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The Guardian

More than 800m Amazon trees felled in six years to meet beef demand (ven., 02 juin 2023)
Investigation involving Guardian shows systematic and vast forest loss linked to cattle farming in Brazil More than 800m trees have been cut down in the Amazon rainforest in just six years to feed the world’s appetite for Brazilian beef, according to a new investigation, despite dire warnings about the forest’s importance in fighting the climate crisis. A data-driven investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ), the Guardian, Repórter Brasil and Forbidden Stories shows systematic and vast forest loss linked to cattle farming. Continue reading...
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The multinational companies that industrialised the Amazon rainforest (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Analysis shows handful of corporations extract tens of billions of dollars of raw materials a year – and their commitments to restoration vary greatly A handful of global giants dominate the industrialisation of the Amazon rainforest, extracting tens of billions of dollars of raw materials every year, according to an analysis that highlights how much value is being sucked out of the region with relatively little going back in. But even as the pace of deforestation hits record highs while standards of living in the Amazon are among the lowest in Brazil, the true scale of extraction remains unknown, with basic details about cattle ranching, logging and mining hard to establish despite efforts to ban commodities linked to its destruction. Continue reading...
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A visual guide to deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Fortunes of world’s largest rainforest and its Indigenous inhabitants have risen and fallen with political leadership The destruction and degradation of the world’s largest rainforest has happened in fits and starts. Spanning eight countries, the Amazon rainforest is home to an enormous concentration of life and culture. About half of it is located in Brazil, which is also the heart of the destruction. The forest’s fortunes have risen and fallen with political leadership. About 17% of the Amazon has already gone, replaced by vast cattle ranches, mines and soy fields. If that figure reaches 20% to 25%, scientists believe the rainforest will lose the ability to sustain itself, with disastrous consequences. Continue reading...
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Bruno Pereira and Dom Phllips were killed in the Amazon. Their Indigenous allies risk death to carry on the work (Thu, 01 Jun 2023)
Three assassins walked into a bar deep in the Brazilian Amazon one night last October. Beers flowed, tongues loosened and the men were overheard bragging about their latest job. “We’re looking for this Orlando bloke. We’ve come to kill him,” one of the inebriated hitmen is said to have declared, according to a tipoff conveyed to their target. The Orlando in question was Orlando Possuelo, one of the Indigenous defenders who has been seeking to carry on the work of his colleague Bruno Pereira since Pereira was killed along with the British journalist Dom Phillips near the Javari valley Indigenous territory last June. Continue reading...
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At least 120 people killed and hundreds injured in train crash in eastern India (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Coromandel Express passenger service derails and collides with Howrah Superfast Express in Odisha state At least 120 people have been killed and about 850 injured after two passenger trains collided in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. The Coromandel Express, which runs from Kolkata to Chennai, collided with another passenger train, the Howrah Superfast Express, railway officials said on Friday. Continue reading...
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Boris Johnson hands over WhatsApp messages directly to Covid inquiry (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Former PM bypasses government’s attempts to keep unredacted communications secret UK politics live – latest updates Boris Johnson has bypassed the government’s attempt to keep his unredacted WhatsApp messages secret by handing them over directly to the Covid inquiry. In a move that will further frustrate Downing Street, the former prime minister circumvented the Cabinet Office, which is seeking to hold up the process by launching legal action. Continue reading...
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Bournemouth MP calls for police to end ‘wild speculation’ around beach deaths (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Tobias Ellwood also calls for safety review after deaths of 12-year-old girl and 17-year-old boy An MP has called for a safety review after the deaths of two young people who got into difficulties in the sea off a crowded Bournemouth beach, and urged police to clarify the circumstances to end “wild speculation”. The sightseeing boat the Dorset Belle appeared to be at the centre of the investigation into Wednesday’s incident in which 10 people were rescued from the sea. Continue reading...
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British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful promoted to new role (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
After six years at the helm, Enninful is poised to take on new global role at Condé Nast next year It’s one of the most coveted jobs in fashion. But, six years after being named editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful is stepping down from the position. Or, rather, stepping up to take a new global role at the publisher Condé Nast that invites speculation he occupies pole position to one day take over from the legendary editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. “I am excited to share that from next year I will be stepping into the newly appointed position of editorial advisor of British Vogue and global creative and cultural advisor of Vogue, where I will continue to contribute to the creative and cultural success of the Vogue brand globally while having the freedom to take on broader creative projects,” Enninful wrote to staff. Continue reading...
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British Museum ends BP sponsorship deal after 27 years (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Campaigners hail split as a ‘massive victory’ , which marks a retreat of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts world BP’s sponsorship of the British Museum has ended after 27 years, new disclosures make clear, bringing to a close one of the highest-profile and most controversial of such deals in recent years, and marking the almost complete retreat of the fossil fuel giant from the British arts world. In its most frank admission to date, obtained through freedom of information requests and seen by the Guardian, the museum confirmed that no further exhibitions or other activities are being sponsored by BP, and “there are no other contracts or agreements in effect between the museum and BP”. Continue reading...
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‘Last Corbynista in power’ excluded from North East mayoral contest (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Party factionalism blamed for decision not to include North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll from mayoral longlist Labour is embroiled in a fresh “factionalism” row after a leftwing regional mayor was blocked from being the party’s candidate to contest the North East mayoralty. Jamie Driscoll, the serving mayor for the North of Tyne – an area that includes Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland – said on Friday that he had been “barred” from running for the new mayoral authority without explanation. Continue reading...
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US air force colonel ‘misspoke’ about drone killing pilot who tried to override mission (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Colonel retracted his comments and clarified that the ‘rogue AI drone simulation’ was a hypothetical ‘thought experiment’ A US air force colonel “misspoke” when he said at a Royal Aeronautical Society conference last month that a drone killed its operator in a simulated test because the pilot was attempting to override its mission, according to the society. The confusion had started with the circulation of a blogpost from the society, in which it described a presentation by Col Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, the chief of AI test and operations with the US air force and an experimental fighter test pilot, at the Future Combat Air and Space Capabilities Summit in London in May. Continue reading...
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Complaints about non-surgical butt lifts ‘rising at alarming rate’ in UK (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Industry body and local government call for action on ‘risky’ procedures and cosmetic treatment market Complaints about non-surgical Brazilian butt lifts and breast enhancements have risen at an “alarming” rate, up from fewer than five to 50 in a year, an industry body has revealed. Save Face, a national, government-approved register of accredited non-surgical treatment practitioners, is calling for the procedures to be banned, while the Local Government Association has asked Westminster to take urgent action. Continue reading...
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Epsom racecourse on high alert as activists threaten to disrupt Derby (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Animal Rising aims to force Derby to be abandoned Track has high court injunction and extra security The first afternoon of the Derby festival passed without any disturbance on Friday but Epsom racecourse will again be on high alert on Saturday, when activists from the group Animal Rising have threatened to disrupt the meeting with the ultimate aim of forcing the Derby to be abandoned for the first time in its 244-year history. The same group failed to carry out a similar threat to stop the Grand National at Aintree in April, although the race was delayed for about 15 minutes after a small number of protesters scaled a fence and attempted to attach themselves to a fence. Continue reading...
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Snow fly in US and Canada can detach its legs to survive, research shows (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Flies chilled to sub-zero temperatures amputate one or more of their six limbs to protect their internal organs Flightless snow flies in the US and Canada can amputate their legs to survive as they begin to freeze, researchers have discovered. Lab experiments in which the flies were chilled gradually to sub-zero temperatures revealed they can detach one or more of their six legs, an apparent “last-ditch tactic” to protect their internal organs from the advancing cold. Continue reading...
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Fatigue and frayed nerves grip Kyiv as city shelters from nightly Russian raids (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Strikes on the capital have caused few casualties but residents face a new ‘psychological terror’ Russia-Ukraine war – latest news When the air raid alarms go off at around 3am, the first things exhausted Kyvians do is reach for their mobile phones, check the news, message family and friends – and start listening to the explosions that almost certainly follow. “You wake up, go to a safe space, maybe a shelter, holding your phone. You cannot work, you cannot read; you sit and look around and wait. In the worst case, you hear a distinctive noise, maybe like a motorcycle passing by,” said Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and leader of the liberal Holos party. Continue reading...
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Pro-Ukrainian forces ‘still fighting in Russia’s Belgorod’ despite Moscow claims (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Freedom of Russia Legion social media reports contradict Russian claims to have repelled the rebel incursion Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates Ukrainian-backed Russian rebel groups have said they are still fighting inside Russia’s Belgorod region, despite Moscow’s claims on Thursday to have repelled the incursion. The Freedom of Russia Legion posted videos on social media of combat apparantly in the Belgorod village Novaya Tavolzhanka, between the Ukrainian-Russian border and the town of Shebekino, the legion’s stated goal. Continue reading...
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Zelenskiy orders audit of Ukrainian air-raid shelters after civilian deaths (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
A rift widened between the president and Kyiv’s mayor after witness reports that three people were locked out on the street during Russian attack Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates Volodymyr Zelenskiy has ordered an audit of all Ukrainian air-raid shelters as a rift widened with Kyiv’s mayor after the deaths of three people who were locked out on the street during a Russian attack. A nine-year-old girl, her mother and another woman were killed by falling debris after rushing to a Kyiv shelter on Thursday morning and finding it was shut. Later that day, the Ukrainian president accused Kyiv’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, and other city leaders of negligence. Klitschko responded by saying the responsibility for the tragedy should be shared between them. Continue reading...
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What happened in the Russia-Ukraine war this week? Catch up with the must-read news and analysis (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Ukraine recruits prepare to retake Bakhmut; three people, including a child, killed in Kyiv; drone attack sees war reach Moscow Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the Ukraine war, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion. Continue reading...
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FA Cup final: how local rivalry turned into global battle for brand supremacy (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The Manchester clubs meet for the first time in the FA Cup final with City threatening to eclipse United on and off the pitch It will be a mighty convoy, perhaps not visible from space but certainly from the verges of the M6. A minimum of 60 coaches, travelling south on Saturday morning, will transport supporters of Manchester’s two prestigious football clubs to Wembley Stadium. There, the men’s sides will contest a historic encounter, competing together in an FA Cup final for the first time in their 140-year history. That there is greater anticipation than usual for the traditional domestic showpiece is not just down to its unique matchup. The rivalry between the red and blue sides of Manchester is bubbling away at a notable temperature and the final finds itself playing a central role. Continue reading...
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Coco Lodge: ‘I think I’m the most trolled Love Islander for how I look’ (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Show contestant says she did not expect the level of cruel comments about her appearance When Coco Lodge decided to go on Love Island, she knew she was going to be judged on her behaviour. But what she did not expect was the level of trolling and cruel comments she received about her appearance. The 28-year-old graphic designer, who entered the ITV show as a Casa Amor bombshell last year, spent several months reckoning with her time in the Mallorca villa. Continue reading...
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An ‘unbelievable deal’? The $200m mansion reportedly bought by Beyoncé and Jay Z (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
40,000 sq ft manor overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu is thought to be California’s most expensive home ever With its steep green cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Malibu is a top contender in America’s ultra-luxury real estate market. Its rise in the rankings of the favorite spots of the super-rich was solidified again in past weeks, with reports that Beyoncé and Jay-Z purchased a 40,000 sq ft oceanfront mansion in the coastal enclave. TMZ first reported that the star couple had snapped up a modernist mansion designed by the celebrity Japanese architect Tadao Ando. With a sale tag of $200m, the acquisition appears to break the record for the most expensive home in California. Continue reading...
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‘It’s a scary time for us’: Florida Pride organizers on edge amid safety fears (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
As Ron DeSantis attacks LGBTQ+ rights and threats are reported, planned events are canceled Kristina Bozanich knew that this year’s Pride month event in the central Florida town of St Cloud would have to be modified to comply with a new law approved by Governor Ron DeSantis last month. One in a series of bills signed by DeSantis this year that escalated his assault on LGBTQ+ rights, the Protection of Children Act prohibits minors from attending “sexually explicit performances” and authorizes the punishment of businesses that knowingly allow children to attend such events by issuing fines and suspending or revoking their alcohol licenses. The inaugural Pride month event that Bozanich organized in St Cloud last year featured an open-air parade and a drag show performance. This year, the 30-year-old photographer had scheduled a private event on 10 June at a gym that would once again include a drag show and would be open only to adults who had bought tickets in advance. Continue reading...
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‘I’m not used to seeing sex that kinky’: Is The Idol the most shocking TV of the year? (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
It’s undeniably seedy – but is the show a ‘toxic man’s fantasy’, as critics have said? Or is it a candid look at sex today? As 2023’s most controversial series hits our screens, we meets its stars Months before it had even come out, The Idol was the year’s most controversial TV show. In March, Rolling Stone published an exposé featuring anonymous interviews with those working on the Lily-Rose Depp-starring HBO show, who alleged that its producers – megastar musician Abel Tesfaye, AKA the Weeknd, who also plays a lecherous nightclub owner/cult leader called Tedros, and Euphoria’s Sam Levinson – had burned through time and money to make a series “about a man who gets to abuse this woman and she loves it.” Following a pop star named Jocelyn (Depp) as she tries to mount a career comeback after a mental breakdown, The Idol is self-consciously pulpy and undeniably sordid: characters talk about wanting to make “giant fucking big-titted hits”, lock intimacy coordinators in closets, and say over-the-top things such as: “Will you let people enjoy sex, drugs and hot girls? Stop trying to cockblock America.” Depp spends much of the first episode topless, and the series is littered with allusions to contentious cult auteurs such as Paul Verhoeven and Gaspar Noé. When the first two episodes premiered at Cannes earlier this month, critics slammed it as a “toxic man’s fantasy”; for a moment, its Rotten Tomatoes rating was hovering around an almost unheard-of 9% (it now sits at 25%). Continue reading...
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You be the judge: should I change my wedding menu to suit my cousin’s gluten-free diet? (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
One guest wants a special dietary option, but the bride says it’s too late. You decide if that’s a mealy-mouthed excuse Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a You be the judge juror All the details are finalised, after three years of planning – then Akane asks at the last minute I’m not asking for my own specially created menu – just something I can nibble on Continue reading...
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‘There’s spitting, foul language’: the reality of working in a college in badly behaved Britain (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The pandemic shrank the world for many students. Now, anything unfamiliar prompts either anxiety or aggression I started working as a learning support assistant about 12 years ago. I have worked with every age group, from nursery through to people in their 60s, mostly in schools in working-class areas where the progression to higher education is low. Now, I work primarily with adult learners. It has always been challenging work, but I never wanted a job that was driven by profit. Often, our learners have really problematic home lives and we end up being a background support system. We are not experts in this, or even trained, but we help them in whatever way we can. Sometimes, that means providing them with money or food. Sometimes, it’s about listening. Continue reading...
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The hype has gone too far: why Succession’s finale was vastly overrated (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Dodgy plotting, confusing character motivations and the distinct sense that it had fallen in love with itself – the tale of the Roys was good. But not as good as it thought it was There are many things Succession landed right on the jaw. The ranks of writers and executive producers brought with them great experience of many areas central to the show: politics, finance, five-star hospitality and, of course, the media. So no doubt the concept of the day five contrarian hit piece will be familiar to them. I come not to bury Succession – maybe to even praise it a bit – but all the hype around this show has gone too far. On Tuesday morning, after watching Shiv, Ken and Romey zing at one another one final time I felt like that rogue dude in The Lego Movie. Everything about Succession, it seemed, was awesome. Not only that, it was insightful. The characters were multifaceted, many-layered scum that you would also really miss. It was the show that caught the spirit of our time, and all from the perspective of those ambling on to a private jet. Continue reading...
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Not for the first time, Sunak has been hung out to dry by Johnson – how much more can he take? | Jonathan Freedland (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
By giving his WhatsApps to the Covid inquiry, the former PM has revealed Sunak’s reticence for what it really is Boris Johnson will haunt Rishi Sunak till the end. The current prime minister is desperate to put the recent past behind him, to persuade the country that he represents a new government and a fresh start. But every time he steps forward, the last prime minister (but one) sticks out a leg to trip him up. The latest move came this morning, when just hours after the government had announced it would rather go to court than hand over Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks to the Covid inquiry, the former PM himself popped up to say he was “perfectly content” for Lady Heather Hallett and her team to see them, duly sending her a whole lot. Thanks a bunch, Boris. Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
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Biden is America’s oldest president – but tripping over a sandbag tells us nothing | Jill Filipovic (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Age, cognitive health and physical fitness are all fair concerns but the president’s tumble could have happened to anyone It’s a story so benign and unremarkable that it’s embarrassing it’s getting any coverage at all: man trips, falls, stands back up and walks it off. Except, of course, that the man is Joe Biden, who at 80 and seeking re-election is currently competing to be the oldest president in US history. On Thursday, Biden was at the US Air Force Academy graduation ceremony handing out the last diploma when he tripped over a black sandbag. He got back up with a hand from Secret Service agents, and walked himself back to his seat. By all accounts, he was fine. Jill Filipovic is the author of OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind Continue reading...
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Rebecca Hendin on the row over Boris Johnson’s Covid WhatsApps – cartoon (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Boris Johnson has bypassed ministers’ attempts to keep his unredacted messages secret by handing them over directly to the Covid inquiry Continue reading...
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Puzzled by Succession’s finale twist? Shiv’s pregnancy holds the answer | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The physical and emotional storm of pregnancy can dramatically alter the ways we see the world, in many cases irrevocably Pregnant women often dream of death. I know I did, and friends told me the same, though no one talks about it with the level of commiserating jollity that they do the strange cravings or the weirdly enhanced sense of smell or even this awful thing called, apparently, “lightning crotch”. While pregnant, I remember reading about how thin the veil between life and death can feel when you’re pregnant, even in a modern western medical system. In our collective unconscious, pregnancy is still something that can kill us, and in certain places and circumstances still does to this day. For many women, it’s the closest they feel to death in their lifetime. Which isn’t something that is really appropriate to put in a baby shower card. Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist and author Continue reading...
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For a prime minister who phoned it in, Boris Johnson is having a lot of trouble handing over one mobile | Marina Hyde (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Conveniently, the device he used most during the pandemic cannot be switched on due to security reasons Did you see that story about the Indian government official who drained an entire reservoir to retrieve a phone? Amazing that it turned out to be not even the most ludicrous government-phone-retrieval story this week. As you may by now have read, Boris Johnson can’t give the phone he used for most of the pandemic to the Covid inquiry because of security reasons. He says he still has the phone – then again, he says a lot of things. I think the phone has faked its own death and is living in sin beneath the North Sea with Rebekah Vardy’s agent’s phone. Can we drain the North Sea? Keir Starmer could suggest it’s one of the things we should do instead of drilling in it. Continue reading...
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Don’t be fooled – Trump’s presidential run is gaining more and more momentum | Lloyd Green (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Objects in mirror are closer than they appear: Trump is leading the other Republican contenders, and Biden is far from safe The Republican field swells but the 45th president’s commanding lead holds. Like Jeb Bush – another Florida governor and defeated Trump rival – Ron DeSantis has demonstrated himself inadequate to the task. By the numbers, DeSantis trails Trump nationally and in the Sunshine state. DeSantis was born there. Trump only recently moved there. To be the man you gotta beat the man, and right now DeSantis is going nowhere fast. Ill-at-ease and plagued by a pronounced charisma deficit, DeSantis can’t even decide how to pronounce his own surname. He is 44 years old. That’s plenty of time to nail down this personal detail. Continue reading...
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I’m a teacher – and this is why I’m not giving my son a smartphone yet | Lola Okolosie (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The adverse effects on children’s mental health are well known, and pre-teens are too young to safely navigate the internet But everyone has one,” pleads my son as his father and I tell him, for the umpteenth time, that no, he will not get a smartphone. Not now and probably not for a few more years. Despite our firm resolve, it is hard not to feel sorry for him. As the end of year 6 draws closer, the weeks are peppered with stories of new classmates whose parents have, as one friend texted recently, “cracked”. WhatsApp groups are springing up so that friends going to different secondaries can easily keep in touch. It is a world of interaction he will remain ignorant of, but, much though it pains me to see the turmoil it causes, I feel vindicated each time I read about the detrimental impact that smartphones are having on children. One report published earlier this year from the children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, revealed that nearly a third of young people will have viewed pornography by the age of 11. Such content, De Souza clarifies, will not be the equivalent of “top-shelf” material some parents may have viewed in their youth and which today would be considered quaint. It is material in which “depictions of degradation, sexual coercion, aggression and exploitation are commonplace, and disproportionately targeted against teenage girls”. Lola Okolosie is an English teacher and writer focusing on race, politics, education and feminism Continue reading...
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Millennials are a growing electoral force, and their thinking on tax is a gamechanger | Gaby Hinsliff (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Young people are hostile to income redistribution. It’s not because they’re rightwing – they simply pay too much tax already Taxes are the price paid for living in a civilised society. That founding belief in the moral imperative to stump up for the public good lies deep in progressive bones, just as the belief that people should be able to keep more of their own hard-earned cash does for rightwingers. British liberals are so used to arguing that you can’t have lovely, Scandinavian-style public services on American-style taxes that most of us could probably do it in our sleep. Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on broken hospital promises: too little, too late | Editorial (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The latest reshuffle of NHS rebuilding plans does not put right a decade of neglect When the flat roof of Singlewell primary school in Gravesend, Kent, fell in five years ago, there was no sign of structural stress until 24 hours before it gave way. Luckily it happened at the weekend, and no one was hurt. But the incident had far-reaching consequences. The roof was made of RAAC, which stands for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete. This was regularly used instead of normal concrete in public buildings in the UK from the 1960s until the mid-1980s, and its lifespan is at an end. The risk that a hospital ceiling could collapse in a similar way has now led to significant reshaping of the government’s hospital rebuilding plans. An announcement by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, last week set out what these alterations would entail. Five hospitals built from RAAC, in Keighley, King’s Lynn, Huntingdon, Leighton and Surrey, will join the two (West Suffolk and James Paget) that are already on the government’s priority list. All seven projects are to be completed by 2030. Conservative MPs including Michael Gove, who campaigned on behalf of their local hospitals and were thanked by Mr Barclay, will no doubt thank him in return. The increased clarity is overdue and welcome. Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on Manchester: doing things differently again | Editorial (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The first Mancunian FA Cup final is a special moment that comes as the city heads for yet another reinvention “It is the philosopher alone who can conceive the grandeur of Manchester, and the immensity of its future”, wrote Benjamin Disraeli in his 1844 novel Coningsby. The future Tory prime minister could not have foreseen the astonishing goalscoring exploits of Erling Haaland. But a city associated with the industrious bee will certainly be enjoying an immense buzz on Saturday. The first all-Manchester FA Cup final will see a mass Mancunian exodus towards Wembley. Meanwhile, in Manchester’s booming centre, reds and blues will fill bars from Deansgate to Piccadilly. In a city en fête, they will be joined by tens of thousands of music fans in town to see Elton John at the AO Arena, Coldplay at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium and the Arctic Monkeys at the Old Trafford cricket stadium. Continue reading...
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As wars rage, museums and culture become all the more important | Letters (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Dr Mark Liebenrood addresses museum closures, Fergus Nicoll looks at the situation in Sudan, and Blaine Stothard on why it’s vital that cultural institutions retain the past and record the present Charlotte Higgins is right to highlight the straitened circumstances of the UK’s museums (War has shown Ukrainians – and the rest of us – why museums are so important for telling our stories, 27 May), but there are deeper issues in the sector than a lack of cash to modify working practices and maintain displays. The Mapping Museums project at Birkbeck, University of London has shown that more than 800 museums have closed in the UK since 1960. There can be many reasons for museums to close: founders retire, land and buildings are lost when leases cannot be renewed and, yes, reductions in income. But lack of funding is often a result of political choices. It is probably not by chance that the rate of closures has accelerated since 2010 – a period that coincides with austerity policies, with all their ramifications. Continue reading...
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The existential threat from AI – and from humans misusing it | Letters (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Roger Haines writes that there is no evidence of AI sentience, while Prof Paul Huxley recalls Asimov’s laws of robotics, and Phyl Hyde says fears of AI are being overblown Regarding Jonathan Freedland’s article about AI (The future of AI is chilling – humans have to act together to overcome this threat to civilisation, 26 May), isn’t worrying about whether an AI is “sentient” rather like worrying whether a prosthetic limb is “alive”? There isn’t even any evidence that “sentience” is a thing. More likely, like life, it is a bunch of distinct capabilities interacting, and “AI” (ie disembodied artificial intellect) is unlikely to reproduce more than a couple of those capabilities. That’s because it is an attempt to reproduce the function of just a small part of the human brain: more particularly, of the evolutionarily new part. Our motivation to pursue self-interest comes from a billion years of evolution of the old brain, which AI is not based upon. The real threat is from humans misusing AI for their own ends, and from the fact that the mechanisms we have evolved to recognise other creatures with minds like ours are (as Freedland highlighted) too easily fooled by superficial evidence.
Roger Haines
London Continue reading...
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Narrative overload: FA Cup final is a domestic finale ripe with storylines (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Manchester United were the original domestic powerhouse but Manchester City’s modern brand threatens to eclipse them Now for the big series-ender. You have to hand it to the FA Cup. Football’s grand old patrician knockout pot may have grown a little mildewed and liver-spotted with age. But, like some geriatric sovereign stepping out from the shadows and striding the shopfloors one last time, it still knows how to twitch the threads. Saturday’s final at Wembley already looks like that rarest of things, a genuine multilayered epic. At the end of a season that seems to have been going on for at least three years, when so many storylines have faded in and out, fractured by the outage at its centre, here is an end note to the domestic calendar that comes prepacked with fat, wet, impossibly ripe storylines. Power, succession, legacy. A heritage-gold 3pm kick-off. Frankly the Cup hasn’t looked so vital or hip in years. Continue reading...
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Aryna Sabalenka opts out of media duties for sake of her ‘mental health’ (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
‘On Wednesday I did not feel safe in press conferences’ Belarusian world No 2 beats Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2 Aryna Sabalenka opted out of a post-match press conference after her third-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova on Friday following a number of tense exchanges with a Ukrainian reporter about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine after previous rounds here. Players are required to attend post-match press conferences if they are requested by written media, but no time was announced for Sabalenka after she had beaten Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2. Instead, a transcript of her conversation with an unnamed member of staff was released without explanation. It is unclear whether Sabalenka was interviewed by a group of people or only one person. Continue reading...
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Pope hits heavenly new heights with double ton as England pile on the runs (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Only Test, day two: Ireland 172 & 97-3; England 524-4dec Pope hits fastest double century on English soil at Lord’s Ben Stokes had seen enough. Once Ollie Pope was stumped the very next ball after sealing the fastest Test double-century on English soil with a six, the captain called time on an innings as one-sided as Blackadder’s battle of Mboto Gorge and Ireland’s batting lineup was sent back into the bright sunshine at Lord’s. Faced with a deficit of 352 runs, still dizzied by the 524 for four England amassed through Pope’s 208-ball 205 and Ben Duckett’s 182 from 178, the visitors held as firm as they could, reaching 97 for three at stumps. This looks likely to be four down in effect, however, opener James McCollum forced to retire hurt after getting his studs caught in the pitch while evading a short ball and twisting his ankle. Continue reading...
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Frankie Dettori relishes chance to ride Arrest in Epsom Derby swansong (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Veteran jockey did not expect to bow out on a horse with ‘great chance to win the Derby’ Frankie Dettori cannot even recall where he finished in his first Derby in 1992, but the one clear memory he retains from his debut in the Epsom classic underlines the extent to which he is a human bridge to a different age. “The only thing I remember is walking through the Gypsies [in the middle of the course] back in the day,” he said this week. “That was the only time I got to do that. From then on [after the paddock moved], we went all the way round [on the track].” Devotees and historians of the Flat’s most famous race could also point out that it was one of the last to be run on a Wednesday, Lester Piggott was aboard the beaten favourite, Rodrigo De Triano, and Steve Cauthen and Pat Eddery were also among the 21-year-old Dettori’s rivals. And now, more than three decades later, his own time as the name that the once-a-year punters look out for on Derby day is drawing to a close. Continue reading...
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Anthony Taylor caught in José Mourinho’s toxic trail but anger problem runs deeper | Barney Ronay (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The manager got lost in the kind of cynical rage that dominates the digital world, but football should not follow his example “Like Jaws if everyone in Jaws worked for Jaws.” Watching José Mourinho circle the touchline at the Puskas Arena on Wednesday night, giving off that horribly persuasive eau de la haine, it was hard not to be reminded of the words of cousin Greg, Succession’s beanpole idiot savant, describing a similar scene of top-down toxicity. We know that Mourinho energy by now, the toxic theatre, the performative rage, the love of conspiracy and imagined injustice. What does he look like these days, with his perfect shock of white hair, the quicksilver glare? An arms dealer on his way to play golf? A wrongly convicted serial killer who lives in a palazzo and drinks fine wine and turns out at the end of the movie to be a serial killer after all? Some kind of sporting dark lord: wronged football Jesus? Continue reading...
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Faith Kipyegon smashes 1500m world record in Diamond League meeting (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Kenyan wins in 3:49.11 in Florence to eclipse Dibaba’s mark Dina Asher-Smith pulls out of 100m at last minute with cramp Faith Kipyegon set a women’s 1500 metres world record, clocking 3:49.11 at the third Diamond League meeting of the season in Florence on Friday. The Kenyan athlete, winner of the last two Olympic 1500m golds and the 2017 and 2022 world titles, bettered the previous mark of 3:50.07 set by Ethiopia’s Genzebe Dibaba in 2015. Continue reading...
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Casemiro: ‘I’m a realist. Every game is a different story, a different film’ (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The Manchester United midfielder discusses facing City, his friendship with Bruno Fernandes and his first FA Cup final Casemiro has a simple way of shrugging off the spectre of Manchester United’s 6-3 trouncing by Manchester City in October as he prepares for Saturday’s FA Cup final and 190th derby. “Every game is a different story, a different film as we like to say,” says the Brazilian. “You have to be realistic, and I like to be very much a realist. They were better than us in that game. They deserved to beat us but when you talk about a 6-3 in the context of a league, it’s still three points that you get. Continue reading...
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London Irish crisis deepens after HMRC issue winding-up petition against club (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
HMRC’s intervention for an unpaid tax suggests end is nigh Government appoints advisers to aid RFU with financial crisis London Irish have been pushed closer to the brink after being hit with a winding-up petition by HMRC with the government on Friday also appointing two independent advisers in an effort to drag rugby union out of its financial crisis. Irish are expected to be suspended from the Premiership on Tuesday and become the third club in the space of eight months to be kicked out of the league. The chances of the protracted takeover by a US consortium being completed before next Tuesday’s deadline are rated as slim with the Rugby Football Union still awaiting key information from buyers, as it has been for months. The initial deadline was last week but was extended by the RFU primarily to allow for players and staff to be paid May’s wages. Continue reading...
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‘The window is closing’: Cop28 must deliver change of course on climate (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
With six months until UN summit in Dubai, can its oil executive president bring unwilling countries into line? El Niño may push heating past 1.5C but urgent action could avert catastrophe Within the next five years, the world is likely to experience at least one year in which the global average surface temperature exceeds 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. That was the stark prediction of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) this week, in its climate forecast. Straying beyond 1.5C could lead to potentially irreversible effects on the global climate system, scientists have warned, including the collapse of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, the abrupt melting of permafrost, rising sea levels and bleaching coral reefs. For these reasons, the 1.5C limit is at the heart of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which bound countries to hold global temperature rises “well below 2C” and “pursuing efforts” to 1.5C. Continue reading...
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El Niño may push heating past 1.5C but urgent action could avert catastrophe (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Without emissions reductions, in next 10 years 1.5C target may be permanently exceeded ‘The window is closing’: Cop28 must deliver change of course on climate For several years, the world has been in the grip of La Niña, a weather system in the Pacific that tends to bring cooler temperatures around the world. Despite that, there has continued to be strong rises in global surface temperatures, with some of the hottest years on record. This year, the oscillating Pacific weather system will probably turn to its opposite, the warming El Niño. That is likely to turbocharge temperatures, and within the next five years we can expect to see new records set, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). Continue reading...
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‘Climate negotiations are inherently abusive’: campaigner Brianna Craft on the struggle smaller countries face (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
In her memoir, the Cop delegate draws parallels with her violent childhood home and the imbalance of power in global summits When Brianna Craft arrived at her first UN climate conference in 2011, she was 24, optimistic and full of hope, believing that the negotiations were where the crisis would be solved. More than a decade later, her feelings have changed significantly. “Yes, it is the only thing that exists where the poorest countries have a seat at the table,” she says of the annual “conferences of the parties”, or Cops, “but that does not mean it is a good thing, or a right thing, or a just thing”. Continue reading...
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Winners of $1m prize for sustainable city transport announced (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Brazilian city of Fortaleza leads way with its plan to build more than 110 miles of protected cycle routes The winning entries include everything from traditional bike lanes to innovative walk-to-school programmes. Plans were submitted by hundreds of cities across five continents for a new prize that aims to promote sustainable travel – and it seems the appetite for active transport has truly gone global. Ten months after cities around the world were offered the chance to bid for up to $1m (£800,000) to build or expand new cycling and walking schemes, the money has been awarded to designs in Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, New Zealand and Albania, among others. Continue reading...
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Home Office could forcibly separate non-cohabiting couple before their wedding (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Youssef Mikhaiel is at risk of forced removal to Egypt before he marries Sarah Bradley A couple planning to marry soon could be forcibly separated by the Home Office because they are not cohabiting before their wedding. Sarah Bradley, 29, a British digital marketing teacher, and Youssef Mikhaiel, 28, an Egyptian man who graduated from the University of Glasgow with a degree in aeronautical engineering, met in February 2022 through a Christian dating app. Continue reading...
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‘I have brought myself down’: Phillip Schofield says his career is over (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Former This Morning presenter tells BBC he ‘wouldn’t be here’ if daughters had not supported him Phillip Schofield has said his career in television is over after he “brought [himself] down” after lying about his affair with a younger man. The former This Morning presenter, 61, resigned from ITV last week after admitting to his “biggest sorriest secret”, an “unwise but not illegal relationship” with a man who is now in his mid-20s. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
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Police release e-fit of man found dead in wheel bay of Gatwick-bound plane (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Detectives hope to identify man, whose body was found on a Tui flight from the Gambia on 7 December Police have released a digitised image of a man who was found dead in the undercarriage of a plane, as they work to identify him. The man’s body was found on a Tui flight from the Gambia to the UK. His body was discovered at Gatwick airport at about 4am on 7 December, Sussex police said at the time. Continue reading...
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Heathrow security guards expected to announce fresh strikes (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Unite says it will serve notice to airport of fresh round of strikes in long-running pay dispute Fresh strikes by security guards at Heathrow airport are expected to be announced next week. Members of Unite are embroiled in a long-running dispute over pay which has led to previous industrial action. Continue reading...
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Network of geothermal power stations ‘could help level up UK’ (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Many of Britain’s poorest towns are in areas with greatest potential for renewable energy, says report A network of underground geothermal plants is being touted as a way to help level up the UK after a report discovered many areas with the greatest geothermal potential lie beneath the towns and cities most in need of investment. Areas that have been earmarked by the government as part of its levelling up agenda are about three times as likely to be rich in untapped energy from the earth, according to an academic study commissioned by No 10. Continue reading...
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Elan Closs Stephens appointed acting chair of BBC (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Corporation board member to assume role from 27 June after resignation of Richard Sharp UK politics live – latest updates Prof Dame Elan Closs Stephens, a politically neutral expert on broadcasting regulation, has been appointed as the acting chair of the BBC after the Conservative donor Richard Sharp resigned from the position over a perceived conflict of interest in a secret loan arrangement for Boris Johnson. Sharp stepped down as chair of the corporation in April, after being found to have broken rules by failing to disclose at the time of his appointment that he played a role in helping the then Tory prime minister secure a potential £800,000 loan guarantee. Continue reading...
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Black Belfast girl threatened after telling of unease over Of Mice and Men (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Police informed Angel Mhande’s family of threat after her call for novel to be dropped from GCSE course A Black teenager in Northern Ireland has been threatened after calling for the removal of John Steinbeck’s 1937 novel Of Mice and Men from the GCSE curriculum. Police visited the Belfast home of Angel Mhande this week to notify her of the threat, prompting the family to take security measures. Continue reading...
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Lucy Letby denies ‘getting a thrill’ from alleged baby murders (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Prosecutor reminds jury that Child I’s mother recalls nurse ‘smiling’ moments after baby’s death Lucy Letby has denied “getting a thrill” from the “grief and despair” of parents whose babies she allegedly murdered. The nurse was being questioned about the alleged murder of a baby girl, Child I, who she is accused of fatally injecting with air in October 2015. Continue reading...
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Parents say baby’s sepsis death in Portugal ‘has destroyed all of us’ (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Deza Powell and Paul Larochelle criticise authorities for delays in transferring Adonis to an ICU The parents of a 10-month-old baby who died on holiday in Portugal have said their lives have been destroyed. Deza Powell and Paul Larochelle said they wanted answers from the Portuguese authorities after their son, Adonis, died of sepsis on 19 May, 48 hours after he was first treated in hospital. Continue reading...
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‘Once in a lifetime’: top chefs team up for £633 ‘four hands’ banquet in London (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Michelin-starred Wolfgang Puck and Alain Ducasse join forces to create one-off ‘last supper’ for diners at Park Lane hotel For the super-rich, it appears, one world-famous Michelin-starred chef is no longer quite enough to make a memorable meal. Wealthy gastronomes are increasingly asking high-end restaurants and hotels to host so-called “four hands” dinners in which pairs of renowned chefs team up to create collaborative set-course meals. Next Wednesday, 60 diners will sit down to a “glorious four-hands banquet” created by the pioneering French chef Alain Ducasse in partnership with Wolfgang Puck, an Austrian-American cook who has hosted the official Oscars after-party dinner for the past 29 years, at a five-star hotel on London’s Park Lane. Together, they hold 23 Michelin stars. Continue reading...
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Macron and Scholz urge Kosovo to hold fresh elections to ease Serbia tensions (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Serbian and Kosovan leaders invited to impromptu talks in Moldova after unrest over polls boycotted by Serbs Kosovo has been urged to hold new elections in the north of the country to de-escalate tensions with Serbia, after an intervention by Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron. The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo were invited to impromptu talks at the close of a summit of 46 European leaders in Moldova on Thursday evening. Continue reading...
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Joe Biden to address nation but delays debt ceiling bill signing; White House press secretary addresses president’s fall – live (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
US president will make remarks at 7pm ET but won’t sign bill before Saturday; Karine Jean-Pierre confirms Biden didn’t need a doctor Here’s more on how the debt ceiling crisis will impact the US’s credit rating, from the Guardian’s Joan E Greve. The US is not yet out of the woods on a potential credit downgrade, even though Joe Biden is scheduled to sign the debt ceiling bill tonight to avert a federal default. Continue reading...
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US air quality as far south as Virginia affected by Nova Scotia wildfires (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
National Weather Service issues air quality alert for Richmond while Maryland, Pennsylvania and other states affected The historically intense wildfires that battered the Nova Scotia province on the eastern coast of Canada have had a severe effect on air quality as far south as Virginia and Maryland, the US National Weather Service alerted. Four wildfires have destroyed hundreds of buildings and homes and displaced tens of thousands of people, hitting the Halifax municipality hardest. But the blazes have also sent smoke billowing over New York City, and have prompted officials from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia to report negative effects on their air quality. Continue reading...
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Texas woman dies of infection linked to cosmetic surgery in Mexico (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Family says Lauren Brooke Robinson, who reportedly contracted fungal meningitis, began to feel ill months after February surgery A Texas woman has died after contracting fungal meningitis in an outbreak that has been linked to a cosmetic procedure performed in Mexico. Lauren Brooke Robinson, 29, died Wednesday from a fungal meningitis infection after receiving cosmetic surgery in Mexico, the local TV news station KBMT reported. Continue reading...
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Breast cancer drug cuts risk of most common form returning by 25% (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Trial results presented at US oncology conference suggest ribociclib could be gamechanging and boost survival rate significantly Thousands of women with the world’s most common form of breast cancer could benefit from a blockbuster drug that helps them live longer and cuts the risk of the disease returning by a quarter. More than 2 million people globally are diagnosed each year with the disease, which is the world’s most prevalent cancer. Although treatments have improved in recent decades, many patients will later experience the cancer returning. If a recurrence does occur, it is often at a more advanced stage. Continue reading...
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Mastermind of assassination of Haiti president sentenced to life by US court (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian-Chilean businessman, conspired with Colombian mercenaries, to kill Jovenel Moïse in 2021 A mastermind of the assassination of Haiti’s President Jovenel Moïse two years ago has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a federal court judge in Florida. Rodolphe Jaar, a Haitian-Chilean businessman, conspired with a group of Colombian mercenaries to murder Moïse at his home in Port-au-Prince on 7 July 2021. Prosecutors at his sentencing hearing in Miami said Jaar obtained the weapons used in the “commando-style” attack that killed Moïse, 53, and seriously injured his wife. Continue reading...
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Nova Scotia hopes forecast rain will help contain largest wildfire on record (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Huge Barrington Lake fire now considered province’s largest wildfire but wet weather expected from Friday into next week Rain on Friday and a rainy forecast for the weekend have fire officials hopeful they can get the largest wildfire ever recorded in Canada’s Atlantic coast province of Nova Scotia under control. That wildfire and three others in the province have prompted air quality warnings in US regions as far south as Virginia and Maryland. Continue reading...
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Scientists discover mysterious cosmic threads in Milky Way (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Horizontal structures, up to 10 light years in length, appear to point in direction of galaxy’s black hole Astronomers have discovered hundreds of mysterious cosmic threads that point towards the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way, after a survey of the galaxy. The strange filaments, each of which stretches five to 10 light years through space, resemble the dots and dashes of morse code on a vast scale. They spread out from the galactic centre 25,000 light years from Earth like fragmented spokes on an enormous wheel. Continue reading...
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Joe Biden hails ‘big win’ as bipartisan debt ceiling bill reaches his desk (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Compromise package to suspend debt ceiling passed US Senate late on Thursday with 63 votes to 36 The bipartisan bill to solve the US debt ceiling crisis just days before a catastrophic and unprecedented default was on its way to Joe Biden’s desk on Friday as the US president prepared to address the nation and hailed “a big win for our economy and the American people”. The compromise package negotiated between Biden and the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, passed the US Senate late on Thursday. Continue reading...
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California woman finds foot-long ancient mastodon tooth on beach (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Fossil vanished shortly afterwards and was found again after a social media callout and donated to museum in Santa Cruz A woman taking a Memorial Day weekend stroll on a California beach found something unusual sticking out of the sand: a tooth from an ancient mastodon. But then the fossil vanished, and it took a media blitz and a kind-hearted jogger to find it again. Continue reading...
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US deal could plug Turkmenistan’s colossal methane emissions (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The central Asian country has the worst rate of climate-heating ‘super-emitter’ events in the world The US is in negotiations with Turkmenistan over an agreement to plug the central Asian nation’s colossal methane leaks. Turkmenistan was responsible for 184 “super-emitter” events in which the powerful greenhouse gas was released in 2022, the highest number in the world. One caused climate pollution equivalent to the rate of emissions from 67m cars. Continue reading...
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Gay best friend: a history of Hollywood’s favourite queer character (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
What’s often been a patronising and reductive archetype is given depth in a new season of films in time for Pride month Before the gay best friend could be phased out, he had to come out. Today, those three short words tend to denote the most confining limitations to queer characters in film, a trope and archetype designed to keep homosexuality on the sidelines, adjacent to the more palatable lives and loves of straight people. For a time, however, sassy support was about the best representation queer people could hope for on screen, even if it required some code-reading on the viewer’s part. In Code-era Hollywood, ascribing a sexuality at all to the waspish single man commenting on, or even assisting in, the protagonists’ own entanglement would have been a detail too far. He had a name, a role, a handful of good lines. What more could he want – an identity? Curated by the critic Michael Koresky, a mini-season of films on the Criterion Channel in June affords some depth and dignity to a character often demeaned as a patronising relic of now-outdated prejudices – even as it persists in film and TV today. Koresky’s selection delves beyond the romantic comedy realm where the trope made its most enduring impression, and into the realist dramas, psycho-thrillers and unclassifiable art films (Irma Vep, most unexpectedly) through which the gay best friend has evolved from a type to a human being. Continue reading...
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The end has no end: why Hollywood should stop splitting movies into two (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is hampered by a greedy insistence on cutting franchise movies in half, a trend that shows no sign of going away There’s plenty to be said for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the sequel to the superhero picture that put itself a cut above the great spandex deluge by inventively, faithfully emulating the whiz-bang excitement of reading actual comic books as a kid. Like its 2018 predecessor, the newly released follow-up genuflects to its splashy source medium as it pushes the boundaries of animation, mashing up styles and textures into a free-associative, hyperkinetic torrent of psychedelic lines and color. The everything-at-once maximalist aesthetic befits a premise that explodes the wall between text and metatext with its setting in a multiverse of overlapping narratives, a pileup of Marvel-branded continuities. And yet for all its cleverness in conception and design, the overall quotient of pound-for-pound entertainment has slipped in a difficult-to-pinpoint way. Where the last installment slingshotted its audience through a taut, rewarding and complete remix of Spidey mythology, this one – which clocks in well past the two-hour mark – lags behind its own allegro rhythm, sluggish as Miles Morales weightlessly web-slings through a bustling Manhattan. Continue reading...
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‘I want it to feel quite feral’: Rebecca Frecknall on staging Romeo and Juliet (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
From Cabaret to Streetcar, the West End’s hottest director has a reputation for finding leads who put bums on seats. ‘I just go on my gut,’ she says How do you tell a story to an audience who already intimately know the ending? As a teenager, Rebecca Frecknall remembers watching Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet with her sister. They both knew the grim fate rocketing towards its young star-cross’d lovers, but as Claire Danes reached for the gun, Frecknall’s sister let out an involuntary, “Oh no!” “Even though she knew it was going to happen,” Frecknall says with a soft smile, “she managed to get to a place where it still took her by surprise.” It is this sort of stomach lurch that Frecknall is seeking as she directs Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy at London’s Almeida theatre this summer, starring Toheeb Jimoh and Isis Hainsworth. “I’m interested in the forward momentum of it,” Frecknall says during a lunch break in rehearsals, sitting next to a pile of recently snuffed-out candles that the stage managers have been testing, “how it just rolls down a hill towards its doom. But that’s also the challenge of this play. You’re always in conversation with the ending.” Continue reading...
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Author Ama Ata Aidoo, ‘an inspiration to feminists everywhere’, dies aged 81 (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The Ghanaian playwright and novelist, who also served as her country’s education minister, focused on the modern African woman The Ghanaian writer and academic Ama Ata Aidoo, whose work focused on the modern African woman, has died aged 81. Ata Aidoo, whose fans included Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, rejected the idea of what she described as a “western perception that the African female is a downtrodden wretch”, said the BBC. Continue reading...
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The feelin’ was right: how the Bee Gees ruled late 70s pop (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Their Saturday Night Fever soundtrack commanded the charts, but beyond that, notes Bob Stanley in an extract from his new book, their golden touch was audible everywhere from Grease to Sesame Street Disco could be a heavy, unctuous perfume. There were reasons people hated it, and they weren’t all homophobic or racist. On the chart in 1977 was La Belle Epoque’s version of the German/Spanish 60s hit Black Is Black. Originally it had been a hit for another act with a tempting European name, Los Bravos. This 1966 version had been a thing of slab density, a three-note organ riff with a Charlie Watts clone’s monotone drumming keeping it simple as can be, and an unreal human voice, half-crow, telling the world “black is black, I want my baby back.” It sounded like the Stones fed through a telex precursor of Google Translate. It had been perfect – pop as monolithic simplicity. La Belle Epoque’s 1977 version added every imaginable bauble, it went “whooooo!!” on the beat. Musicians who longed to be in James Last’s orchestra played with funkless fingers behind girls who cooed unconvincing come-ons. This version of Black Is Black was a fug, like the ground floor of a department store, a dozen different perfumes hitting you at the same time, far too busy, forced fun, nauseating. The Bee Gees’ Night Fever was not that dense, liquid perfume that made you feel slightly sick. This was not the sound of too much air freshener. This was air itself. Night-time air. The city. The song, taken from the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, also transmitted a feeling of nervousness; there was sweetness and there was fear. Continue reading...
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Caster Semenya to publish ‘unflinching’ memoir with Stormzy’s #Merky Books (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
In The Race to Be Myself, the Olympian athlete will detail her battle for permission to compete as a woman with hyperandrogenism Stormzy’s #Merky Books is to publish Olympian Caster Semenya’s memoir this year. South African athlete Semenya, whose book is titled The Race to Be Myself, was just 18 when she won the 800m at the Berlin World Championships in 2009, but her win was quickly overshadowed by questions raised about her sex. Continue reading...
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Crack the code: what common intellectual property symbols mean (Fri, 21 Apr 2023)
Understanding what intellectual property symbols mean is vital for businesses that want to secure the best protection for their most valuable assets – from names to brands and flagship products We see them everywhere, on soft drinks and cereal boxes, in music videos and banking apps: ™, ®, © and more. But what are they, and what do they actually mean? Intellectual property (IP) symbols crop up so often in adverts and on packaging that most of us barely take notice of their legal significance. But if you’re a business, failing to understand their importance can be an expensive mistake or a humbling missed opportunity. Picking the right IP symbol Some of the most prominent IP symbols seen on products, company signage and on marketing materials include: Continue reading...
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Fight the fakes: four ways to protect your business from intellectual property infringement (Fri, 21 Apr 2023)
Intellectual property wrongdoing can be costly to businesses. So what can companies do to avoid IP infringement in their supply chains? Oscar Wilde got it wrong. Imitation isn’t the sincerest form of flattery – at least when it comes to your business partners. When your supplier starts to make a knock-off version of your flagship product, the betrayal can hurt almost as much as the lost revenue. For a growing number of businesses, having somebody copy their products can cause reputational damage and potentially cost their bottom line. Just ask Brompton Bikes, whose managing director, Will Butler-Adams, recently spoke of its “war of attrition” against copycats producing cheaper lookalikes of its famous folding bicycles. Or maybe James Dyson, of vacuum cleaner fame, who has condemned the “treachery” of brands that try to replicate devices that are the result of years of innovation. Continue reading...
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The green technology patent boom – what’s driving it and how can businesses benefit from it? (Fri, 21 Apr 2023)
On the journey to net zero, companies are seeking to invest in a future that’s not only profitable but sustainable and climate resilient too From the rollout of huge wind turbines and sleek electric vehicles, to the growing popularity of business practices focused on the environment and net zero, it’s clear that the planet is in the midst of a sustainability driven transition. Today, the market for green technologies is estimated to be at $61bn (£49bn) and is expected to increase to $417bn (£337bn) by 2030. But this incredible growth would be in jeopardy if companies, inventors, researchers and designers were not confident that their time and money was spent well. Protecting and promoting this creative surge is the (almost) intangible ecosystem of intellectual property (IP). Continue reading...
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The life of a patent: from inception to approval, here’s everything you need to know (Fri, 21 Apr 2023)
Patents can help protect your invention by stopping others from copying your hard work – but how do you go about acquiring one? Imagine this: you’ve designed a self-buttering toaster, an ingenious invention that can butter 100 slices of bread in 30 seconds flat. Everyone from chefs to sandwich makers and lunchbox-packing parents will love it; the gizmo is set to revolutionise kitchens across the globe. But how do you stop others from cashing in on your idea by building an identical device? You patent it, of course. A written description. A clear outline of the technical features and operation (known as the “claims”). Explanatory drawings or blueprints. Continue reading...
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How to get the quiet luxury look without the vulgar price tag | Jess Cartner-Morley on fashion (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
A well-ironed white T-shirt tucked into dark jeans hits the right understated note – and there’s no need to pay through the nose for it You will have heard, by now, about “quiet luxury”, which has (quietly) established itself as the dominant aesthetic* of 2023. (*Explainer: we don’t say “trend” any more. Aesthetic sounds a bit less … basic? Capitalist? But to be clear, in a fashion context it means pretty much the same thing.) Quiet luxury is Gwyneth Paltrow defending her right to ski – something like that, the details elude me – cocooned in a creamy merino knit from The Row that costs more than a grand. (Like, how rich do you have to be to spend that on a sweater that isn’t even cashmere?) Quiet luxury is the subtle flex of Kendall Roy in an unbranded black baseball cap from Italian luxury house Loro Piana and Tom Ford sneakers. It is Mark Zuckerberg in his signature charcoal-grey T-shirt, which he orders from Brunello Cucinelli in Milan instead of buying from Gap. Continue reading...
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‘The air tasted of salty joy, fat seals basking nearby’: readers’ favourite coastal walks in UK and Europe (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
From the shimmering Hebrides to Brittany’s enchanted rockpools, our readers share the highlights of their shoreline strolls The Fisherman’s Trail in south Portugal is magical. We started from Porto Covo and ended in Lagos, walking 140 miles in 12 days, staying overnight in rustic villages, cobblestoned towns and surfer spots. Those short of time can walk a smaller section of the trail. The walk has breathtaking views, rugged cliffs, wild beaches with crystal-clear waters, pine forests, vineyards, and meadows of wild flowers. Lots of wildlife can be spotted – lizards, storks, cormorants and countless other birds – and the wine and seafood in the restaurants along the way is a treat. Miana Continue reading...
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My boyfriend threatens to leave me if I see my friends or my family. What shall I do? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
He is being abusive and in the UK this sort of behaviour – coercive control – is a crime I met my current boyfriend a year ago, when I moved to his country for work. But I feel I’m going crazy and I don’t know what to do. One month after meeting each other he had already said he loved me. One time, I told him I was meeting an old (male) friend for a drink and he gave me an ultimatum: if I met him, he would break up with me. He has gone through my phone multiple times and has said he doesn’t want me to meet my best girlfriend because he says she’s disrespectful. He has said he doesn’t want me to go out later than a certain time in the afternoon (I don’t go out much anyway). He has said he hates my dog and has given me an ultimatum: him or the dog. He has said he’d come with me to meet my family but cancelled at the last minute. Continue reading...
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Homies on Donkeys, London E11: ‘Astonishingly good’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Vibrant and nonconformist, this Mexican taqueria is the area’s most exciting new opening for a while There is no cutlery at Homies on Donkeys, a taqueria in Leytonstone, east London, that is run by Sandra Bello and chef Erik “Smokey” Bautista. “No cutlery, no exceptions, we got napkins, get messy,” it says on the single-sheet menu, alongside descriptions of their abundantly stacked tacos filled with reverse-braised bavette or confit pork with dripping, wobbling amounts of jalapeño relish. This fork-free zone will come as a relief to some informal diners, who find all those butter knives, dessert spoons, cheese scoops and grape shears a bit bamboozling. It may, however, dismay anyone wearing a non-wipeable fabric such as cashmere. Homies on Donkeys is more of a sou’wester kind of place, with added salsa verde and chipotle on your chin when you pay the bill. It’s also a place for people who like 1990s hip-hop, graffiti-strewn walls and the sensation of eating in a suburban skate park: Naughty By Nature, Main Source, Gang Starr and Grand Puba blare from the stereo as I sit at a table that is absolutely nowhere near big enough for all the tacos, large plates, sides and drinks that we’ve ordered; we’re also wedged in next to the till, where the servers are constantly ringing in orders. While the seating may not be ideal, the soundscape just about makes up for it. This isn’t a 90s-themed restaurant, but if you’re of a certain age, remember the Beastie Boys back when they were gobby kids, videoed Dance Energy with Normski on BBC Two or ever got grounded for tagging your neighbour’s garage, this place is like sensory whiplash with tacos on top. Continue reading...
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‘Trying to get a bank spot is crazy as it’s become so popular’ - how gen Z got hooked on urban fishing (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Exhilarating, active, and doable in a lunch hour, urban fishing is booming among young people. Meet the new breed of anglers shaking up the banks Graffiti, discarded beer cans, shouts from drunk punters spilling out of nearby bars … Few would describe Camden Lock as an angler’s paradise. But it’s on this stretch of London canal, far from the burbling chalk streams and tranquil ponds of the British countryside, where 22-year-old Tom Lloyd likes to fish. He’s been angling all over central London since he was a teenager. He first picked up a rod on a trip with a friend to Waltham Abbey in Essex, but quickly discovered he could fish far closer to home: “You can be in the middle of this urban setting with drunk people and beer bottles, but you’re just there catching fish with your headphones on,” he says. Street fishing, also referred to as urban fishing, lure fishing or predator fishing, is a growing sport attracting a new, younger breed of angler. It is at its biggest in mainland Europe, especially Paris where an underground culture of millennial and gen Z anglers from all backgrounds is taking over the banks of the Seine. (When one of the movement’s pioneers, Fred Miessner, died suddenly last year in a car crash, hundreds of French youth turned out for a fishing vigil.) Continue reading...
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‘Don’t panic, it just comes naturally’: becoming a father in later life (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Al Pacino is expecting a child at 83 – what is family life like for older dads and their children? Lawrence Zeegen hadn’t planned on becoming a father again in his 50s. The illustration professor already had three children from a previous marriage. But when his second wife, Rebecca, who was 43 at the time, made it clear she planned to be a mother, he soon learned that “changing nappies is a lot like riding a bike – you never forget how to do it”. His daughter, Zöe, who is now seven, was conceived using an egg donor. Zeegen, who is 59 and from Cambridge, says he is delighted that he went against “all rational thinking” to become a dad again – but notes that parenting is different when approaching 60. “I have a little less energy than I did at 27 with my first-born. I’m pretty active and look after myself – I want to be around for as much of my daughter’s adult life as possible.” Continue reading...
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Deadly riots in Senegal after conviction of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko – video report (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Supporters of the presidential candidate Ousmane Sonko have clashed with police in Dakar, throwing stones and setting vehicles alight, resulting in the death of at least nine people. Protests broke out soon after Sonko was sentenced to two years in prison for 'corrupting youth', an offence that includes having sexual relations with people under the age of 21. He was acquitted on charges of raping a woman and making death threats against her. Sonko's supporters say his legal troubles are a part of a government effort to derail his candidacy in the 2024 election. According to his legal team, the conviction will bar him from running Continue reading...
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'Every man is struggling': the rising mental health crisis as UK gets poorer (Tue, 30 May 2023)
The north-east has suffered decades of industrial decline and a devastating cost of living crisis, which men say is having a detrimental impact on their mental health. Video producers Maeve Shearlaw and Christopher Cherry follow Earl John Charlton, who is using his experience of homelessness and drug addiction to get other men to open up. From walk and talks to open mic nights, amid the reality of working in a declining industry, he tells men in his community that it’s OK not to be OK The women on a 'war footing' as the cost of living crisis deepens Mould, cold and a community hub offering hope in the cost of living crisis In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international suicide helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
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Iran protests: 'My cousin was executed by the regime. The world must act' – video (Fri, 26 May 2023)
When Mohammad Hashemi woke up this time last week, he was told that his cousin Majid Kazemi had been executed along with Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaqoubi. The Iranian regime had claimed three men were responsible for the deaths of three members of the security forces during anti-government protests in November. Immediately after their execution, state media reran video posts of what were presented as the mens’ confessions, which Amnesty International said had been extracted by torture. Speaking to the Guardian from Sydney, Hashemi said his cousin was tormented by interrogators. Kazemi was also allegedly subjected to mock executions at least 15 times and reportedly shown a video of one of his brothers being tortured. In an audio message recorded inside Dastgerd prison, Kazemi said: 'I swear to God I am innocent. I didn’t have any weapons on me. [Security forces] kept beating me and ordering me to say this weapon is mine … I told them I would say whatever they wanted, just please leave my family alone.' More than 220 people have been executed in Iran this year, the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said recently. At least 582 people were executed in 2022, the highest number since 2015, according to activists. Continue reading...
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Scoops that made a difference: revisiting the big stories Guardian Australia broke – video (Thu, 25 May 2023)
For 10 years Guardian Australia has pursued the facts, uncovered injustice, exposed misinformation and held those in power to account. To celebrate this milestone, editor Lenore Taylor and Guardian Australia journalists revisit the biggest stories and the impact they made on the Australian media and political landscape. From breaking the Indonesian spying saga in the publication's early days, to uncovering leaked reports from the offshore detention centre on Nauru, and investigations that revealed shocking statistics about the treatment of Indigenous Australians, Guardian Australia has relentlessly sought to reveal the truth thanks to the support of its readers. ► Subscribe to Guardian Australia on YouTube Lenore Taylor: Guardian Australia launched in a spirit of hope and determination. Ten years later we’re going from strength to strength Watch Guardian Australia's 10th birthday celebrations – live stream Ten years of Guardian Australia’s most impactful journalism Watch Guardian Australia’s 10th birthday celebrations – video How the Guardian shaped (and shook) Australian media – Full Story Continue reading...
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A will to win: how Manchester City won fifth Premier League in six years – video explainer (Sat, 20 May 2023)
Jamie Jackson reflects on a third Premier League title in a row for Pep Guardiola's team and how they turned the race with Arsenal around Manchester City win Premier League title for fifth time in six seasons Continue reading...
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The forgotten earthquake survivors that could decide Erdogan’s fate – video (Fri, 12 May 2023)
As voters in Turkey prepare to go to the polls, anger over the government's response to the earthquakes in February is widespread. More than 50,000 people have died and millions more displaced. But its effects have been felt in a region that has already experienced years of discrimination under President Erdoğan. Kurds are the biggest ethnic minority in Turkey, making up 15-20% of the population, but have had an increasingly fractured and marginalised relationship with the government. After decades of violence, it could be their vote that seals Erdoğan’s political fate. The Guardian's video team joined Yeter Erel Tuma who works with children living in a Kurdish majority province. She has witnessed the civil unrest impacting families here, and now volunteers bringing aid to those devastated by the earthquakes. Continue reading...
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Scavengers, miners, and climate activists: can Poland ditch coal? – video (Tue, 16 May 2023)
Poland has a deep and historic relationship with coal, importing huge amounts despite producing yet more locally. With the energy crisis biting, fuelled by the war in Ukraine, the country’s government withdrew restrictions on burning materials and subsidised coal, creating huge air quality issues, particularly in the industrial south – reversing 10 years of hard work by air pollution campaigners in the process. The Guardian visits southern Poland to witness first hand the impact of this decision on affected communities, meeting the ostracised miners at the front of the culture wars, and joining climate activists visiting towns in the region that are fighting back against fossil fuels and air pollution Continue reading...
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The women on a 'war footing' as the cost of living crisis deepens – video (Tue, 06 Dec 2022)
'People are rationing, it's ridiculous,' says Louise, a co-founder of a community project in Shiremoor, North Tyneside. The Guardian's Maeve Shearlaw and Christopher Cherry went to meet the women who have begun work on transforming a crumbling building into a women-focused support centre in the area that has the highest rate of child poverty in the UK. Louise says it is often women who bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis and every day they are seeing people in need – whether it's asking for period products, help with heating bills or just a warm space to have a cuppa and some company  You can donate to Support and Grow (a registered charity) here Continue reading...
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Tell us: how is the UK’s rising cost of living affecting your options in life? (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
We want to hear about the difficult life decisions people in the UK are making As the rising cost of living in the UK continues to squeeze people’s existences, we want to hear about the difficult life choices you are making. Whether it’s a decision about starting a family, pursuing education, moving to a new job, place or home, tell us about how the country’s economic situation is affecting the options in life available to you. Continue reading...
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Young people in the UK: is AI affecting your career choices? (Tue, 16 May 2023)
We want to hear about how the development of AI is impacting young people’s ideas about work Many workers fear AI could replace them, and with good reason: earlier this year, investment bank Goldman Sachs claimed that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs in US and Europe, though it suggested losses could be offset by the creation of new occupations. We want to hear about how these developments are affecting how young people view their future job prospects. Continue reading...
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Tell us: will you apply for an 100% mortgage in the UK? (Wed, 10 May 2023)
We are interested in speaking to prospective homeowners about applying for a no-deposit mortgage A leading UK lender will launch an 100% mortgage for those unable to save for a deposit, the first since the 2008 financial crisis. Borrowers will need to demonstrate a history of paying rent comparable to mortgage repayments for up to two years to qualify for the loan from Skipton Building Society. Continue reading...
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UK parents: what is behind the rise in school absences? (Wed, 24 May 2023)
We want to speak to parents whose children are off school more often than before the pandemic Increased anxiety and lack of mental health support are behind a sharp rise in school absences since the Covid pandemic, according to councils in England. School absence rates across the UK are significantly higher than they were pre-pandemic. We want to hear from parents in the UK with children in primary or secondary school about the reasons for this rise. In your experience, what has changed? How often are you or your child off school? Do you do half day or partial days? What is driving this? Is the rising cost of living playing a role, and if so, how? Continue reading...
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Is Manchester City’s dominance of English football fair? – podcast (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Manchester City have added this season’s Premier League title to their collection of honours and are favourites to win the FA Cup and the Champions League. But are they playing fair? Jonathan Liew reports This weekend Manchester City will contest the FA Cup final with Manchester United at Wembley. It’s the first time the two rivals have ever met in the final and represents the past and present of English football dominance. For years Manchester United were the all-powerful force, now it is Manchester City. As Jonathan Liew tells Michael Safi, the transformation of Manchester City, from perennial also-rans to the most powerful club in the country, has been achieved in just 15 years. That current dominance can be traced to one crucial moment: the takeover of the club by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan of the Abu Dhabi royal family. The millions of pounds ploughed into the club have bought not just the best players but the best coach, the best medical staff, backroom analysers, scouts – and lawyers. Continue reading...
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Sofas, smiles – and scandal: what’s going on at ITV’s This Morning? – podcast (Thu, 01 Jun 2023)
It’s been a fixture on British TV screens for decades – as has one of its hosts, Phillip Schofield. But now This Morning is in turmoil after he admitted to an ‘unwise, but not illegal’ workplace relationship Daytime TV is supposed to be sunny, lighthearted and varied, and for decades ITV’s This Morning won awards for fulfilling that role. At the heart of its award-winning success, at least for the past 14 years, were Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. TV critic Scott Bryan tells Nosheen Iqbal how they were seemingly the perfect double act to interview everyone from prime ministers to grieving parents from the This Morning sofa. Yet recently tabloid newspapers began reporting that their much-vaunted friendship was under strain and hinting at a darker reason than the usual TV ego clash. The rumours reached a fever pitch before Schofield, 61, eventually resigned. The former children’s TV presenter later released a statement admitting to an “unwise but not illegal” affair with a much younger, much more junior colleague. Continue reading...
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Tracking down Ukraine’s abducted children | podcast (Wed, 31 May 2023)
How did tens of thousands of Ukrainian children end up in Russian re-education camps? Peter Beaumont reports Ukrainian officials say 16,000 children have been deported from Ukraine to Russia, but some estimates are much higher. In March, the international criminal court issued arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and Russia’s children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, alleging they were responsible for the “war crime of unlawful deportation” of children. Continue reading...
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Revealed: The secret push to bury a weedkiller’s link to Parkinson’s disease (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Internal documents from chemical giant Syngenta reveal tactics to sponsor sympathetic scientific papers and mislead regulators about unfavorable research The global chemical giant Syngenta has sought to secretly influence scientific research regarding links between its top-selling weedkiller and Parkinson’s, internal corporate documents show. While numerous independent researchers have determined that the weedkiller, paraquat, can cause neurological changes that are hallmarks of Parkinson’s, Syngenta has always maintained that the evidence linking paraquat to Parkinson’s disease is “fragmentary” and “inconclusive”. Continue reading...
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Harry v the Mirror: what will happen when prince enters the witness box? (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Duke of Sussex to accuse journalists of phone hacking but publisher will in turn try to cast doubt on royal’s evidence When Prince Harry gives evidence in the Mirror phone-hacking trial on Tuesday, he will become the first senior royal to be cross-examined in court since the 19th century. Based on what happened earlier in the trial, it is unlikely the prince will enjoy the experience. Harry will allege that journalists at the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People used illegal methods including phone hacking to obtain stories about him. Mirror Group Newspapers will try to cast doubt on Harry’s evidence, his reliability and why he waited so long to bring the case. Continue reading...
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Lake Maggiore deaths: why were Italian and Israeli secret service agents on a boat in northern Italy? (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Four died after a vessel carrying 21 passengers – all with links to Italian and Israeli intelligence – capsized, and speculation is growing about the nature of the trip It reads like a pitch for a thriller. A group of tourists board a boat on a beautiful lake at the foot of the Alps. The boat capsizes in a sudden storm. Four drown as others swim to safety. In the days that follow, as authorities struggle to trace hotel bookings for the passengers, it emerges all were affiliated with the Italian and Israeli secret services. Continue reading...
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‘Khartoum was lit with savage fire’: five Sudanese writers on the country’s nightmare conflict (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
As lives are lost, families separated and cultural institutions destroyed, female authors, artists and activists speak of their anger, fear and grief as war rages in their homeland When the fighting first started in Khartoum, I hid from the news. I did not want it to hijack my life and inflame the homesickness that crippled my early years in Scotland and nearly ruined my marriage. Continue reading...
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The right Covid response? How countries outside UK are also under scrutiny (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
From Sweden to the US, the handling of the pandemic has been questioned. In some cases criminal proceedings are under way Britain’s public Covid-19 inquiry, led by the retired judge Heather Hallett, is far from the first independent commission in the world to begin examining a country’s experience confronting the pandemic. Their formats, mandates – and their progress – vary widely according to systems and traditions, but their task is essentially the same: to assess preparedness, make a record of decision-making, review government responses and learn lessons for the future. Continue reading...
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Usual lies but the big one is missing: key takeaways from the Trump-Fox town hall (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Network edits out baseless claims about ‘stolen’ 2020 election, which could have provoked further lawsuits Fox News hosted a town hall event in Iowa with Donald Trump on Thursday night, allowing the president to repeat his well-worn grievances and lies. But remarkably, the pre-taped hour-long prime-time special hosted by Sean Hannity excluded any mention of Trump’s conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The first installment of the broadcast came just two weeks after CNN broadcast a chaotic, lie-laden town hall with the former president that has been harshly criticised by journalists within and outside the network. 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 to House to Home: our free interiors email (Wed, 28 Sep 2022)
Upgrade your space today, with eight emails packed with tips to brighten up your home - whatever your budget Embrace your space: the Guardian’s House to Home newsletter is bursting with tips and tricks to help you boost your bedroom and give your living room some love. Sign up any time, and get eight emails direct to your inbox every Sunday morning. Continue reading...
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Sign up for Word of Mouth: the best of Guardian Food every week (Tue, 09 Jul 2019)
A weekly email bringing you our best food writing, the latest recipes, seasonal eating ideas and must-read restaurant reviews Each week we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the food coverage from the Guardian and the Observer. We’ll 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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The week around the world in 20 pictures (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Russian airstrikes in Kyiv, a shaky ceasefire in Sudan, protests in Senegal and dejection for Borussia Dortmund: the most striking images this week Continue reading...
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Ethereal beauty: Milky Way photographer of the year 2023 – in pictures (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
Travel blog Capture the Atlas has crowned its best Milky Way photographs of the year. This year’s shots captured the galaxy glowing above dramatic landscapes in Namibia, Chile, Japan, Spain, Iran and New Zealand Continue reading...
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Joe Biden and a sculpture in London: Friday’s best photos (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world Continue reading...
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Protecting Bosnia and Herzegovina’s anti-fascist legacy: Mostar’s Partisan Memorial Cemetery (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The most significant anti-fascist architectural landmark in the former Yugoslavia has been neglected and left as a ruin for decades. Having survived the 1990s Bosnian war, the Partisan Memorial Cemetery in Mostar now faces its biggest threat – and possible disappearance – as organised neofascists are intent on destroying the necropolis and all it stands for. A small group of residents and activists are fighting to protect the cemetery and its history for future generations, but with a lack of political will, and facing fear of intimidation and attack, the Necropolis Defenders face an uphill struggle This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center Mostar is the bucket-list city for every tourist to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its Old Town features pre-Ottoman, eastern Ottoman, Mediterranean and western European architectural features and the rebuilt Unesco-designated Old Bridge that dates back to 1459. Every spring and summer the Old Town is visited by tens of thousands of day-tripper tourists and backpackers, yet only 10 minutes away, on the west side of the city, is another equally important historical landmark that sits abandoned and partially destroyed, where few tourists ever venture. The Partisan Memorial Cemetery has no clearly visible ideological design or signage – it was supposed to mark a shared start for all the ethnic groups that made up Yugoslavia after the second world war Continue reading...
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Pastel-coloured homes for sale – in pictures (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
From a pink Grade II-listed ‘gingerbread’ cottage to a sky-blue city terrace Continue reading...
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The week in wildlife – in pictures (Fri, 02 Jun 2023)
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including owl chicks, a white moose calf and hungry brown bear cubs Continue reading...
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