You with only the vocals of their late bandmate Sarah Harding. The song, entitled I’ll Stand By You – Sarah’s Version, will raise money for BBC Children in Need. It is being released on 15 November and had its first play on Radio 2 today. Continue reading...
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UK ‘falling behind’ on sewage pollution regulation while EU tightens rules (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
EU member states agree to update urban waste water treatment directive The UK is falling further behind on sewage pollution regulation as the EU tightens its rules to clean up Europe’s waterways, say critics. EU member states agreed on Tuesday to update the urban waste water treatment directive to strengthen rules to clean up sewage and chemical pollution from treatment plants. European countries will have to update their sewage systems and treatment plants so that large amounts of human waste and chemicals are removed from rivers by a deadline of 2035. The companies deemed responsible will be required to pay for the infrastructure changes. Continue reading...
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Bird flu outbreak confirmed at East Yorkshire poultry farm (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Defra says avian influenza confirmed at business in Hornsea, with a protection zone put in place around farm An outbreak of bird flu has been confirmed at a poultry farm in East Yorkshire. The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N5 had been confirmed at the commercial poultry business in Hornsea. Continue reading...
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Early morning and evening activity could ‘reduce bowel cancer risk by 11%’ (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Research suggests time when physical activity taken is crucial, opening way to targeted prevention strategies Being more active in the morning and evening may reduce the risk of bowel cancer by 11%, according to a study that suggests the timing of peak activity could play a “crucial role” in warding off the disease. Researchers said that highlighting specific times when physical activity was “most beneficial” could pave the way for targeted cancer prevention strategies. The findings were published in the journal BMC Medicine. Continue reading...
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Watchdog rules Eurostar ads on social media for £39 seats were misleading (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Advertising Standards Authority censures posts on Instagram and Facebook for trips from London to Amsterdam and Brussels Cross-channel train operator Eurostar has been criticised by the advertising watchdog for exaggerating the number of £39 seats on sale. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Eurostar ads across Instagram and Facebook for £39 tickets from London to Amsterdam and Brussels were misleading, the second time it has censured its ads this year. Continue reading...
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Planning rules have failed to link new homes to public transport, report finds (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
A decade of planning policy has achieved nothing, leaving millions of people still dependent on cars, study shows A decade of planning rules designed to create housing connected to public transport routes has achieved nothing, a report has found, with millions of people in new homes still dependent on cars to get to local amenities. The study by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) looked at more than 1.6m homes given planning permission in England from 2012 to 2021, finding that while major housing developments are supposed to be designed around transport infrastructure, this has not happened. Continue reading...
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Japan plans ‘conveyor belt road’ linking Tokyo and Osaka amid delivery driver shortage (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
It is hoped ‘innovative’ 24-hour design will also cut carbon emissions, as demand for delivery services soars Six decades after the bullet train first whisked passengers between Tokyo and Osaka, authorities in Japan are planning to do the same for cargo, with the construction of a “conveyor belt road”. The automated cargo transport corridor, which will connect the capital with Osaka, 320 miles (515km) away, is seen as part of the solution to soaring demand for delivery services in the world’s fourth-biggest economy. Continue reading...
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‘It’s like living in a prison’: inside the besieged Palestinian village isolated from the rest of the West Bank (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Since the 7 October attack, and the ensuing war in Gaza, restrictions in Beit Iksa have become even more suffocating In January this year, four-year-old Ruqayya Jahalin, her mother and her five siblings were waiting in a taxi at the checkpoint that is the only way in and out of their home, the occupied West Bank village of Beit Iksa. Inspections by the Israeli military or border police mean it often takes a long time for Palestinians to enter the besieged village, but everything seemed normal until, out of nowhere, the border police started shooting indiscriminately, hitting Ruqayya in the back. Continue reading...
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Clashes over budget could push Germany’s ailing coalition to collapse (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
With contradictory proposals unlikely to mesh, leaders to decide whether there is scope for alliance to continue When, in 2021, Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats went into a “traffic light” coalition with the Greens and pro-business Free Democrats, the new government was riding high on an enthusiastic spirit of cooperation. There were promises to modernise, reinvigorate and green-proof Europe’s largest economy. Germany, the coalition partners said, had sleep-walked into a complacent state during 16 years of rule under Angela Merkel. The new trio in power would jolt the country out of its hubris, and deliver it into a new era of vigour and creative transformation. That, at least, was the idea. Continue reading...
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North Korea’s involvement in Ukraine draws China into a delicate balancing act (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The entry of North Korean troops risks a dangerous escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It also puts Beijing in a tight spot In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao’s troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea in that battle, Mao reportedly said, because “without the lips, the teeth are cold”. That Chinese idiom has been used to described China and North Korea’s close relationship for more than seven decades. China sees North Korea as a strategic security buffer in the region, while North Korea relies on its superpower neighbour for economic, political and military support. But that relationship is now under strain thanks to another war which is drawing Communist-rooted countries into a common battle. Continue reading...
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‘It wasn’t sexual in any way!’ 50 years of streaking – by the people who dared to bare all (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
In 1974, it became a craze, and has been happening ever since. While some streakers do it for a cause and others for a laugh, all agree the adrenaline rush is unbeatable. So do they have any regrets? Mark Roberts remembers the moment clearly. The Liverpudlian was 28 years old, living in Hong Kong, doing bar work. One night, early in 1993, a group of animated men entered the bar, roaring about a woman who had just streaked at the Hong Kong Sevens rugby semi-final. Roberts didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. “I went: ‘Fuck off, anybody can streak.’ I was drunk. So the owner goes: ‘OK, big mouth, you streak tomorrow in the final.’ I went: ‘OK’, but I had no intention of doing it.” He got home at 4am and fell asleep on the sofa fully dressed. “Next thing I know, my friend Harry is banging on the apartment door, saying: ‘It’s time to go to the sevens.’ He said: ‘If you don’t open the door, I’m going to kick it in.’” Harry whisked him off to the stadium bar. For Roberts, there was no way out. ‘I’m free as a bird’ ... Mark Roberts streaking at Wimbledon in 2002. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Continue reading...
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Boris Johnson, J-Lo and the world’s angriest piece of theatre: the weird ways UK TV covered the US election (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Which anchor is part-vampire? Whose coverage was like being trapped in a hellish marriage? And whose was total genius … against all the odds? Unless you’re in the very top percentile of political wonks, the best way to experience the US election results is to look at your phone when you wake up, groan to yourself and then go back to sleep. This is because, when watching a US election from these drizzly shores, nothing interesting happens until about 4am. But try telling that to the UK’s media, which has a habit of treating US elections the same way dogs look at bollards they want to wee on. Both the BBC and ITV’s coverage kicked off a bit before 11pm last night, light years before anything worthwhile was scheduled to occur. Channel 4 went off even more half-cocked, diving into its coverage at 10pm. And then there was Sky News, which by 7.30pm was broadcasting endless split-screen footage of empty polling booths and slightly floppy lawn signs, like an awful Slow TV remake of 24. Continue reading...
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A moment that changed me: I gave up my job – and found my self-esteem (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
When I moved with my partner to Washington DC, it was months before I was granted a work permit. At first, my confidence took a hit. Then I felt liberated to start a new life When my boyfriend asked if I would move with him from London to Washington DC in December 2017, I said yes right away. He had been offered a job there and I would need a spousal visa to join him, so we decided to get married. It felt like an adventure. We were young, child-free and had no real responsibilities. I was a freelance journalist and could plausibly work from anywhere, so why not Washington? Why not somewhere new? I didn’t realise until we arrived, but the terms of my visa meant I wasn’t allowed to do paid work until I acquired the proper permit, which would take months. In the meantime, I was in limbo. At first, it felt like an extended holiday. But about six weeks in, the implications hit home. I accompanied my husband, who was a foreign correspondent, to a work-related drinks event at a bar near Capitol Hill, where everyone other than me seemed to have an impressive job title. Continue reading...
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‘Played on over 250 albums’: was Nicky Hopkins the greatest unsung pianist ever? (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
He helped shape classic songs by the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Beatles but his influence on music has been largely ignored. A new documentary aims to correct that In one of the Rolling Stones’ most crucial songs, Sympathy for the Devil, it’s not Keith Richards’ guitar that defines the melody or propels the piece. It’s a series of stark piano chords, struck by a studio musician, that give the piece its earth-shaking power. Likewise, in the Who’s classic cut The Song is Over, it isn’t Pete Townshend’s six-string that provides the song’s most plaintive tug. It’s a piano progression, provided by a guest player, that lends it that melancholy grace. Similarly, in Joe Cocker’s smash hit You Are So Beautiful, Cocker finds his dream partner in a series of guest piano runs so elaborate they change the trajectory of the melody, ultimately soaring it to the sky. In each of those cases, the piano work sprang from the fertile mind and fleet fingers of Nicky Hopkins, a keyboard colossus so dexterous he gained eager employment from nearly every star of note from the classic rock world and beyond. Not only did Hopkins play with the Stones (on over a dozen albums in fact), he also worked with the Beatles, providing an iconic solo devised on the fly for their song Revolution. He also played on solo works by each of the Fab Four, including nearly every track on John Lennon’s Imagine album, and on classic sets by British bands from the Kinks to the Move, and American acts like Jefferson Airplane and the Steve Miller Band. More, he was a member of two key bands: the Jeff Beck Group with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, and Quicksilver Messenger Service, who helped define San Francisco psychedelia in the 60s. Continue reading...
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Red One review – bronto-head Dwayne Johnson weighs down Santa kidnap comedy (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Christmassy slush and gush smothers all attempts at comedy in this bland family film about Santa’s musclebound personal security guard This profoundly depressing and blandly sentimental Christmas comedy for early November stars Dwayne Johnson as Santa’s bodyguard, out to rescue him from kidnappers and so save Christmas. With an unvarying smirk, Chris Evans co-stars as a roguish professional thief (with an assumed heart of gold) called Jack O’Malley, whose cynical way of life was imprinted on him as a child when he found himself threatened with the naughty list for presuming to question Santa’s existence. Now he is separated from the mother of his child and neglectful of his son. Continue reading...
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We took our dog on a winter campervan trip in the Alps: are we barking? (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Two novices, a large van and a lively Irish setter make for an eventful road trip through the French mountains When I first had the idea of taking a winter road trip through the Alps, I imagined snowy walks followed by fondue in the comfort of our van, feet warmed by 25kg of auburn fluff (it was to be our Irish setter’s first encounter with snow). Waking up to snowflakes on the skylight and the freedom of being able to go wherever we wanted. What I hadn’t quite pictured was spending our first night in a car park on the outskirts of a city, sandwiched between the medieval ramparts and a graveyard. We were in Albertville, on the edge of the French Alps, in an enormous campervan that afforded theoretical freedom but size-induced restraints. Those born before the 1980s probably know Albertville as the home of the 1992 Winter Olympics, those born after may have passed it if heading for Chambéry for a ski trip. The new town of Albertville sprawls industrially through the valley, tower blocks overshadowed by snow-capped mountains, while the old town, known as Conflans, fortified and cobbled, is so pretty it looks like an illustration, and is home to more cats than a Greek island. Continue reading...
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My late father is still being charged for car insurance (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
His premium was £1,920 and I can’t get Sainsbury’s Bank to cancel the policy My dad FH passed away in July, and, since then, I have been trying to cancel his car insurance with Sainsbury’s Bank. I wrote to explain the situation, but it didn’t act on the letter or scan his interim death certificate. When I managed to speak to someone, in mid-September, it promised to cancel the policy and contact the underwriter to see if a refund could be backdated. But, instead of cancelling, I received a new one with his name amended to include “executor of” in the middle. Continue reading...
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TV tonight: a riveting series about solving the mystery of Lord Lucan (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The son of Sandra Rivett believes he has found her murderer. Plus: the new series of cosy crime drama Shetland. Here’s what to watch this evening 9pm, BBC TwoWhen he was 11, Neil Berriman discovered his birth mother was Sandra Rivett – the nanny murdered in Lord Lucan’s home in 1974. Lucan vanished that night and was legally declared dead in 1999. But Berriman, now a builder, believes he has found him – and this riveting three-part documentary follows his journey as he attempts to solve the mystery. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...
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The UK was crying out for a new kind of budget. Labour has given it repackaged Tory ideas | David Edgerton (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
A fairer, happier and more equal country is possible – but only if the party in power actually wants to make it happen Has Labour got a radical economic programme, on a par with 1945 or 1964? Has it stealthily snuck this past a hostile electorate? If you glanced at coverage of last week’s “historic” budget, you could be forgiven for thinking it had. At the election, the party promised minor increases in tax and spending, and now it is proposing major increases in borrowing, taxing and spending. But while this might seem like a screeching U-turn, it is nothing of the sort. Far from being radical, Labour’s programme shows deep continuities with failed Tory ideas and policies that do not meet the requirements of the hour, let alone offer any hope for the sort of transformation Labour once provided. Public spending was planned to fall so catastrophically over the next few years that Labour had little choice but to increase it. Had they still been in power, the Tories would have been faced with the same necessity. That’s because the scale of public spending in Britain is determined mainly by the need to provide a health service, pensions and benefits (the last on a bare-minimum level, by political choice). Imagine, for a moment, what might have happened if Labour hadn’t committed to raising spending: we would have seen increasing NHS waiting lists, schools with fewer teachers, and public investment falling to only 1.7% of GDP. An already dysfunctional state would not see supposed productivity gains, but would instead cease functioning. David Edgerton is Hans Rausing professor of the history of science and technology, professor of modern British history at King’s College London, and the author of The Rise and Fall of the British Nation Continue reading...
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We are witnessing the final stage of genocide in Gaza | Arwa Mahdawi (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Omer Bartov is an Isareli-American professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He has issued a grim warning on Gaza Want to know a fun fact about Palestinians? They’re hard to kill. You can bomb them, bury them under rubble, burn them alive and they still don’t seem to die at the rates of normal people. How else do you explain the fact the death count in Gaza barely seems to budge, even though not a day seems to go by without another new massacre and with starvation and the spread of disease only getting worse? A staggering 43,000 dead Palestinians. That’s the official number the most recent coverage cites. That’s when a number is cited at all: many pieces on Gaza don’t even mention the death count anymore. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian US columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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I tried to warn Valencia’s government about flooding, but it didn’t listen | Juan Bordera (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The rightwing regional authorities ignored the climate-crisis science and dismissed the weather forecast – the consequences are their responsibility Juan Bordera is a climate journalist and an independent MP for Compromís in the Valencian parliament It’s almost impossible to describe what we have experienced in the flooded villages and towns around the city of Valencia. Many of those villages and towns are in ruins, with at least 217 dead and others to be pulled out of the mud. There are many areas that still need urgent help. There are towns without water or electricity that have not been able to clean up. There are still flooded garages, buildings on the verge of collapse, and health problems that may result from the accumulated water. But what also defies belief is the regional Valencian government’s sheer negligence in its pre- and post-disaster management. Let me try to summarise some of the most serious shortcomings. Juan Bordera is a climate journalist and an independent MP for Compromís in the Valencian parliament. He has donated his fee for this article to a fundraiser for those affected by the storm Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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Do people become less sociable with age? Not me – I’ve barely stopped since turning 90 | Sheila Hancock (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Scientists think there may be benefits for older people who step back. I prefer to have ‘thank you and goodbye’ parties with my dearest friends Some researchers at a Royal Society symposium, with nothing better to do, have come up with a theory that animals become less sociable as they age. They found that creatures from house sparrows to rhesus macaques have smaller social circles as they get older and that an antisocial old age might just be an advantage – in humans as well as animals. Not in my biased opinion. It sounds very dull. Anyway I question their findings: I actually think a decline in sociability is a general societal trend, rather than having anything to do with ageing. In my 10th decade I lead a ridiculously busy social life. In my younger days, I would sit on a film set, alone and bored, for up to 10 hours a day, waiting to say a few lines. At other times I had to refrain from speaking to anyone by day because I was saving my voice for the musical I was performing six nights a week. Nowadays, I am instead, as my father would have said, “rushing around like a blue-arsed fly”. Like many of my generation, my life is crammed full of campaigns and causes. I am obsessed with prison reform. Last week, I was talking to several hundred people in Lavenham, Suffolk, trying to persuade them that as well as enjoying their old age, they should be engaged in saving the planet. Next week, I will be at Dulwich College in London, talking about the importance of funding for palliative care at St Christopher’s Hospice, of which I am an active vice-president. I cannot deny that when I see a clear day in my diary, I heave a sigh of relief. Until about midday. Then I get irritated at having to listen to, and not argue with, the protagonists on Radio 4, so I phone a friend to rant about the frustrating BBC impartiality rules. We oldies like to talk to one another, and we want to quickly change the world before we leave it. Sheila Hancock is an actor and a writer Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. Continue reading...
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In an era of environmental crises, women closest to the destruction must be heard | Omaira Bolaños (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
My mother showed me the importance of Indigenous and Afro-descendant women in protecting the natural world. Yet they continue to face barriers and discrimination in their work I learned about the importance of women in small communities from my mother. She was a peasant woman – a campesina as we say in Colombia – in the mountains near Cali, where I grew up. She searched the forest for food and cultivated the earth to grow vegetables to feed me and my four siblings. It is women like her that I try to empower with my work supporting the collective rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant women in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In an era of environmental crises, people from such communities have an outsized role in preventing the destruction of nature and slowing the climate crisis. Colombia, where the biodiversity Cop16 was held last week, is home to 10% of all life on Earth, stretching from thick mangrove forest of the Pacific coast to the Amazon rainforest. Many of the communities I work with live alongside this rich nature and have made its survival part of their culture, something increasingly recognised in conservation. This is true from the Arctic Circle to the Indonesian forest. My job is to make sure women in these places receive practical support and a fair share of growing financial assistance. Continue reading...
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How Moldovans bravely fought off Russian election meddling – and stood up for democracy | Paula Erizanu (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Journalists and police challenged disinformation, intimidation and cash-for-vote schemes, while huge numbers turned up to vote Having lived in Britain for 12 years, I returned to my native Moldova in 2022 because I was worried that Russia’s war in Ukraine would spill into my country. Thanks to the Ukrainian resistance, the skies are still clear in Moldova. But in the past weeks leading up to the presidential runoff between the pro-European incumbent Maia Sandu and the Russian-supported former prosecutor general Alexandr Stoianoglo, I felt as if I might lose my country once again. The scale of interference in these Moldovan elections has been unprecedented. As reported by excellent independent journalists in the country, our law enforcement agencies alleged the existence of a large-scale, vote-buying scheme in the first round, run by Ilan Shor – a Russian-backed fugitive oligarch, who denies any wrongdoing. Continue reading...
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Remember, remember, the fifth of November, when a bad guy tried to blow up a political system | Marina Hyde (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
A dastardly plot is afoot to burn it all down by any means necessary. Sound familiar? US election 2024 – live updates US election results 2024 – live tracker Well … we finally got to 5 November. Of course, you know the story. Once upon a time, there was a bad guy who wanted to set fire to a country’s political system. Metaphorically, but also literally. I mean, he wasn’t subtle, this guy. This Guy, I should say, because his name was Guy Fawkes. Why – who did you think I was talking about? Because time’s a great healer, Britons now celebrate the thwarting of this truly awful Guy’s insurrection with fireworks, fires and organised effigy-burning. But the good version of those things – not the kind we do when we go out of a football tournament in the later stages. We’re still working on teasing out the family fun in those particular moments. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
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Competition regulator’s backing for Vodafone-Three merger is a fair call (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
CMA’s new pragmatism over having three UK mobile operators will provide more genuine competition than the current setup Vodafone and Three merger could get go-ahead, says watchdog What could UK merger mean for customers? Compare and contrast. Back in September, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had a big grumble about Vodafone and Three’s plan to merge their UK mobile operations. A combination of the third- and fourth-largest operators could result in “a substantial lessening of competition” and “tens of millions of mobile customers having to pay more”. And now? As long as the duo honour their promises to splash the cash and invest in their combined network, long-term competition should be boosted, “benefiting millions of people who rely on mobile services”, thinks the CMA. That is not yet the watchdog’s final word on the matter, but the light is flashing green for the deal. Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on Badenoch v Starmer: tussling over a shift to bigger government | Editorial (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
This parliament’s real battle won’t be cultural, it will be over the size of the state Kemi Badenoch was still wooing votes from Conservative members last Wednesday, the day the budget was delivered. Now leader of only 120 MPs, she can do little more than tut over the finance bill. Nevertheless, it’s the budget that sets out the great philosophical divide between Ms Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer. It lies not in a particular policy or even a political commitment, but most acutely in a graph. It’s an exhibit that has received precious little discussion, yet it represents an ideological battleground that could help shape this parliament. You can find the chart about halfway through the outlook issued by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Along its X axis are the world’s richest economies, ordered by how much they tax, which is a key measure of the size of their state. The countries that levy the least are Ireland, Chile, Switzerland and the US. At the other end are France, Norway, Austria and Finland – these are the biggest states, taking over 40% of GDP in tax. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on Labour’s 2030 clean energy target: Britain should go for it | Editorial (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
As a new report makes clear, the timetable is dauntingly tight. But the potential rewards on offer are huge One of Labour’s first acts in government was to lift the de facto ban on new onshore windfarms introduced by the Conservatives in 2016, which closed off one of the key pathways to clean, cheap energy by the 2030s. This week, progress was resumed as plans were outlined for what would be the most productive onshore windfarm in England. According to developers, the Scout Moor scheme in Greater Manchester could meet 10% of the region’s energy needs by the end of the decade. As a major new report published on Tuesday makes clear, if Labour’s mission of a clean electricity system by 2030 is to be met, an avalanche of such projects will be required. The publicly owned National Energy System Operator (Neso) estimates that a doubling of onshore wind capacity will be necessary, along with a still bigger expansion of offshore wind and a tripling of solar power. When this is all considered alongside the need to transform the country’s power and transmission networks at an unprecedented pace, the daunting scale of the task becomes clear. Crucially, though, Neso’s analysis finds that the 2030 date is achievable if, to put it non-technically, the government, the energy industry and regulators truly go for it. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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Labour promised GPs more money. Why hit them with higher national insurance? | Letter (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Primary care will suffer from exposing doctors to the rise in national insurance – they should be exempt, writes Phil Taylor The chancellor’s decision to spare the public sector from the increase in national insurance but not to include general practices, where 90% of patient contacts happen, is a clear example of the Treasury’s failure to support much-needed change (Services for most-vulnerable people at risk after NICs rise, charities say, 1 November). The Treasury chief secretary, Darren Jones, justified this by saying that many GP practices are private businesses, but a way must be found to ensure that investment in GPs and their staff is not continually held back. It is difficult to see Wes Streeting achieving his desire to see primary care playing a greater role while taking away money from general practice. Continue reading...
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In analysing the budget, take account of the social wage too | Letters (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Better infrastructure and public services are in store with Rachel Reeves’ plans, says John Boaler. Plus letters from Richard Churcher, Ian Simpson, Mike Lake and Les Bright You published an analysis of how the budget might affect people’s personal finances (Budget 2024: what it means for you, 30 October), like most other newspapers and the BBC website did. While people want to know how their income might be affected, this analysis takes no account of how we all benefit from improvements in the NHS, including reductions in waiting times, and investment more generally in our public services. Denis Healey used to call this the “social wage”. If I can see a doctor and get treatment quickly, if trains are more reliable, if unsafe school buildings are replaced etc, then my family will be better off even if my disposable income doesn’t rise. Along with the vast majority of citizens, I cannot afford private healthcare or private education. Another £5 or £10 a week in my pocket would not change this. Only a fool or a populist politician would claim that public services can be improved without raising more revenue from taxation. John Boaler Calne, Wiltshire Continue reading...
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Rúben Amorim reluctantly takes centre stage after farewell gift to Sporting fans | Simon Burnton (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The incoming Manchester United manager delivered a Champions League rout of Manchester City on an emotional night After the final whistle Rúben Amorim trudged on to the pitch clutching his gilet, realised the next 10 minutes of his life would be better spent without a gilet and trudged off again to get rid of it. It was the only misstep of an extraordinary final evening at a raucous José Alvalade, during which his side conceded after just four minutes, somehow clung on to a single-goal deficit during an opening 35 minutes in which Manchester City threatened to bring his era to a jarringly humiliating conclusion, and then across a remarkable second half executed a joyful filleting of the English champions. After this result the first thing Amorim will have to manage in Manchester is expectation, and that work started straight after the game. Asked if he had a message for United’s fans, he did not hesitate: “This means nothing,” he said. “Don’t take anything from this. We were lucky. It was a one-off. It doesn’t mean anything.” Continue reading...
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‘A complete team’: Xabi Alonso heaps praise on Liverpool after heavy defeat (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Leverkusen’s Alonso says Arne Slot ‘doing great work’ Liverpool manager delighted by ‘incredible evening’ Xabi Alonso described Liverpool as “a complete team” after he endured a painful return to Anfield with Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. The former Liverpool midfielder suffered the joint-heaviest defeat of his Leverkusen reign as Luis Díaz struck a hat-trick for Arne Slot’s side, who now sit top of both the Champions League and Premier League tables. All of Liverpool’s goals came in a devastating second half display that extended Slot’s outstanding start to 14 wins in 16 matches. Continue reading...
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England must learn to hold their nerve as Steve Borthwick shakes up his bench | Robert Kitson (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Head coach knows game management in later stages needs improvement against Australia after latest near miss England’s team sheets are beginning to resemble Mastermind questions. They’ve started but can they finish? So many tight games have now been lost in the closing stages that the bench is becoming the first place to look for a glimpse of how a coach is thinking and how he might be looking to approach the next game. Steve Borthwick had to been seen to do something after Saturday’s near-miss against New Zealand and, sure enough, other than switching the jersey numbers of his two centres, the only personnel tweaks are among the replacements. Gone, for now, is the 6-2 bench split, to be replaced by a more familiar 5-3 configuration, which now includes Luke Cowan-Dickie and Ollie Sleightholme. Continue reading...
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The Spin | The 1983 West Indian rebel tour to South Africa that shocked cricket (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Source of a tip-off that blew the cover of 16 players leaving Barbados for the apartheid pariah state is finally revealed As the England men’s team arrive at Bridgetown airport for their three white-ball matches in Barbados over the coming days, the usual scrum of local and international media interest can be expected. Nothing, however, will compare with the chaotic scenes 41 years ago in the same place when the world’s press discovered that 16 West Indies players were flying out on a rebel tour to apartheid South Africa, a renegade action that shocked the cricketing world. The rebels had planned to depart from Barbados in total secrecy, but their cover was blown in spectacular fashion by the Guyanese cricket commentator and journalist Joseph “Reds” Perreira, who lifted the lid on the enterprise after receiving a tip-off from a senior figure in the West Indies game. Continue reading...
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Álvaro Morata silences Bernabéu as Milan capitalise on Real Madrid malaise (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
For one brief moment, you wondered if it might happen again. With eight minutes to go between the clubs who have won this competition more than anyone else, and Real Madrid 3-1 down, Antonio Rüdiger guided a shot into the net that might have been a bugle call, a call to arms, madness gripping this place again and ushering in another of those wild finales. This time though there was no comeback and no epic, only reality. Justice too. Rüdiger had been offside and the goal was ruled out, the illusion lasting only as long as the VAR check, leaving Milan striding to a victory they thoroughly deserved. Goals from Malick Thiaw, the exceptional Tijjani Reijnders and the tireless Spain captain Álvaro Morata – of course – secured a win Milan badly needed and inflicted Madrid’s first Champions League defeat here since Chelsea won 3-2 in April 2022. Even back then Madrid, coming back from 3-0 down, had gone through, becoming one of the most miraculous champions in memory; here there was no such luck, no such reaction either. No noise, no revival, and no hiding from the truth. “We have to be worried,” Carlo Ancelotti admitted. “We’re lacking something.” Continue reading...
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Balkan tensions loom over Sparta Prague’s Champions League push | Nick Ames (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Rumours of strain among players from former Yugoslavian states has surfaced before group stage meeting with Brest For Sparta Prague there is plenty riding on Wednesday’s meeting with Brest. Nobody knows exactly what kind of tally will secure qualification for the Champions League knockout stages but a win would probably put them within touching distance of February’s playoffs. This is already their best European performance for more than two decades; they play in one of the most rapidly improving leagues, a fact that would be borne out if they emerge breathing from the sprawling 36-team bulk. So it is far from ideal that their buildup has been troubled and, from another angle, symptomatic of a problem football stadiums across the continent cannot shake off. An inquest was inevitable when Sparta fell to a 3-1 home defeat against Banik Ostrava on Saturday, leaving them 10 points shy of the league leaders, Slavia, and severely minimising the chances of a third straight title. But nobody could have expected the tensions around Serbia, Albania and Kosovo to fuel a controversy that has sent the gossip machine into full swing since then. Continue reading...
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Which football match appears on Have I Got News For You every week? | The Knowledge (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Plus: who first used the phrase ‘game’s gone’; palindromes: an apology; are the Big Six the top six; and even more Mail us your questions or tweet @TheKnowledge_GU “As an inveterate text reader, I cannot help absorbing the fragments of black-on-red text in the [background on the] Missing Words round on Have I Got News For You,” writes Tom Whiteley. “Can anyone name the West Brom match that is mentioned?” We think we know the answer, so please allow us to indulge our inner Poirot and take it clue by clue. West Brom went ahead just after half-time when keeper Mark Beeney felled Micky Mellon and Bob Taylor scored the perfect penalty. Continue reading...
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Gauff storms to second-ever win over Swiatek at WTA Finals in Riyadh (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
American triumphs 6-3, 6-4 despite serving struggles Gauff’s record against Polish rival now stands at 2-11 At 20, Coco Gauff has achieved a considerable amount. She has established herself as a perennial top-five player, won a grand slam title, and lived up to the suffocating hype that followed her since her preteens. Still, it remains to be seen if she can solve one of the most lopsided match-ups between two top players the sport has seen – her 1-11 record against Iga Swiatek. In her second match at the WTA Finals, Gauff took a significant step forward as she held her nerve to register her second win over Swiatek, the No 2 seed and defending champion. After bursting into the contest playing bold tennis, Gauff maintained her composure in the middle of a serving slump before closing out a 6-3, 6-4 win over her erratic opponent. Continue reading...
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‘People do not want to believe it is true’: the photographer capturing the vanishing of glaciers (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Christian Åslund was shocked at the difference between what he saw in 2002 and what confronted him this summer Standing in blinding sunlight on an archipelago above the Arctic Circle, the photographer Christian Åslund looked in shock at a glacier he had last visited in 2002. It had almost completely disappeared. Two decades ago Greenpeace asked Åslund to use photographs taken in the early 20th century, and photograph the same views in order to document how glaciers in Svalbard were melting due to global heating. The difference in ice density in those pictures, taken almost a century apart, was staggering. Continue reading...
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What will the UK’s plan for clean energy by 2030 mean for the industry and public? (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Labour is relying on offshore wind and a move away from gas to make Britain a green energy economy. But the transition will not be cheap Plan for biggest onshore windfarm in England Ed Miliband: clean power by 2030 is technically possible Britain’s green energy pledge ‘credible’ if planning fixed The Labour government came to power with a bold agenda to create a clean electricity system by 2030 to help make Great Britain a green energy superpower. This week its vision has found a route towards becoming a reality via an independent report from the National Energy System Operator (Neso). The system operator’s twin pathways may help to assuage the scepticism: it found that the government’s clean power plan is technically possible by the end of the decade – but only if urgent action is taken to speed up Britain’s green agenda. Continue reading...
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Nearly all of US states are facing droughts, an unprecedented number (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
More than 150 million people and 318m acres of crops are affected by droughts after summer of record heat Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor. A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts. Continue reading...
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Plans for biggest onshore windfarm in England to be submitted this week (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Cubico project at Scout Moor north of Manchester could power the equivalent of 100,000 homes Plans to build what would be the biggest onshore windfarm in England will move forward this week, the first since the Labour government lifted the de facto ban put in place by the Conservatives nine years ago. An independent renewable energy developer has submitted plans to erect 21 wind turbines next to an existing windfarm north of Manchester. Continue reading...
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Adult social care in England needs urgent help from ministers, say bosses (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Rising costs and demand are a huge strain on council budgets and services face ‘intolerable pressures’, says Adass England’s overstretched and creaking adult social care services need urgent government intervention to stabilise them financially as rising costs and demand play havoc with council budgets, care bosses have warned. The financial challenge facing adult social care continued to be “as bad as it has been in recent history”, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (Adass) said, and services are under “intolerable pressures”. Continue reading...
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NHS doctors say lengthy disciplinary processes have left them feeling suicidal (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Many say they felt ‘guilty until proven innocent’ amid fears misconduct claims used to silence whistleblowers UK doctors are having suicidal thoughts because disciplinary proceedings against them by their NHS employer take so long to resolve, research has found. Medics who have been accused of misconduct say the current system of investigating allegations is “brutal” and “humiliating” to go through and can feel “like a witch-hunt”. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is at 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org Continue reading...
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Senior Tories urge Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to settle differences (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Leader names rival in shadow cabinet but announcement marred by leaks suggesting Jenrick wanted bigger job UK politics live – latest updates Who has been appointed to Kemi Badenoch’s shadow cabinet? Senior Conservatives have urged Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick to rapidly settle any differences after the unveiling of the full shadow cabinet was marred by briefings and concern over lingering rivalries. Badenoch, who became leader after defeating Jenrick in a vote of Tory members, held her first shadow cabinet meeting on Tuesday, having named a team including three rival candidates, Jenrick among them, and a series of party centrists. Continue reading...
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Beavers have made a comeback in Britain, but not everyone is happy (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Environmentalists says the mammals help protect against flooding, but landowners say they damage watercourses and trees Releases of European beavers, Castor fiber, both controlled and unofficial, mean that this aquatic mammal is now again a part of the British landscape, returning 400 years after being wiped out by human hunting. The public is generally enthusiastic and environmental campaigners say there are gains for many forms of river life as a result. The retention of water in the landscape leads to a reduction in flooding and can protect against droughts. However, not everyone is so impressed – particularly landowners and foresters, who complain of damage to carefully regulated watercourses and tree felling. Continue reading...
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XL bully dog put down after fatal attack on North Yorkshire girl, 10 (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, killed by family pet in attack police said was out of character An XL bully dog has been put down after fatally attacking a 10-year-old girl in North Yorkshire last week. Savannah Bentham, from the Malton area, was fatally attacked by her family’s pet dog at home on Friday. On Tuesday, the dog was identified as an XL bully and was euthanised by a vet, North Yorkshire police said. Continue reading...
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Post office operators may sue over compensation delay, Alan Bates says (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Campaigner told MPs deadlines must be set, and he had been waiting a month for reply from Starmer UK politics live – latest updates Alan Bates has suggested post office operators could take fresh legal action if the government fails to set a deadline for compensating them. The campaigner revealed on Tuesday that he has written twice to Keir Starmer requesting an end of March deadline for post office operators to receive financial redress. Bates told MPs he had received no response from the prime minister, and that he and other campaigners wrongly accused of fraud in the Horizon IT scandal were considering legal action. Continue reading...
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Let the panic begin! Glastonbury reveals new process for online ticket purchases (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Hopeful ticket-buyers will be assigned random places in an online queue, during two phases of sales that begin on 14 November For many music fans it’s the most stressful few minutes of the year: the online scramble to secure Glastonbury tickets. And while 2025’s event is set to be as oversubscribed as ever, that stress will at least be given a shiny new focus as Glastonbury overhauls its ticket-buying process. Previously, hopeful ticket-buyers would frantically refresh the festival’s ticket sales page in the hope of being one of the lucky ones to get through to the option of purchasing. Continue reading...
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Edinburgh police respond to disorder after youths throw fireworks and bricks (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Officers given stop-and-search powers and helicopters deployed on Bonfire Night amid reports of firework-related crime Police have said they are responding to incidents of disorder “across Edinburgh” on Bonfire Night – with groups of youths hurling fireworks, bricks and other missiles. Officers have been given stop-and-search powers after “intelligence” relating to planned disorder and firework-related crime in the Moredun, Niddrie and Gracemount areas of the capital. Continue reading...
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Boots says it will ‘draw lessons’ from research into links to slavery (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Report looked into donations to Nottingham universities by Jesse Boot, who expanded pharmacy chain The high-street pharmacy Boots’s links to the transatlantic slave trade have been revealed in new research that shows how the proceeds of enslavement became entangled with British capitalism. Jesse Boot, the son of the company’s founder, expanded the chemist with the help of banks and premises linked to slavery. He was not identified as involved in the enslavement of people, the trade of enslaved people or trade in goods made by enslaved people. Continue reading...
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Treasury may have broken law by failing to reveal £9.5bn spend in Tory budget, MPs told (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Head of OBR says spending commitment would have ‘materially changed’ its forecast on Jeremy Hunt’s pre-election budget UK politics live – latest updates Treasury officials may have broken the law when they failed to alert the Office for Budget Responsibility about £9.5bn of spending that should have appeared in the March Tory budget, MPs have been told. Laws governing how the Treasury gives information to the OBR could have been breached when civil servants kept spending commitments under wraps, the government’s independent economic forecaster said. Continue reading...
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At least 89 people remain missing after floods in eastern Spain (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Valencia authorities say search efforts continue as prime minister announces €10.6bn fund to help victims of disaster At least 89 people remain missing after deadly floods in eastern Spain, regional judicial authorities in Valencia have confirmed, as the country’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said he was earmarking €10.6bn (£8.9bn) to help victims. The number includes only those who have been reported missing by family members who have also provided personal information and biological samples to allow for their identification, the superior court of justice of the Valencia region said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that there could be more cases of people who have disappeared whose details have not yet been registered. Continue reading...
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Ukraine war briefing: First clash with North Korean troops, say Ukrainian officials (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
What was described as a ‘small engagement’ in Kursk opens a ‘new page in instability in the world’, says Zelenskyy. What we know on day 987 See all our coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war North Korean troops in Russia have come under Ukrainian fire, a Kyiv official said on Tuesday. “The first North Korean troops have already been shelled, in the Kursk region,” said Andrii Kovalenko, a member of Ukraine’s security council. The Ukrainian defence minister, Rustem Umerov, also said, in an interview with South Korean television, that he understood the first “small engagement” had occurred with the North Koreans. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, said the first battles between the Ukrainian military and North Korean troops “open a new page in instability in the world”. A Russian missile attack on Ukraine’s south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia on Tuesday killed six people, injured 23 and destroyed a critical infrastructure facility, Ukrainian officials said. Ivan Fedorov, the regional governor, said in a statement that a fire broke out as a result of the strike. Foreign ministers from the G7 democracies and three key allies said on Tuesday they were gravely concerned by the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia and the possibility they may be used in the war against Ukraine. “The DPRK’s [North Korea] direct support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, besides showing Russia’s desperate efforts to compensate its losses, would mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict,” the ministers said. Besides G7 members the US, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany, France and Canada, the statement was also signed by South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The ministers said they condemned “in the strongest possible terms” increased military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, including Russia’s “unlawful procurement” of North Korean ballistic missiles. They said they were deeply concerned about the potential for transfer of nuclear or ballistic missile-related technology to North Korea, and would work with international partners “for a coordinated response to this new development”. An engineer at a factory that makes tanks for Russia’s war in Ukraine was jailed for 16 years on Tuesday after being convicted of committing state treason by passing military secrets to Kyiv. Weeks ago his wife received a similar sentence. The court in Sverdlovsk region said Danil Mukhametov, 32, who worked at the Uralvagonzavod tank factory, had partially admitted his guilt after being accused of passing unspecified technical military information to Ukraine’s intelligence services. Meanwhile a Russian court in the western Smolensk region jailed a man for 12 years for sabotage of the railways. Continue reading...
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Los Angeles Times owner cites Gaza war as a reason not to endorse Harris (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Internal email obtained by Drop Site News clashes with billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong’s remarks in interview The billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times has cited the war in Gaza as a reason for vetoing the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president. In an email sent to the paper’s top editor, president and chief operating officer, Patrick Soon-Shiong identifies Harris’s support for Israel’s year-long offensive in the Palestinian coastal territory, which he terms as “genocide”, as a compelling reason to withhold support from the Democratic nominee. Continue reading...
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Solving the true age of Cassius, the world’s largest captive crocodile who died last week (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
George Craig looked after the 5.5-metre croc for decades. But after the keeper retired from the park, Cassius stopped eating and went into ‘very quick decline’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Researchers are trying to determine the true age of the world’s largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, who died on the weekend. Cassius, a Guinness World Record holder thought to be at least 110 years old, died at Marineland Melanesia on Green Island, just off Cairns, where he lived since 1987. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
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Mayhem at New York airport after raccoon falls through ceiling: ‘The most LaGuardia thing’ (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Unexpected appearance sparks rush to catch animal in a trash can as it hides at check-in and dangles from wires Passengers awaiting an early morning flight at New York’s LaGuardia airport were surprised by the sudden arrival of an unexpected extra flyer: a raccoon who fell through a terminal ceiling and proceeded to cause mayhem at a departure gate. Video of the animal’s abrupt appearance at a Spirit Airlines gate inside the airport’s Marine air terminal, and almost comical efforts to capture it in a giant transparent trash can, was posted to social media by an observer. Continue reading...
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Iran claims German-Iranian dissident died before he could be executed (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Top Iranian officials previously referred to an execution when reacting to Jamshid Sharmahd’s death on 28 October Iran has claimed that an Iranian-German dual national who had been sentenced to death died last week before his execution could be carried out. “Jamshid Sharmahd was sentenced to death, his execution was imminent, but he died before it could be carried out,” the judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir told reporters without elaborating. It is understood Tehran claims he suffered a stroke. Continue reading...
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Suspected homicide of politician shocks Antigua and Barbuda (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Prime minister of Caribbean island expresses ‘deep shock and sadness’ at death of MP Asot Michael The prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda has expressed “deep shock and sadness” after the suspected homicide of one of the country’s most prominent MPs. Asot Michael, 54, was found unresponsive with what appeared to be “multiple puncture wounds about his body” at his home just after 8am, according to police on the Caribbean island. The representative for the country’s St Peter constituency was declared dead at the scene. Continue reading...
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Alleged white supremacist charged with drone plot against Nashville power plant (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Skyler Philippi, 24, arrested on charges of attempting to use weapon of mass destruction and targeting an energy facility A white supremacist plotted to attack a power substation in Nashville, Tennessee, with an explosives-loaded drone, federal authorities alleged on Monday while announcing his arrest. Skyler Philippi, 24, was arrested on 2 November on charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy an energy facility. Authorities claim that Philippi’s plot was rooted in his “accelerationism”, or the white supremacist belief that “the existing state of society is irreparable and that the only solution is the destruction and collapse of the ‘system’”, according to court documents. The Associated Press contributed reporting Continue reading...
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World’s first wooden satellite launched into space (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
LignoSat, developed in Japan and launched from Florida, expected to reduce space junk as it burns up on re-entry The world’s first wooden satellite has been launched into space as part of study on using timber to help reduce the creation of space junk. Scientists at Kyoto University expect the wooden material to burn up when the device re-enters the atmosphere – potentially providing a way to avoid generating metal particles when a retired satellite returns to Earth. Continue reading...
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Swedish court jails far-right leader who burned Qur’an (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Danish politician Rasmus Paludan sentenced to four months for incitement against ethnic group A far-right Danish-Swedish politician has been sentenced to prison on charges of incitement against an ethnic group for burning copies of the Qur’an and making offensive statements about Muslims. Rasmus Paludan was the first person to go on trial in Sweden – and is now the first to be sentenced – for burning the Qur’an during an organised demonstration. Continue reading...
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Meet Me Next Christmas review – Netflix kicks off season with passable romcom (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Christina Milian is a charming lead in the streamer’s first festive offering of the year which is watchable enough given the low bar Sneaking in just before the fleet of red Coca-Cola trucks comes barreling into town, it’s the arrival of Netflix’s made-for-pittance festive lineup, a holiday tradition that’s similarly bad for your teeth. In 2023, it was kicked off by the deceptively titled Best. Christmas. Ever!, a rotten nadir not just for the genre but for film as a whole last year, and so the perfectly competent Meet Me Next Christmas lands with a respectable shrug. Things have been, and undoubtedly will get, worse in the streamer’s most overstuffed subgenre, so inoffensively watchable will do. Its low-level success is partly down to Chappelle’s Show director Rusty Cundieff and largely down to lead Christina Milian, the one-time R&B star who has become a staple of the cheapo romcom, first on ABC Family with Snowglobe and Christmas Cupid before graduating to Netflix with Falling Inn Love and the surprisingly enjoyable Resort to Love. She’s been an entertainer of some sort since the age of 15 and there’s a safe-hands ease to her performance here, securing us on side early on. Like a lot of these films, the plot is built from stolen blocks, this time they come from 2001’s John Cusack/Kate Beckinsale romcom Serendipity and Arnie’s 1996 kids caper Jingle All the Way. It cribs the magical meet-cute of the former and partners it with the stressful scramble of the latter, as the romantic future of Milian’s Layla might depend on whether or not she can land a ticket to a sold-out concert. Continue reading...
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She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark review – dark delights (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
A bona-fide queen of body horror delves into fears and illicit desires in this engrossing short-story debut Disgust and delight, it has been said, live in close proximity; in Eliza Clark’s debut collection, they share a home and a bed. These 11 stories revolve around food, sex, gender, power and the body; they veer from realism to sci-fi, fairytale, horror and post-apocalyptic dystopia. This is a book that seems crafted from the stuff of our deepest fears and our most illicit desires. You read on, by turns engrossed and grossed out, as though in the thrall of some demonic power. In one story, a tapeworm finds a happy home in the narrator’s belly, eating her dinners and keeping her weight in check (“Find me deliciously thin at a Michelin star restaurant, devouring a tasting menu with a wasp waist, never loosening my belt”). Another narrator’s pubescent face, blighted with acne, melts and scabs over after an aggressive treatment found on the dark web. “I feel like I’m touching raw meat and I pull my hands away.” In the sci-fi story Hollow Bones, a rip in the spacesuit of a scientist studying alien cultures allows a luminescent parasite to burrow into her thigh; bizarrely, she eats her own finger as it breaks off after prodding the wound (“The skin of that finger was so thin, it fell apart like stewed meat and slid down her throat just as easily, gristle collapsing with a press of her tongue, and the bone crumbling between her teeth”). The tale ends in her leg and forearm being amputated by a surgical team of fanged and furry creatures. Clark is a bona-fide queen of body horror, sadistic in her choice of imagery, and cussedly attentive to that most mundane and yet consequential of facts: that we have and are a body and, as a result, are always at risk of injury and mutation. Continue reading...
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The Old Man season two review – Jeff Bridges’ CIA saga is so silly it’s basically unwatchable (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Almost every character in every scene has no idea what’s going on … and the viewer knows even less. It’s awkward, arrogant – and reeks of desperation There are cliffhangers – and then there is the end of the first season of The Old Man. After hours of car chases, gun fights and unlikely fisticuffs as the ex-CIA op Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) attempted to evade capture by the US authorities, having been in hiding since returning from Afghanistan in the late 80s, we arrived back in Afghanistan in the present day. There, his daughter, an FBI agent called Emily (Arrested Development’s Alia Shawkat), whose career depends on concealing her real identity from her beloved boss Harold Harper (John Lithgow), had been abducted by the rebel leader Faraz Hamzad. Why? Because she is actually his daughter, Parwana. Dazed and unaware of her true parentage, she exited a car near Hamzad’s compound. And: finis. There is an arrogance and an insecurity to the end-of-season cliffhanger. It presumes another instalment is on the cards – and that viewers will wait (maybe years) for the big reveal – but it reeks of desperation: a sense that the only thing keeping people watching is the promise of answers (in this case, what Hamzad is planning to do with Emily and how she will react to news of her father’s identity). Continue reading...
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I’m Charlie Walker review – stereotype-busting sort-of true story of a trucker and an oil spill (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
An entrepreneur’s struggles with obstructive business and endemic racism are refreshingly free of preconceptions This film opens with the words “based on a true story” splashed across the screen. About 70-odd minutes later, just before the closing credits roll, we’re also told that “all characters and events in this film, even those based on real individuals, are completely fictional”. Somewhere between those two contradictory, lawyer-friendly statements, a print-the-legend account unfolds of a semi-heroic individual who was indeed named Charlie Walker. A Black man born in the south who relocated to the Bay area of northern California to raise a family, this film’s version of Charlie Walker (Mike Colter) is first encountered in 1971 trying to build up a trucking business in San Francisco. Charlie faces endemic racism that prevents him getting ahead in the haulage business to provide for his family, which includes his wife (and the film’s narrator) Ann (Safiya Fredericks) and three young girls. Continue reading...
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A Sudden Case of Christmas review – Danny DeVito plays it safe in mushy festive fare (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The comedy veteran is wasted as a grandad hosting Christmas early to keep his family from falling apart Well-meaning parents Abbie (Lucy DeVito) and Jacob (Wilmer Valderrama) are planning to separate, and having consulted their therapist, decide the best way to break the news to their 10-year-old daughter is to have grandad Lawrence (Danny DeVito) do it for them, at his idyllic Dolomites resort. It doesn’t take Lawrence long to realise the kid is way ahead of them. “Did you notice any changes in your dad?” he asks. “Did he start weightlifting? Did he always wear jeans? Did he have perfect hair?” The upshot – naturally – is that everyone agrees to stage Christmas in August. As far as the parents know, it’s a stunt for the benefit of their daughter: to have one last perfect Christmas before splitsville; while in their precocious progeny’s vision, fake Christmas will be the thing that glues mum and dad back together again. Things proceed amiably enough from there. Andie MacDowell appears, playing grandma, with a nice line in light cynicism (“sounds more like a roommate than a soulmate”), and various high jinks ensue. Continue reading...
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A Beginner’s Guide to Dying by Simon Boas review – what makes life worth living? (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Diagnosed with cancer in his 40s, the aid worker looks back on his life and offers advice on confronting death You’re diagnosed with terminal cancer at the age of 46. How do you react? In all likelihood with rage, grief and self-pity, especially if, like Simon Boas, you were told it was only acid reflux, and cancelled scans and bureaucratic cock-ups further delayed treatment. You love your wife, you have a great job, you’re addicted to cheese fondue and muscadet, and death will take all that away. A nightmare, it seems, but far from bewailing his lot Boas tells us how insanely contented he feels and “how lucky it is to have lived at all”. His book began as a trio of articles written for the Jersey Evening Post: he moved to the island (“one of the most caring, safe and close-knit communities in the world”) not as a billionaire tax-dodger but to be its director of overseas aid. The articles were plain about his impending death, though he had some fun with euphemisms: he was “hopping the twig”, joining the choir invisible, on a one-way trip to the south pole. As the tumours spread, along with his readership, he continued to be upbeat. The last article appeared in May this year before his death, aged 47, in July. Continue reading...
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Take a minimalistic approach and do the ‘sniff test’: how to make your clothes last longer (Mon, 23 Sep 2024)
It’s time to step away from the laundry machine. In the first of a series of columns, Lauren Bravo explores how washing your clothes less isn’t just more sustainable, it also helps make your garms go the distance It’s often been said that less is more. And though ethical dressing has evolved beyond the old stereotype of minimalist wardrobes in uniform greige, the adage still holds true in many ways. Far from sustainability being something you can buy off the rack, the most meaningful change we can make is doing less. Shop less. Get rid of less. And here’s an easy one: do less washing. Yes, really. “Underconsumption core” – AKA the radical act of … er, wearing and using the things you already own – is TikTok’s latest obsession, while the not-for-profit global movement Fashion Revolution has long preached that the most sustainable garment is the one already in our wardrobe. Continue reading...
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Lighten the load: meet the fabrics that you (almost) never need to wash (Mon, 23 Sep 2024)
From linen to lyocell, there are plenty of fabrics you’ll be able to get another day’s wear out of – and some you should barely wash at all Whether it’s heirloom vintage or fast fashion, all clothes deserve care. Not only is it a sign of respect for the human labour and resources that went into making each garment, but washing carefully and sparingly can add years to their lifespan. That said, not all clothes are created equal. There’s a reason we find ourselves flinging some things in the wash after every wear, only for them to end up misshapen or faded. Ever noticed the whiff of a polyester dress after a night out? Or marvelled at the sweater your dad claims not to have washed since 1995? Material matters, and it pays to choose fabrics that can go the distance. Continue reading...
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Longer-lasting garms and less creasing: why it’s high time to start washing at a lower temperature (Mon, 23 Sep 2024)
Saving energy isn’t the only benefit of cold washing. In her latest column on rethinking our laundry habits, Lauren Bravo explains why turning down the temperature can actually be more effective in removing some blemishes Look, we all know we’re supposed to be washing our clothes cool. For the sake of the planet, and our energy bills, defaulting to 30C instead of higher temperatures can save 40% of the energy used each year, according to the Energy Saving Trust. The EU has even made it compulsory since 2013 for all new machines to have a 20C option. Still, it can be tempting to let the dial slip back to 40C for old times’ sake, or stick on a cheeky 60c wash when faced with serious stains, feeling we need to crank up the heat. But does hotter really equal cleaner? Or more hygienic? And, more importantly, which do our clothes prefer? Continue reading...
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From sun-drying to spot-cleaning: six clever hacks to help keep your clothes in tip-top condition (Mon, 23 Sep 2024)
Think you know how to do laundry? Your wardrobe may beg to differ. In this column on rethinking our washing habits, sustainable fashion expert Lauren Bravo explains how to do it right We know that keeping our clothes in circulation for longer is the best way to lessen their environmental impact. But overwashing – or over-enthusiastic washing – is one of the quickest routes to the rag bag, leading to shrinkage, fading, weakened fibres, unravelling hems and all manner of other sartorial sob stories. Your clothes deserve better. So before you bung another mixed load on at 40C, let’s have a quick refresher course. Continue reading...
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Scrambled and curried: Romy Gill’s recipes for cooking with paneer (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
India’s favourite fresh cheese is such a versatile ingredient: try it scrambled and spiced, or cut into cubes, marinated in spices, then smothered in a terrific cashew sauce Paneer, a fresh, unaged cheese, is a quintessential ingredient in Indian cuisine,particularly in the north of the country. This fresh cheese has always been cherished at my house for its ability to absorb spices and flavours, plus it doesn’t melt when heated, making it ideal for curries, snacks and even sweet dishes. It’s also a staple in Indian vegetarian cookery, not least because it’s a rich source of protein and calcium. According to some, paneer dates back several centuries. Some historical records suggest that paneer was introduced to India during the Mughal period, around the 16th century, possibly influenced by the Persian and Afghan rulers. There is also evidence that a form of paneer existed in ancient India – it’s mentioned in the Vedic texts, where it is referred to as peynir, derived from the Persian word for cheese.Paneer’s popularity grew during the Mughal era, when it was used in the royal kitchens to prepare all sorts of elaborate dishes, but, over time, it became an integral part of the nation’s cuisine. It’s often still made at home by curdling milk with a souring agent such as lemon juice and/or vinegar. Continue reading...
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I haven’t had sex with my husband for three years – and I’m ready to look elsewhere (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
It’s not that I want anyone else, but I just can’t wait. I really miss the fabulous sex life we used to have together I have been married for 31 years. I love my husband and I know he is crazy about me, but we have a problem: we’re not having sex and I don’t understand why. We used to have the best and most fabulous sex life – creative, passionate – but now we haven’t had sex at all for nearly three years (we’re both in our 50s). I really miss it and I have spoken to him about it. He misses sex, too, but he doesn’t know what’s happening to him (he’s had blood tests and everything is OK). Continue reading...
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Country Diary: All of life takes place in a rural village hall | Nicola Chester (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Inkpen, West Berkshire: The ‘old girl’ is 100 years old – as are many others built around Britain after the first world war. We give it the celebration it deserves I’m not sure I’ve ever sung Happy Birthday to a building before. Something caught in my throat – and looking round at my fellow villagers, I could see I wasn’t the only one. Our village hall is a hundred years old – one of many around the country sharing a surprisingly radical, rural centenary around this decade. After the first world war, the newly formed National Council of Social Service set up a village halls department, and communities rallied behind a desire to provide lasting memorials with practical, educational, joyful purpose. Their aim was to bring scattered, shattered rural communities together. They were particularly important for women, who were unwelcome in pubs and often had family to care for. Continue reading...
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Live, Laugh, Love signs: the worst interiors trend of all time? (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Motivational slogans fared badly in a new survey – but how did they rate compared with leopard-print rugs and colourful bathroom suites? Name: “Live, Laugh, Love” signs. Age: About 15 years. Continue reading...
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When filler removal goes wrong: ‘My lips and cheeks caved in’ (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
The trend for ‘duck lips’ is over and many people are seeking to reverse their cosmetic treatments – often with painful and disfiguring results It was her wedding photographs that did for Grace Stewart’s dermal fillers. By the time the 32-year-old married her long-term partner in 2022, she had been getting fillers for three years – first in her jaw, in pursuit of “that snatched look”, and latterly in her lips, cheeks, nose and chin. One image in particular made her do a double-take: a side-on candid shot in which she is being swept up in a hug by a cousin. “It was this really lovely moment, but all you can see is my chin curling up and this bulky jaw,” says the Nottingham-based social media manager. “I now think: ‘My Lord, why did I do that to myself?’” Stewart did not get any further treatments in the two years after her wedding, but while hyaluronic acid filler is typically marketed as temporary – lasting up to 18 months – she couldn’t seem to shake the volume that had been injected into her jaw. So, this year, she made like Kylie Jenner, Courteney Cox and Molly-Mae Hague and had social media’s latest injection du jour: hyaluronidase, or dissolver. “I now know that there’s a reason why my face is the shape that it is. It’s not supposed to have this angle to it that doesn’t flow,” she says. “I feel so sad that I felt the need to adjust how I looked just to feel like the best version of myself.” Continue reading...
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What can I make with tahini that’s not hummus? | Kitchen aide (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Tahini is not just for dipping, it’s also magic in crumbles, cookies and sauces “Tahini has a beautiful versatility,” says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, “from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.” So the question really ought to be: is there anything this creamy, rich ground sesame paste can’t turn its hand to? For Kattan, autumn means a kofta bake, featuring mince – “ideally half lamb, half beef” – finely chopped onions, chopped parsley, a bit of salt and some spices: “Black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and a predominant presence of allspice.” That’s all combined, then it goes into a greased roasting tray and is baked at 180C for 20 minutes. While that’s cooking, “make a paste of tahini with a splash each of lemon juice and water, crushed garlic and salt”. That gets spread over the top of the half-cooked kofta, then back in the oven with it for about half an hour to get nice and crackly. “It’s a very flavoursome and warming dish,” says Kattan, who would be inclined to serve it with a simple rocket salad dressed with olive oil, lemon and sumac. Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com Continue reading...
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Tell us about the alternative ways you are keeping warm this winter (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
We would like to hear from people in the UK about the ways they are trying to stay warm and keep energy bills down We would like to find out more about the old school alternative ways people in the UK are trying to stay warm this winter. Are you using an electric blanket? Do you layer thermal clothing or wear a jacket indoors? Continue reading...
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Parents: tell us about the books that got your child into reading (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
We would like to hear from parents about the books that piqued their children’s interest Children’s reading enjoyment has fallen to its lowest level in almost two decades, a new survey has found, with only 35% of eight to 18-year-olds enjoying reading in their spare time. The report by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) showed that secondary school-age children have showed the steepest declines in reading enjoyment. Continue reading...
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Tell us: how do you feel about a rise in university tuition fees in England? (Mon, 04 Nov 2024)
We’d like to hear what people in the UK make of the news that higher education tuition fees in England will likely be increased in October 2025 University tuition fees in England are to go up in October 2025 for the first time in eight years. If linked to inflation, it could take fees up to a record £9,500 in October 2025, providing some respite for universities who have been struggling with a deepening financial crisis. Continue reading...
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Share your experience of giving or receiving gift vouchers at Christmas in the UK (Mon, 04 Nov 2024)
We would like to hear from people who give or receive gift vouchers as presents at Christmas We would like to find out more about gift vouchers and why people in the UK give them for Christmas. What are your reasons for giving them to people as presents? We’re also interested in hearing from those who receive them as gifts – how do you feel about it? Do you worry about the balance on the voucher or when it expires? Continue reading...
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Women behind the lens: capturing the ‘eternal days’ of female inmates in Venezuela (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Photographer Ana María Arévalo Gosen returned to Venezuela after eight years away, and began to document her country’s decline through the prism of women in the penal system I left Venezuela in 2009, and when I returned in 2017, it felt like stepping into a different world. Prices had rocketed, hope for a better future had faded, and the infrastructure of what was once one of Latin America’s most promising nations was crumbling. That year, I began the project Días Eternos [Eternal Days], driven by my need to explore one of the root causes of the crisis in my country: the perpetual breakdown of the penitentiary system. This is evident in the flawed ways criminals are sentenced, crimes are investigated and minorities are judged. This is one of the final images I took after two years visiting prisons and detention centres. Ana María Arévalo Gosen is a Venezuelan photographer based in Madrid. Her visual storytelling focuses on women’s rights. Follow her on Instagram Continue reading...
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Vanishing act: Panama’s Guna people forced to move as the sea swallows their island – in pictures (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Earlier this year, families from the Indigenous Guna people on the tiny island of Gardi Sugdub became the first to undergo a climate-related relocation by the Panamanian government because of the threat of rising sea levels. Hundreds of residents moved to Isber Yala, a new town built on the mainland. But many fear that the relocation has put their traditions and culture in peril Photographs by Euan Wallace Continue reading...
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Squirrels, whales, bears: why is the road to the White House strewn with dead animals? (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Reports of casual cruelty to animals during the presidential race are more about gaining votes than concern for their welfare US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker The death of Peanut, an Instagram-famous squirrel that was euthanized after being seized from its New York home last week, has become an unlikely election motivation for Republicans in just the latest of a string of bizarre animal-related incidents that have marked this presidential election campaign. Outrage over Peanut’s death last week at the hands of New York wildlife officials has boiled over in conservative circles, with JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, saying that Donald Trump is “fired up” about the incident and that “Democrats murdered the Elon Musk of squirrels”. When do polls close? When will we know the result? Where is abortion on the ballot? Senate, House and governor results Everything you need to know Continue reading...
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‘I do an illegal job, stealing’: the women forced to scavenge in Bolivia’s tin mines (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Some work underground, others pick over tailings; all are running huge risks. But in the town of Huanani, the mines are the only way to support a family Most nights, under cover of darkness, Sandra* ventures underground into the Huanuni tin mine, about 40 miles (60km) south of the city of Oruro, in Bolivia. She walks for around nine hours collecting about 35kg of rocks containing the mineral before heading back the way she came, hiding from anyone who might be patrolling the tunnels. She sells what she collects through unofficial channels and typically makes 1,800 to 3,000 Bolivianos (£200 to £330) a week. Continue reading...
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Inexperienced, poorly trained and underfed: the North Korean troops heading to Ukraine (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Kim Jong-un says his army is the ‘strongest in the world’ but they are vulnerable to illness and none have seen combat before Depending on whom you ask, they are the boost that Russian forces need to make a significant breakthrough in Ukraine, or they are simple cannon fodder, destined for repatriation in body bags. After weeks of speculation, Nato and the Pentagon have confirmed that about 10,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, with most massing near Ukraine’s border in Kursk, where the Kremlin’s forces have struggled to repel a Ukrainian incursion. Continue reading...
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‘A shrine’: Turkish visitors throng to Atatürk’s birthplace in Thessaloniki (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Museum dedicated to founder of republic is marking ‘improved’ relations between Greece and Turkey – and changes in Turkey itself This autumn, Ozlem Karakus, her son Ali and cousin Cansu made the long drive from Ankara to Thessaloniki. Their three-day odyssey had a single goal: to get to the three-storey, Ottoman-style building on Apostolou Pavlou Street in the Greek port city where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish republic, was born and spent his early years. “He is our father,” Karakus said of the soldier-statesman who created the modern nation from the ruins of the Ottoman empire just over a century ago. “Atatürk is incredibly important to us. He is the best leader who ever came into this world.” For the 43-year-old tax inspector, it was a “dream come true” to visit the house. “To come here and see his birthplace has meant so much,” she enthused. “It was wonderful even if I would have liked to have seen more from his childhood, a few more belongings, a few more personal effects.” Continue reading...
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What could UK merger between Vodafone and Three mean for customers? (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
As competition watchdog looks poised to approve tie-up, questions raised over what it could mean for prices, competition and investment Vodafone and Three merger could get go-ahead, says watchdog Nils Pratley: Regulator’s backing for merger is a fair call The competition watchdog has said it could give the proposed £15bn merger between the telecoms companies Vodafone and Three the green light, provided they agree to certain conditions. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been looking into the deal to protect customers from price rises to their mobile tariffs and to make sure competition in the telecoms market is not reduced. Continue reading...
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Has poppymania gone too far? (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Over the past 20 years, the symbol of remembrance for the war dead has become increasingly ubiquitous – and a culture of poppy policing has grown with it In autumn 2003, about six months after Britain invaded Iraq, Paul Mace had a thought: what if we put poppies on football shirts? Mace, who was then executive director of Leicester City, had always felt strongly about the annual poppy appeal – his father had served in the second world war – and this, he hoped, would bring it to another level. After securing permission from the Premier League, Mace had to find someone to design and manufacture an embroidered poppy patch for the shirts. Poppies in the UK are supplied by a charity, the Royal British Legion (RBL), to raise funds for ex-service personnel in need, but since the RBL didn’t produce patches, Mace arranged to auction off the shirts afterwards and donate the funds. Continue reading...
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The agony of ketamine addiction: ‘I felt like I was peeing glass’ (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
It is gen Z’s recreational drug of choice in the UK and US – and with rising use come big problems, including incontinence, bladder damage, renal failure, depression and extreme pain The first time Nick (not his real name) tried ketamine, he felt as if he’d entered another dimension. Though he smoked marijuana regularly and had experimented with other drugs, Nick had never even heard of ketamine. But when his friend pulled out a bag of white powder, “I did what anybody else would do at 20 years old. I tried it,” he says. “And I found it really fun, to be honest.” The floaty feeling, like he’d been lifted out of his own body, was “euphoric”, he says. “Like you’re in a fairy world.” Sixteen years later, reality is biting hard. Nick, now 36, has spent the past three months in recovery for ketamine addiction after more than a decade of heavy use. His bladder is a fifth of the size it should be, he says. It’s “more than likely” that it will have to be removed and replaced with a urostomy bag. Continue reading...
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‘I was a stuffed shirt, he was an oik’ – Ian Hislop and Paul Merton on making Have I Got News for You (Mon, 04 Nov 2024)
‘My mother came along to the filming of the pilot episode – and afterwards she said, “Oh, never mind, darling”’ I’d just come out of Maudsley psychiatric hospital in London, because I’d had a very bad reaction to an anti-malarial drug, Larium. I’d gone on holiday to Kenya at the end of 1989. The daily drug was fine, but the weekly one gave me manic episodes. Every Friday I’d get very strange, but by Sunday it had worn off. Continue reading...
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The return of President Trump – podcast (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Americans have made their decision and they’ve sent Donald Trump back to the White House. Guardian reporters tell the story of the night from around the United States Donald Trump has declared victory in the presidential election after winning key swing states in the race for the White House. As the night unfolded Helen Pidd spoke to Michael Safi at Kamala Harris’s watch party in Washington DC, where the mood turned from cautious optimism to something much darker. As results came in Lauren Gambino picked up on the nervousness in the Harris camp – and then came the battleground states. Ed Pilkington watched North Carolina go to Trump. George Chidi was in Georgia as its electoral college votes were added to Trump’s tally. And then came the big one: Pennsylvania. As Carter Sherman reported, this was an election of huge potential consequences for women. Along with Trump in the White House, the Republicans have retaken control of the Senate and several ballot measures intended to protect women’s rights fell in the states they were voted on. Continue reading...
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10 years of the long read: Hand dryers v paper towels: the surprisingly dirty fight for the right to dry your hands (2019) – podcast (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors. This week from 2019: For a century, the humble paper towel has dominated public toilets. But a new generation of hand dryers has sparked a war for loo supremacy. By Samanth Subramanian Continue reading...
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Malard breaks duck for United and record WSL TV deal – Women’s Football Weekly podcast (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzanne Wrack, Sophie Downey and Tim Stillman to chew over the WSL results and international action On today’s pod, the panel talk through the 1-1 draw between Manchester United and Arsenal in which the dominant Gunners were denied victory by a late goal from Melvine Malard, who scored on her WSL for the home side. Elsewhere, there were big away wins for City and Chelsea, and the pod show some love to the impressive form of Brighton and Nikita Parris. Continue reading...
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S8, Ep7: Vanessa Feltz, broadcaster (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Grace is joined by broadcasting legend Vanessa Feltz. From BBC breakfast to BBC London to LBC, she has graced our airwaves – and our TV screens – since the late 80s. Grace and Vanessa take a trip down memory lane to discuss her granny’s secret Jewish recipes she’ll never pass on, her mother’s ‘bombe surprise’ pudding, and how being in the public eye has shaped her. If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Graham Norton, James May and Krishnan Guru-Murthy New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday Continue reading...
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Could we really live on Mars? – podcast (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Space-settling enthusiasts have long had an eye on Mars, and now they have the backing of the world’s richest man. Elon Musk recently claimed that humans could be on the planet by 2030 and be living there in a self-sustaining city within 20 years. But is it really that simple? Madeleine Finlay heads to Imperial College London where Prof Sanjeev Gupta gives her a tour of the red planet, and meets Kelly Weinersmith who, along with her husband, Zach, recently won the Royal Society Trivedi science book prize for their book A City on Mars. She explains why life on Mars may not be the idyll some would have us believe Clip: 60 Minutes Australia Mars wind recordings: NASA/JPLCaltech/LANL/CNES/CNRS/ISAE-Supaero Continue reading...
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Trump supporters erupt in celebration as Fox News calls the 2024 race – video (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
Donald Trump supporters who were gathered at a watch party in Florida erupted in celebration early on 6 November as Fox News projected that the Republican had won the US presidency, defeating Democrat Kamala Harris and capping a stunning political comeback four years after he left the White House. In West Palm Beach, Florida, where Trump was expected to speak to his supporters, the crowd cheered and chanted: 'USA! USA! USA!' US election 2024 live Trump on brink of returning to White House after winning key swing states Republicans retake control of US Senate after Democrats lose majority Continue reading...
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How US politics got so insulting (Hint: it didn't start with Trump) – video (Thu, 31 Oct 2024)
Many feel this US election cycle has been the dirtiest yet in terms of campaigning. Donald Trump has viciously attacked Kamala Harris, including questioning her racial identity and her mental resilience, and held rallies marked by racist comments, insults and dangerous threats about immigrants. But mudslinging has always beenpart of US politics. The Guardian's US politics editor in London, Chris Michael, digs into the history of personal attacks, why people feel things are getting worse and the dangers of Trump's 'nasty' tactics US politics: latest updates Continue reading...
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Why are North Korean soldiers entering Russia's war against Ukraine? – video explainer (Fri, 01 Nov 2024)
About 8,000 North Korean soldiers are stationed in Russia on the border with Ukraine, the US secretary of state has said, warning that Moscow is preparing to deploy those troops into combat 'in the coming days'. The announcement was the clearest statement yet from the US that it anticipated the first large-scale deployment of foreign troops into the Russia-Ukraine war since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. The Guardian's Russian affairs reporter, Pjotr Sauer, explains why Russia plans to use North Korean soldiers in its war against Ukraine About 8,000 North Korean soldiers at Ukraine border, says US ‘Blood alliance’: why South Korea fears North’s involvement in Ukraine war Continue reading...
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Elon Musk’s money and the battle for Pennsylvania – video (Thu, 31 Oct 2024)
Pennsylvania is set to be this election’s most vital swing state, with the world’s richest man injecting tens of millions of dollars into the race to help Donald Trump win. With just days before America decides, Oliver Laughland and Joel Van Haren visit the communities with most on the line; hitting the streets with working people out canvassing for Kamala Harris, speaking to top Trump surrogate Jim Justice, and visiting the town of Charleroi, which is mired in the immigration culture wars of the election Continue reading...
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‘I can’t stop now’: Uganda’s anti-LGBTQ+ law forces climate activist into exile – video (Wed, 30 Oct 2024)
Climate activist Nyombi Morris became outspoken about LGBTQ+ rights after his sister was outed as a lesbian and expelled from school. Last year, Uganda passed a new law that imposes up to 20 years in prison for 'recruitment, promotion and funding' of same-sex 'activities', and life imprisonment or the death penalty for certain same-sex acts. After Morris received an anonymous call threatening to rape and arrest him if he did not stop 'promoting homosexuality', the 26-year-old went into hiding for a few weeks and then, with the help of the Uganda-based human rights group Defend Defenders, fled to Denmark where he has applied for asylum. Continue reading...
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How the banana industry funded violence – video (Thu, 24 Oct 2024)
In a landmark case, the banana company Chiquita Brands International was found liable in a US court earlier in 2024 for financing a paramilitary group in Colombia. But it wasn't the first time the banana supplier and distributor has been found to have funded violence, albeit under a different name. In fact the banana industry has a long history of complicity in human rights abuses. Josh Toussaint-Strauss digs into Chiquita's past, discovering its links with historical atrocities in Colombia and drawing parallels with more recent revelations Continue reading...
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Sign up for the Fashion Statement newsletter: our free fashion email (Tue, 20 Sep 2022)
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
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Sign up for the Guardian Documentaries newsletter: our free short film email (Fri, 02 Sep 2016)
Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the world Discover the stories behind our latest short films, learn more about our international film-makers, and join us for exclusive documentary events. We’ll also share a selection of our favourite films, from our archives and from further afield, for you to enjoy. Sign up below. Can’t wait for the next newsletter? Start exploring our archive now. Continue reading...
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Guardian Traveller newsletter: Sign up for our free holidays email (Wed, 12 Oct 2022)
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. Continue reading...
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Sign up for the Feast newsletter: our free Guardian food email (Tue, 09 Jul 2019)
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner. Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email. Continue reading...
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Waiting and watch parties: US election 2024 photos of the night (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
The best images as results come in from the tightly contested race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and from the elections that will determine the balance of power in Congress US election 2024 – latest updates US election results 2024: live map and tracker Senate and House results 2024: live maps and tracker Continue reading...
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Open your eyes! The best of Paris Photo fair – in pictures (Wed, 06 Nov 2024)
From duelling mascara brushes to photographs taken using 400,000-volt currents of electricity, these are the images set to light up the French capital Continue reading...
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Fields aflame and a ruined school: the Ian Parry photojournalism grant 2024 – in pictures (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
A look at the work of the recipients of the 2024 Ian Parry photojournalism grant (IPPG), which supports young and emerging photographers. This year’s winner is Iva Sidash, from Ukraine. Ximena Borrazas received the Tom Stoddart award for excellence and the Gentex Corp personal safety award dedicated to ensuring the protection of aspiring photojournalists. The IPPG’s partner, Save the Children, selected Shefali Rafiq from the shortlist of 10 finalists for a special commission Continue reading...
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Birth of the cool: posters from the Montreux jazz festival through the decades – in pictures (Tue, 05 Nov 2024)
Since its inception in 1967, the Montreux jazz festival in Switzerland has hosted a dizzying array of musical talent from the world of jazz and beyond: Ella Fitzgerald, David Bowie and Miles Davis, and more recently Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga and Stormzy. The names behind its poster designs are equally illustrious, including Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Niki de Saint Phalle and Julian Opie; the latest, by London-based artist Lakwena, commemorates Nina Simone’s 1976 performance. “Artists are given full creative freedom,” says the festival’s CEO Mathieu Jaton. “The festival’s posters reflect the times and artistic trends in which they were created. They showcase the evolution of visual arts over the past 60 years: from photography and painting to purely graphic works.” The Montreux jazz festival 2025 lineup will be revealed next April. For more information see montreuxjazzfestival.com Continue reading...
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Spain flooding aftermath and autumn leaves: photos of the day – Monday (Mon, 04 Nov 2024)
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
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Quincy Jones – a life in pictures (Mon, 04 Nov 2024)
The composer, arranger and producer who worked with stars from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson has died aged 91. We look back at his career highs Continue reading...
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