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The Guardian

Trump lawyers plan to appeal judge’s ruling that he committed fraud while building empire (mer., 27 sept. 2023)
On Tuesday judge Arthur Engoron refused to dismiss a lawsuit accusing former US president of illegally inflating assets and net worth Donald Trump committed fraud for years while building the real estate empire that catapulted him to fame and the White House, a New York judge ruled on Tuesday in a strongly worded rejection of the former president’s bid to throw out a civil lawsuit against him. Judge Arthur Engoron found that Trump and executives from his company, including his sons Eric and Donald Jr, routinely and repeatedly deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork. Continue reading...
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‘Feminist approach’ to cancer could save lives of 800,000 women a year (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Gender inequality and discrimination impede timely diagnoses and quality care for women around the world, says report Health experts are calling for a “feminist approach” to cancer to eliminate inequalities, as research reveals 800,000 women worldwide are dying needlessly every year because they are denied optimal care. Cancer is one of the biggest killers of women and ranks in their top three causes of premature deaths in almost every country on every continent. Continue reading...
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Fine parents for school absence in England only as last resort, MPs urge (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Commons education committee report also says mental health struggles should be accepted as valid reason for missing school Mental health difficulties should be a valid reason for children to miss school while fines aimed at parents should be kept as a “last resort”, according to MPs on the Commons education committee. The committee’s report into rising levels of persistent absence among disadvantaged families in England warns that fining parents for absences may be less of a deterrent since the Covid pandemic, and even counterproductive among low-income families with financial struggles. Continue reading...
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Hollywood writers agree to end five-month strike after new studio deal (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Writers Guild of America said its members could return to work while a ratification vote takes place for fresh three-year contract Hollywood writers will officially end their five-month strike on Wednesday, as union leaders approved an agreement made with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and sent the full details of the new contract to union members for ratification. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) said in a statement on Tuesday evening that its members could return to work at midnight tonight, while a ratification vote takes place on a new three-year contract with Hollywood studios. Continue reading...
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UN rebukes Suella Braverman over her attack on refugee convention (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
UNHCR defends 1951 convention after UK home secretary’s speech on ‘uncontrolled and illegal migration’ The UN’s refugee agency has rebuked Suella Braverman after she claimed that world leaders had failed to make wholesale reform of human rights laws because of fears of being branded “racist or illiberal”. The UNHCR issued a highly unusual statement on Tuesday defending the 1951 refugee convention and highlighting the UK’s record asylum claim backlog. Continue reading...
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Scrapping inheritance tax would cost £15bn a year by 2032, says IFS (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Thinktank carried out analysis as calls mount among Tory MPs for the tax to be abolished Scrapping inheritance tax would cost the government almost £15bn a year in lost revenue by 2032, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies that follows calls from Tory MPs for the main tax on inherited wealth to be abolished. The thinktank said the latest figures from HMRC showed fewer than 4% of estates paid inheritance tax (IHT) in 2020–21, but the rapid growth in wealth among older individuals meant this number was set to rise to more than 7% over the next decade. Continue reading...
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Data breaches putting domestic abuse victims’ lives at risk, says UK watchdog (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Councils, police and hospitals endangering women by accidentally revealing details such as addresses, says ICO Councils, police forces and hospitals are putting women’s lives at risk by accidentally disclosing domestic abuse victims’ addresses to perpetrators, the UK’s information watchdog has said. John Edwards, the information commissioner, who has reprimanded seven organisations in just over a year for data breaches affecting victims of abuse, said: “This is a pattern that must stop.” Continue reading...
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First-time buyers in UK drop by a fifth as higher mortgage costs bite (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Lender says homes needing renovation are most in demand as people seek cheaper properties The number of first-time buyers in the UK has fallen by more than a fifth, while homes in need of renovation are most in demand as buyers look for cheaper properties, in the latest evidence that people are struggling with higher mortgage costs. There were 22% fewer first-time buyers between January and August compared with the same period last year, according to the mortgage lender Halifax. They still accounted for more than half (53%) of all home loans agreed in the first eight months of this year, similar to a year earlier (52%). Continue reading...
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More than 100 people killed after fire breaks out at Iraq wedding (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Fire started after fireworks were lit during the celebration in Nineveh province, according to local media More than 100 people have been killed and 150 people injured in a fire at a wedding celebration in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq’s Nineveh province, Iraqi state media have reported. Nineveh Deputy Governor Hasan al-Allaq told Reuters that 113 people had been confirmed dead, with state media putting the death toll at least 100, with 150 injured. Continue reading...
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Two arrested in disappearance of Welsh teenager more than two decades ago (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
‘I just want his body back so I can bury him,’ says mother of Robert Williams, who would have turned 37 earlier this month A man and a woman have been arrested by police investigating the disappearance of a teenager more than two decades ago. South Wales Police confirmed a 59-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man were being held by detectives. Continue reading...
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David Walliams files case against Britain’s Got Talent production company (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Case follows Walliams’ exit as BGT judge after transcript surfaced of him making offensive off-air comments about contestants David Walliams has filed a case against the production company that makes the ITV show Britain’s Got Talent. The action being taken by the show’s former judge against FremantleMedia is listed as dealing with data protection, according to the BBC. No other details have been given. Continue reading...
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Key details behind Nord Stream pipeline blasts revealed by scientists (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Researchers in Norway reveal further analysis of 2022 explosions as well as a detailed timeline of events Scientists investigating the attack on the Nord Stream pipelines have revealed key new details of explosions linked to the event, which remains unsolved on its first anniversary. Researchers in Norway shared with the Guardian seismic evidence of the four explosions, becoming the first national body to publicly confirm the second two detonations, as well as revealing a detailed timeline of events. Continue reading...
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Russia releases video of admiral a day after Ukraine claimed he was dead (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Viktor Sokolov seen apparently taking part in video conference with Russian defence minister Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates Russia’s defence ministry has released footage showing Viktor Sokolov, the commander of its Black Sea fleet, attending a defence board meeting via video call, a day after Ukraine claimed Sokolov was killed in an attack on the fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol. In the video, Sokolov was seen apparently taking part in a video conference with the defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and senior admirals and army chiefs. Continue reading...
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‘I just want justice’: Ukrainians struggle with hidden war crime of sexual violence (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Thousands of adults and children may have survived Russian sexual assaults but few have come forward and far fewer have seen any punishment When Russian forces occupied Halyna’s village near Bucha, she tried to keep a low profile. She stayed indoors and, when the food ran out, survived off leftover chicken feed scavenged from her garden at night. Yet two young soldiers came to the door, accusing her of hiding Ukrainian troops. They stripped her naked and raped her. Halyna, 61, who did not want to use her full name, reported her case to Ukrainian police shortly after Russian troops retreated from the Kyiv region in spring last year. Fifteen months on, she has had no update on her case and is struggling to move on. Continue reading...
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Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 580 of the invasion (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Russia again strikes at Ukraine’s port and grain infrastructure; border crossing with Romania closed following drone attack See all our Ukraine coverage Continue reading...
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Get Matt Hancock off our screens! He’s back on reality TV – and enough is enough (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The politician’s robotic appearance on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins sees him punched and abused – while reciting the same old excuses. Why is he doing this again? How do we stop it? I regret to inform you that Matt Hancock is at it again. Almost a year since he gulped down a glass of liquidised meal worms on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, and just weeks after using TikTok to out himself as the least competent lip-syncer alive, he has chosen to continue his grimly endless redemption tour by appearing on one of television’s most grimly endless shows – Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. Judging by the first episode, it is business as usual. He is taken to the rain-soaked Vietnamese jungle and pushed into a lake. He walks a tightrope. He gets punched in the face by a retired footballer. Someone yells at him for running “like a fucking ostrich”. He takes it all on the chin with no real emotion, good or bad, to the point where it starts to feel as if you’re watching the first 15 minutes of a Black Mirror episode about a robot that takes so much abuse it snaps and kills everyone. Continue reading...
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The Great British Bake Off review – Alison Hammond’s sheer joy has reinvigorated this show (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
It might have lost some sparkle since its 2014-15 peak, but the new Bake Off host’s irresistible charm has kicked things up a gear. The joyful vibes will engulf you As the nights draw in and the autumn leaves tumble from the trees, the chill of death is in the air. But one ray of sunshine still awaits us. Bake Off is back, bringing with it the best of British summertime in a bunting-lined tent. To be fully transparent, I am obsessed with baking. My sourdough starter has a name (Kenneth) and every children’s birthday cake I have baked could sit in the Louvre. To further complicate my relationship with the TV series, I spent a year at Prue Leith’s culinary school and failed my final exam because of my inability to make a puff pastry that would rise in 37-degree heat and over-salting a chicken ballotine. So, for me to come to every series and be charmed rather than triggered by the Bake Off challenges is a triumph for both my personal growth (37 degrees! Impossible!) and the show’s enduring appeal. Bake Off is on Channel 4 now. Continue reading...
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Smirking Suella trashes 70 years of human rights in 30 minutes | John Crace (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Time to ditch the UN convention, said Braverman, we’d all been far too nice to people fleeing persecution Call the US jaunt a win-win for Suella Braverman. Trying to get the rest of the world to ditch its obligations to the 1951 UN refugee convention was always a long shot, but there was the off chance that UK voters would be confused enough to imagine the home secretary was on top of the small boats chaos. More to the point, Braverman got to imitate a global player ahead of this weekend’s Conservative party conference. No bad thing, when there might be a vacancy for a new leader within a year or so. There’s nothing the Tory right love more than someone who bounces around their own echo chamber. And here was Suella out-Kemiing Kemi. Imagining she was saying the things that cannot be said, when really all she was doing was cynically stoking a culture war. Not to mention blaming her own failures on international agreements. No matter. Braverman will say anything, do anything, to secure the Tory leadership. Though if Suella is the answer, the Tories should urgently ask themselves what exactly the question is. Continue reading...
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Rishi Sunak’s dithering over HS2 spurs on its critics and supporters (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
With Tory conference looming and talk of delaying decision to autumn statement, the row could intensify further When news leaked that Rishi Sunak was planning to row back on net zero goals last week, it took Downing Street less than 24 hours to get the prime minister out in front of a podium to confirm the news and lay out his rationale. But for nearly a fortnight, the fate of HS2 has hung in the balance. Far from seizing the agenda after plans to pare back the high-speed rail project emerged, Sunak has been accused by Conservative MPs of vacillating. Continue reading...
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Frans Hals review – boring, lifeless portraits with flamboyant facial hair (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
National Gallery, LondonComprehensive collection of the 17th-century painter’s work aims to place him alongside Rembrandt and Vermeer, but his technically brilliant paintings are weirdly soulless The National Gallery has put together what must be the most comprehensive array of the portraits of the 17th-century painter Frans Hals ever assembled, filling eight rooms on the museum’s main floor with a subtly lit splendour of black silk, white ruffs and orange flags. I was bored rigid. Right from the start, something is off. In the first room, an unknown man and woman hang side by side. He’s holding a skull and looks grave. She’s inscrutable. Encountering these people I felt nothing, and it only got worse. I found myself walking back and forth increasingly adrift and unhappy, past one technically brilliant painting of a flushed face after another. Continue reading...
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The Hollywood Walk of Shame: why the LA landmark is the world’s worst tourist attraction (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Beating out some stiff competition, the dirty stars of Hollywood Boulevard can be crossed off your travel itinerary Name: The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Age: 63. Continue reading...
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David McCallum obituary (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Actor who found fame playing Illya Kuryakin in the 1960s television series The Man from UNCLE In the 1960s, there was one actor who could justifiably claim that ladies prefer blonds. As the secret agent Illya Kuryakin in the TV series The Man from UNCLE, David McCallum, who has died aged 90, received more fan mail from young women than any other actor in MGM’s history. With his Beatles-style haircut, his liking for black turtleneck sweaters (which created a fad among viewers nationwide), and an aloof and enigmatic air, through which he sneaked a fair amount of charm and self-amusement, McCallum made Kuryakin into a sex symbol of the period. He provided a trendy contrast to Robert Vaughn’s Napoleon Solo, his fellow spy, who went in for expensive suits and ties. Continue reading...
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Cracking! 17 deeply comforting fried egg recipes - from breakfast to a spaghetti surprise (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
One of the most simple, delicious, versatile ingredients of all, here fried egg takes pride of place in everything from nasi goreng to a gorgeous Thai salad When it comes to cooking eggs, fried is the default option. Anyone can crack an egg into a hot pan. If you do nothing else at all, you are still technically frying an egg. We should not, however, think of the fried egg as something so basic that it’s unworthy of further culinary attention. There are hundreds of recipes from all over the world that use a fried egg as either a starting point, a main ingredient or a final flourish. Here are 17 of the best. The first is a precautionary primer on egg-frying from Felicity Cloake. There may be more than one correct way to fry an egg – in butter or oil, on high heat or medium, yolk runny or just set – but there are also many wrong ways. Cloake can help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls. One tip I learned from her, never to be forgotten: don’t use cold eggs. Let them come to room temperature before frying, or the yolk will set long before the white is done. Continue reading...
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Who gains from Rishi’s ‘long-term’ thinking? Not the planet, not the north … not even him | Marina Hyde (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
‘Let Rishi be Rishi’, is the new Tory catchphrase. So far, that seems to be code for ‘let Britain be rubbish’ – and Suella Braverman is circling Buy shares in gun turrets, because Suella Braverman has made landfall in Washington to offer her esteemed take on the 1951 UN refugee convention. As a former practitioner in the field of … hang on, let me get my magnifying glass … planning law, the home secretary will regard herself as vastly superior to any of the legal minds who collaborated on the multilateral postwar treaty – as well as far better suited to rocking a “Suella 4 Leader” T-shirt at any future pledge drive/torchlit pitchfork procession. In the strict interests of appropriate venues, the United States has never actually ratified the convention – but that’s not important, because the home secretary obviously thinks one of its soft-wingnut thinktanks will serve as a cool backdrop. Think of her trip as the international equivalent of one of those primary school visits that a campaigning politician uses to announce a new weapons contract or crackdown on sex offenders. It’s top-flight politics: this is just how we do it. Back at home, meanwhile, things feel less full of promise for Suella’s beleaguered line manager. The prime minister’s handlers seem to have alighted on a plan that some summarise as “let Rishi be Rishi” – a strategy that assumes Rishi Sunak has a personality other than “billionaire dweeb with a govern-like-no-one’s-watching decal on his kitchen wall”. Nonetheless, breaking the glass on this timeworn phrase formulation does perhaps indicate we have reached a particular stage of the game. As with “let Truss be Truss”, “let Boris be Boris” and even “let Gordon be Gordon”, this exhortation tends to come late in the political day. It always feels like a nice way of saying that the individual in question is terminally inadequate, but that all options for disguising this have now been exhausted. Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
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I’m a Tory MP, but I know Rishi Sunak’s claims about the cost of net zero are false | Chris Skidmore (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The economy will thrive under the energy transition, not suffer. So why is the government rowing back on its green pledges? Chris Skidmore is a former energy minister Last week’s announcement that the government would delay key net-zero targets came as a surprise to anyone who has followed the policy. The existing targets were fair and well considered, and enjoyed wide political support. It’s strange to cite our world-leading progress in reducing emissions and developing low-carbon technologies, then decide that is a reason for slowing down, especially when doing so risks surrendering that position and those investment opportunities to other countries. Make no mistake, the government cannot stop our collective progress towards net zero. But it can, all too easily, slow progress at a critical time when we should be accelerating our efforts. Businesses and innovators are in a global race to create and deploy the technologies that will help us get there, and with a lack of clear political commitment Britain is lagging in some areas. Up until recently, Britain was the global leader in offshore wind power. It is now China. Chris Skidmore is Conservative MP for Kingswood, the former energy minister who signed net zero into law, and chair of the Mission Zero independent review of net zero Continue reading...
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ITV’s new Yorkshire Ripper drama is yet another ‘authentic’ northern tragedy told by a posh, southern voice | Robyn Vinter (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Imagine how much richer The Long Shadow would be if it came from somebody writing about their own community It is a primetime drama that has been eagerly awaited but not necessarily welcomed – especially in some parts of the country. Last night, ITV aired the first episode of The Long Shadow, a seven-part series about the 13 women murdered by Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, between 1975 and 1980. The synopsis says it is “sensitively focusing on the lives of the victims who crossed his path and those of the officers at the heart of the police investigation”. Raking over such painful memories was never going to be popular in West Yorkshire, where Sutcliffe carried out the majority of his attacks, and where women spent five years living in terror. Continue reading...
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Martin Rowson on Rishi Sunak’s precarious future – cartoon (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
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I have taken up running – and lost my grip on reality | Anita Chaudhuri (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
In my mind I am now an elite athlete, obsessed with every small sign of progress. How has this happened to me? Seven weeks ago, I took up running. In that time, I have gone from a bacon-sandwich guzzling sloth to someone with a fragile grip on reality. One sign of this was my over excitement about the Ethiopian athlete Tigist Assefa’s stellar women’s marathon win in Berlin. Ah yes, I hear you say – a victory for womankind, a moment to contemplate the grit and determination it must have taken to run 26.2 miles in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds. Alas, none of that immediately entered my head. No, my first impulse was to Google her shoes. Anita Chaudhuri is a freelance journalist Continue reading...
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How a politician most people won’t vote for could shape the New Zealand government | Henry Cooke (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Potential return of Winston Peters in any National-led coalition highlights electoral system where one party can rarely govern alone Way back in 1979, when New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins was in nappies and his likely replacement was in primary school, Winston Peters entered parliament for the first time, fresh off a court battle to overturn the election night result and win his seat. That fight has never stopped. In the 45 years since the pugilistic populist has been booted from parliament three times, but made it back in both 1984 and 2011. An increasing number of polls now indicate his party, New Zealand First, will once again return at next month’s election and hold the balance of power, its votes necessary to form a government. Henry Cooke is a freelance journalist covering New Zealand politics Continue reading...
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Nats should be embarrassed over cancellation of 164 flights at Gatwick | Nils Pratley (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The mission-critical nature of air traffic control surely means that you have standby staff in place in case of sickness In the competitive field of infrastructure shambles, cancelled flights at Gatwick are an also-ran. All the same, the embarrassment factor ought to be acute. How can a shortage of staff in the air traffic controllers – we are talking about as few as 10 individuals off sick – mean the UK’s second largest airport has to ground 164 flights this week? Where is the slack in the system? Where is the backup? The superficial explanation from Nats, the company running the control tower at the West Sussex airport, is easy enough to follow. “With 30% of tower staff unavailable for a variety of medical reasons including Covid, we cannot manage the number of flights that were originally planned for this week,” it says. Thus capacity will be capped this week at 800 arrivals or departures a day. Continue reading...
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Europe’s ‘mini-Trumps’ survived his fall. Now they’re hoping for his comeback | Paul Taylor (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
From Orbán in Hungary to Fico in Slovakia, populists are looking to a Trump win to boost their power in the EU When Donald Trump lost the White House in 2020, Europe’s strongmen, populists and climate change deniers lost a powerful ally and a protector. Yet most of Europe’s mini-Trumps have survived his fall, his denial of defeat and the storming of Congress by his supporters, and are now hoping that a comeback for the Republican frontrunner in next year’s US presidential election will put fresh wind in their own sails. In his four years in office, Trump described the European Union as a “foe” and Nato as “obsolete”. He had earlier openly applauded the UK’s vote for Brexit and encouraged other countries to follow suit. He pulled the United States out of global agreements to fight climate change, tore up arms control treaties, slapped tariffs on his allies and picked fights with Germany over trade and defence spending. And he rolled out the red carpet for the populist leaders of Poland and Hungary just as they were defying EU censure over moves to snuff out judicial independence, civil rights and media pluralism. Paul Taylor is a senior fellow of the Friends of Europe thinktank Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on the US and Abu Ghraib: recognition and redress is long overdue | Editorial (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Two decades after the invasion of Iraq, victims of abuse and torture by US forces have yet to be compensated It is 20 years since torture and terrible abuses by the US military began at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Reports of what was happening soon emerged, and an internal military report found “numerous incidents of sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuses”. But it was not until April 2004 that shocking photos were leaked showing the extent of the depravity, including personnel taunting naked prisoners and a hooded man attached to electric wires. George W Bush, the then president, apologised. Donald Rumsfeld, the then secretary of defence, dismissed the perpetrators as “bad apples” and said that he had found a way to compensate Iraqi detainees who had suffered grievous and brutal abuse. Yet a new report from Human Rights Watch finds that the US government has apparently failed to compensate or provide other redress for victims tortured and abused at Abu Ghraib and other US-run prisons in Iraq, and that there is no clear path to pursuing claims. Continue reading...
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The Guardian view on the Liberal Democrats: a strategy to help oust the Tories | Editorial (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Casting the Lib Dems as the party of the NHS is bold but credible – given a Liberal can claim to have invented it Sir Ed Davey did not pull his punches on Tuesday as he wrapped up the Liberal Democrats’ conference. The party leader made it clear that the Tories would be the Lib Dems’ main opponent at the next general election. Corrupt, chaotic and careless were among the nicer things he called Conservative leaders. He drew laughter by claiming that a party member, who is a clown, had a point when he complained that it was unfair on his profession for the Lib Dem leader to keep comparing the Tories to his colleagues. However, there was no disguising his seriousness about getting rid of the current ruling “shambles”. The Lib Dems won’t form the next government, but they can help oust the Tories. Sir Ed is building a social base in the so-called “blue wall” seats in south-east England of Conservative-leaning voters put off by ministerial incompetence and shabby public services. The party’s endorsement of proportional representation to ensure every vote counts has the advantage of increasing the present distance from both the main parties for potential electoral advantage. The Lib Dem strategy to peel off Tories in marginal seats has been working so far. When Sir Ed took over in 2020 the party had 11 MPs. Today it has 15 after a string of stunning byelection victories. Continue reading...
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It’s time to consider how we can make the best of HS2 | Letters (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
A system built purely for speed ignores the needs of the populations it’s trying to connect, says Andrew Gore. Plus letters from David Watts, Allan Whittow and Jonathan Leeming The rail industry always knew that the key issues for its future were capacity and connectivity, but thought that only the glamour of very high speed trains would persuade politicians (Gold-plated HS2 looks dead. So let’s run the numbers on a bronze-plated design, 22 September). Very high speed trains require complex engineering solutions, greater construction, rolling stock and signalling costs, and have a much greater environmental impact. The real justification for new capacity was admitted belatedly, but the design of HS2 from London to Birmingham demonstrates the deficiencies of a system built essentially for pure speed: Milton Keynes and Northampton with populations of over 250,000 ignored, no interchange with East West Rail, not even a travelator link to Birmingham New Street station – and far more damaging to the environment than merely higher speeds. Continue reading...
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Showing support for young asylum seekers | Letters (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Readers on the colouring book that cartoonists created for refugees I was heartened to read Harriet Sherwood’s article on the production of a colouring book by the Professional Cartoonists Organisation (Cartoonists create colouring book for refugees in rebuff to UK government, 22 September). This is a counter to the mean-spirited actions of Robert Jenrick, who had a mural of cartoon characters at a migrants’ reception centre painted over as he considered it too welcoming for children. I share the outrage of the cartoonist Guy Venables, but took some small comfort in the fact that I thought it was impossible for the actions of a government minister to sink any lower. How wrong I was. Diane Taylor’s article on the same day (Fear of X-ray age tests in UK ‘may force child asylum seekers to flee’, 22 September) describes Ministry of Justice and Home Office proposals to carry out medical tests involving X-rays and MRI scans to determine the ages of young asylum seekers. It is no exaggeration to say that these proposals plumb new depths of abhorrence, even for the most depraved members of this government. The notion of using any medical tests for non-medical purposes is unethical at the very least, and violates the human rights of any children who refuse to be subjected to such tests. In addition, the use of such medical equipment restricts their use for medical purposes and requires medically trained staff to operate them. I fervently hope that all medical staff will refuse to do so.
Alan Beamish
Thirlby, North Yorkshire Continue reading...
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Ben Stokes: ‘I don’t think it’s arrogance to say we’re a very good team’ (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Having reversed his 50-over retirement, can England’s Test and T20 talisman inspire them to retain the World Cup in India? “You very quickly find out who is a good bullshitter,” says Ben Stokes, laughing down the phone line during a recent drive between London and his home in the north-east. Stokes has agreed to a chat about the World Cup defence that starts in India next week but we have taken a scenic route, veering into the South American dice game called Perudo that has become something of a craze in the England squad. Andrew Flintoff was among the keenest players, Stokes’s fellow all-rounder having been part of the coaching set-up following last year’s awful car crash on the set of Top Gear. Continue reading...
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Tears before tee-time: Rahm reveals Europe lifted by Ryder Cup videos (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Spanish player urges his side to extend unbeaten home streak ‘The rough is thick,’ warns Tommy Fleetwood of the course Europe’s players were left in tears from motivational videos designed to inspire them to Ryder Cup glory, Jon Rahm has revealed, as he urged his teammates to keep their unbeaten record at home going into a 30th year. The Spaniard is expected to be one of Europe’s big hitters this week, having won two majors already in his career, but he insisted that he would be happy to lose all five of his matches if it meant his teammates reclaimed the trophy. Continue reading...
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Jansen’s late strike gives Netherlands win against England in Nations League (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
A full-throated appreciation of an opposition manager before kick‑off is rare, and even rarer before a competitive match, the result of which – a late 2-1 defeat of England by the Netherlands – could prove incredibly important to Olympic qualification and Euro 2025 seeding. Sarina Wiegman’s homecoming was not pretty, for her or England, with a lack of VAR helping to punish England’s profligacy, gifting the Dutch an offside opener. However, this was a result that had been coming, England have been winning ugly and in Utrecht their luck ran out. Continue reading...
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Manchester United cruise past Crystal Palace as Martial caps dominant win (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Two consecutive victories for the first time this season: Erik ten Hag is engineering the U-turn Manchester United require. But to have as many wins – four – as defeats shows the work still before the manager. The holders of the League Cup had not gone out in the third round since Swansea were beaten in September 2013. So after winning at Burnley at the weekend a loss to this much-changed Crystal Palace team would have revived the torrent of analysis aimed at Ten Hag before facing the same opposition here in Saturday’s league meeting. Continue reading...
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Demetri Mitchell stuns Luton to fire Exeter to shock victory in Carabao Cup (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
With just over 83 minutes on the clock, the Big Bank terrace was a motion picture. Supporters piled to the front of the stand to mob Demetri Mitchell after the winger, who was sent off five minutes later after picking up a second yellow card, blasted Exeter City into the Carabao Cup fourth round, dumping out Luton Town of the Premier League. The defenders Will Aimson and Pierce Sweeney glanced at each other on halfway and then elected to join a party that, frankly, was only just getting started. At least Luton’s team coach, parked on St James Road, directly behind the away terrace, was primed for a quick getaway. Continue reading...
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Sport England launches £15m safeguarding network for children (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
News follows horrific stories of abuse in various sports Hollingsworth hails ‘gamechanging’ countrywide move Sport England is to invest £15m in a “gamechanging” network of 59 professional safeguarding officers to protect children and young people across sport, the Guardian can reveal. The news, which will be officially announced on Wednesday, follows horrific stories of abuse in gymnastics and multiple other sports, as well as widespread concerns that complaints were not adequately reported or addressed. Continue reading...
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Jessica Hawkins becomes first female F1 test driver in five years (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
28-year-old drives 26 laps of Hungaroring for Aston Martin ‘Getting to drive the AMR21 has been a dream come true for me’ The Aston Martin Formula One team have confirmed that their driver ambassador Jessica Hawkins completed a test for them last week, becoming the first woman to drive a modern F1 car in almost five years. The 28-year-old drove 26 laps of the Hungaroring in Budapest last Thursday in the AMR21, the team’s race car from 2021. Hawkins is a former British karting champion, a podium scorer in the W Series and has worked as a stunt driver on a James Bond film. Continue reading...
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Football Australia considered selling off Matildas and Socceroos to private equity firm for 99 years (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Exclusive: document shows rights to national teams, A-Leagues and data of all football participants, including children, was part of possible deal Football Australia explored selling off rights to the Matildas, Socceroos and the A-Leagues for 99 years in what would have been an unprecedented privatisation of football in Australia, Guardian Australia can reveal. The deal could have also involved commercialising the data of all Australian football participants, including children as young as four, in a proposal that raised significant privacy concerns. Continue reading...
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Flat-packing and patisserie runs: how England switch off from World Cup (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Most of the squad have taken the opportunity to disperse across France with pool leaders not in action this weekend When the England squad reconvenes to get back into their World Cup groove on Thursday, Jonny May could find himself in hot water. By his own admission, the very fact he has disclosed how Joe Marler is in charge of a fines system, where punishments include having to wear a suit for a day, or doing a run to the patisserie, is likely to leave him at the mercy of the dice, which ultimately determine what sanction players face. It is a stay of execution for May, though, because most of the squad have taken the opportunity to disperse to all corners of France – they have been instructed not to return to the UK – after Steve Borthwick gave his players a few days off. The bye week is a quirk of this tournament – and it means that should England reach the final week of the World Cup they will have been away from home for nearly nine weeks – so understandably, the bulk of the squad have snapped up the chance to have a change of scenery. Continue reading...
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Namibia’s Johan Deysel hit with five-match ban for tackle on Antoine Dupont (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Deysel has ban reduced after apologising to French captain Johan Retief ruled out due to suspected spider bite The Namibia captain, Johan Deysel, has been given an effective five-match suspension for his dangerous tackle on Antoine Dupont that left the France skipper with a facial fracture and on the sidelines at the Rugby World Cup. Deysel received a red card for the incident in France’s 96-0 win in Marseille last week, and later apologised having received online abuse. An Independent Judicial Committee have decided the tackle met the top end on the scale of seriousness, which is a 12-game suspension, but have also applied the maximum 50% reduction in sentence following his apology and previous good record. Continue reading...
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The Breakdown | Progress of Wales and Ireland serves as advert for old-school coaching nous (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
While Warren Gatland’s team have risen like a phoenix from the ashes, Andy Farrell has his sights set on the ultimate prize There is still a long way to go but rugby union’s tectonic plates are shifting. What would have been the odds, even four years ago, on four European sides potentially filling all the semi-final slots at a Rugby World Cup? No one, to be clear, is remotely counting out the defending champions South Africa or the flying Fijians but there is a chance that France, Ireland, Wales and England could all make the last four. Some might even argue, given South African sides now play in the United Rugby Championship, that the Boks are also increasingly part of the northern hemisphere furniture. A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but a number of their coaching staff and players have worked in Ireland and several more are based in England and France. Recent results would suggest Australia, in particular, are increasingly fighting an uphill battle. Continue reading...
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Smith or Steward? Panache may trump power at full-back if England meet Fiji | Nick Evans (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Fly-half’s display at No 15 against Chile gives Steve Borthwick options depending on who awaits England in the last eight Whether Marcus Smith appears at No 15 again in the remainder of England’s World Cup campaign is likely to depend on who their quarter-final opponents are. If they meet Wales, then Freddie Steward has to come back in to deal with the aerial assault Warren Gatland’s side will look to launch, but if it’s Fiji I can see Marcus keeping hold of the jersey. Wales looked so comfortable without the ball against Australia. They dismantled the Wallabies, played nothing in their half, had a big aerial kicking game with Josh Adams and Liam Williams charging down the sidelines, causing havoc and unloading their jackal operators. If that is going to be the case then England need Steward to provide the power required to ride those collisions. Continue reading...
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Europe’s banks helped fossil fuel firms raise more than €1tn from global bond markets (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Exclusive: Pan-European investigation looked at thousands of transactions since Paris climate agreement in 2016 Banks including some of Europe’s largest lenders have helped fossil fuel companies to raise more than €1tn (£869bn) from the global bond markets since the Paris climate agreement, according to an investigation by the Guardian and its reporting partners. In the push to zero carbon, Europe’s biggest lenders face growing pressure to limit their financial support for fossil fuel companies through direct loans and other financing facilities. Continue reading...
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‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
IEA’s Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plans The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said. Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging. Continue reading...
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Give Britons the right to plant to green up public spaces, Gove adviser says (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Thinktank Create Streets calls for people to be allowed to grow plants and trees in barren urban areas A right to plant and grow trees and other greenery in public spaces should be given to people across Britain, an adviser to Michael Gove has said. Nicholas Boys Smith, who heads the Office for Place in Gove’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), also chairs the thinktank Create Streets, which has released a report calling for more greening of cities. Continue reading...
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Antarctic sea ice shrinks to lowest annual maximum level on record, data shows (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Scientists fear global heating may have shifted region into new era of disappearing ice with far-reaching consequences Antarctica has likely broken a new record for the lowest annual maximum amount of sea ice around the continent, beating the previous low by a million square kilometres. The new mark is the latest in a string of records for the continent’s sea ice, as scientists fear global heating could have shifted the region into a new era of disappearing ice with far reaching consequences for the world’s climate and sea levels. Continue reading...
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Policy must tackle root causes of England’s record mental ill-health, says report (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Coalition of experts publish action points including tackling inequality, poor housing and child poverty Ministers must tackle poverty, poor housing and air pollution to improve England’s worsening mental health, a coalition of charities, thinktanks and staff groups has urged ministers. Their blueprint for better mental health also includes a crackdown on racism, reforms to the benefits system and action to end the stark inequality whereby people with severe psychiatric conditions die up to 20 years sooner than the general population. A new Child Poverty Act to banish child poverty by 2030. The creation of a minimum income guarantee and reforming sick pay. Action against junk food, smoking, alcohol and gambling. The end of “hostile environment” immigration policies. Continue reading...
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Alok Sharma to stand down as MP at next election (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Former Cop26 president announces he will not stand in Reading West seat he has held since 2010 Alok Sharma has become the latest Conservative MP to announce he will step down at the next general election. The former Cop26 president, who has represented Reading West since 2010, said it had “not been an easy decision” and described being an MP as the “honour of [my] life”. Continue reading...
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Northern Research Group of Tory MPs signals it may accept delay to HS2 (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Chair, John Stevenson, says they could back a compromise on phase 2 if ‘Charles line’ preserved The chair of an influential group of Conservative MPs including many from northern constituencies has signalled they may be open to a compromise that would see the second phase of HS2 delayed for several years. Amid continuing lobbying of Downing Street by opponents of the multimillion scheme and supporters fighting to preserve it, the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs appear willing to back a lengthy delay to the Birmingham-Manchester leg if a so-called “Charles line” connecting northern cities is preserved. Continue reading...
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Galaxy chocolate bars now 10% smaller amid ‘shrinkflation’ (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Mars admits it has had to reduce size of product due to ‘growing pressures’ of rising costs Lovers of Galaxy chocolate bars have become the latest victims of the “shrinkflation” trend in food manufacturing, after the brand’s owner, Mars Inc, reduced the size of the bars. Shrinkflation is a tactic commonly used by the food industry, where manufacturers cut pack sizes without reducing prices, as they look to reduce their costs amid stubbornly high food price inflation. Continue reading...
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Woman probably suffered ‘sudden cardiac death’ during water therapy in UK, inquest hears (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Doctors say cold water as well as obesity could have contributed to death of Kellie Jean Poole near Peak District A woman who died during a water therapy session near the Peak District probably suffered “sudden cardiac death” caused by the cold water, an inquest has heard. Kellie Jean Poole had an undiagnosed heart condition that was likely to have contributed to her death shortly after she entered the River Goyt in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, on 25 April 2022. Continue reading...
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Labour conference rule changes could stop members debating certain issues (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
NEC approves rule stipulating that only ‘contemporary’ motions can be debated after this year’s event Debates sought by local Labour activists at the party’s future annual conferences could be quashed by the leadership if they are seen as not relevant to current policy platforms, after a series of rule changes passed on Tuesday. The national executive committee, Labour’s governing body, voted to approve rule changes, including one that requires motions for debate to be deemed “contemporary”. Continue reading...
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Murderer denied release after refusing to say where wife’s body hidden (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Glyn Razzell, jailed for killing his wife 20 years ago, claims she framed him and is still alive A man jailed for murdering his estranged wife 20 years ago who still refuses to say where he hid her body is not safe to be released from prison, the Parole Board has said. Glyn Razzell killed his wife, Linda, in 2002 but at a public Parole Board hearing last month insisted she was still alive and one of the reasons he wanted to be freed was to find her and prove she had framed him. Continue reading...
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Everton owner received £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies, documents suggest (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Exclusive: Questions mount over ties between Farhad Moshiri and tycoon, before he was put under sanctions The Everton Football Club owner, Farhad Moshiri, received more than £400m from Alisher Usmanov companies in the run-up to the Russian billionaire being placed under sanctions, documents suggest, raising fresh questions about the financial ties between the two men. Records seen by the Guardian appear to show that Moshiri borrowed £145m from a company wholly owned by the Russian-Uzbek tycoon from about 2020. Continue reading...
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‘No one knew anything’: rail passenger’s 11-hour London to Edinburgh odyssey (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Comedian James Nokise tweets long train and taxi journey after track fault that also stranded school group There are many ways to cope with a rail journey from hell. Some raid the onboard shop for mini bottles of wine; others forge new friendships amid the misery. The really unlucky ones end up urinating in empty Pringles pots, or climbing over 2-metre high fences (complete with spikes) when they arrive so late that the station has been closed. But when the comedian James Nokise found himself on an 11-hour odyssey between London and Edinburgh on Monday night, he live-tweeted the misery. Continue reading...
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‘Act of vandalism’ on Norfolk bridge by National Highways set to be reversed (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
King’s Lynn and West Norfolk officers urge refusal of planning permission to bury 97-year-old bridge A second act of “vandalism” by the government’s roads agency on another historic railway bridge looks set to be reversed, following the intervention of council planning officers. King’s Lynn and West Norfolk council planning committee is being urged by its officers to refuse retrospective planning permission next week for a £127,000 scheme in 2021 by National Highways (NH) to bury a 97-year-old bridge in concrete. Continue reading...
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Nagorno-Karabakh: almost a quarter of the region’s population flees into Armenia (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Death toll from fuel depot explosion on Monday rises to 68 as ethnic Armenians raise concerns about reprisals from Azerbaijan Almost a quarter of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population have fled into Armenia since Azerbaijan launched an attack on the breakaway region last week, according to Armenia’s government. Some 28,000 people – about 23% of the region’s population – scrambled to flee as soon as Azerbaijan lifted a 10-month blockade on the region’s only road to Armenia. That blockade had caused severe shortages of food, medicine and fuel. While Azerbaijan has pledged to respect the rights of Armenians, many residents feared reprisals. Continue reading...
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Senate finds breakthrough on funding as government shutdown looms (Wed, 27 Sep 2023)
Stopgap deal reached Tuesday is a big step forward, but hard-right House Republicans still show little sign of relenting on budget The Senate took a significant step on Tuesday to extend government funding beyond the end of the month, with just days left to avoid a shutdown that could force millions of federal employees to go without pay. In a vote of 77 to 19, the Senate advanced a shell bill that will become a stopgap measure to fund the government through 17 November while directing roughly $6bn toward Ukraine’s war efforts and another $6bn toward disaster relief. Continue reading...
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‘The support feels good’: UAW members embrace Biden and shrug off Trump (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
In Fort Wayne, Michigan, union autoworkers react to Biden showing up to pledge his support and to Trump avoiding them On a damp and windy day, members of the United Auto Workers (UAW) picketed outside a sprawling Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, burning logs in barrels for warmth. The plant makes the Ford Bronco, and workers there were among the first to strike when union contract negotiations between the UAW and the car companies collapsed earlier this month. Continue reading...
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Donatella Versace hits out at Italian government’s anti-gay policies (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
LGBTQ groups laud fashion designer for speech in which she said ‘minority voices’ were under attack Gay rights groups in Italy have praised Donatella Versace for speaking out against the government’s anti-gay policies in a heartfelt and personal speech while receiving a fashion award. “Our government is trying to take away people’s rights to live as they wish,” Versace said on Sunday night, citing in particular a government policy that allows only the biological parent in same-sex couples to be officially recognised as the parent. “They are restricting our freedoms,” she said. Continue reading...
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Scientists use water fleas to filter pollutants out of wastewater (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Tiny crustaceans described as ‘the bioequivalent of a Dyson vacuum cleaner for wastewater’ Tiny water fleas could play a big role in filtering out drugs, pesticides and industrial chemicals from wastewater to make it safe, according to scientists. “We’ve developed our bioequivalent of a Dyson vacuum cleaner for wastewater, which is very, very exciting,” said study co-author Karl Dearn, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Birmingham. Continue reading...
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Fashion mogul Peter Nygård allegedly used firm’s head office to assault women (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
In a trial that started Tuesday in Toronto five women accuse Nygård of similar sexual assaults and confinement over 25 years Fashion mogul Peter Nygård used his power and status to lure five women separately into a private bedroom suite attached to his company headquarters where he sexually assaulted them, a court in Toronto has heard. In opening arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Nygård, 82, met the women in social settings and invited them to the headquarters of his clothing empire in Toronto. All of the “tours” ended in his bedroom suite. The room had a bed, televisions and a jacuzzi. Prosectors say the doors didn’t have handles and the locks were controlled by Nygård. Continue reading...
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Observatory built to represent Einstein’s theory of relativity reopens in Germany (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Einstein Tower has undergone extensive renovations to preserve it for future generations A solar observatory built to substantiate Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity has been reopened near the German capital after a renovation project to preserve it for future generations. The Einsteinturm (Einstein Tower) on Telegraph Hill in Potsdam, 16 miles (25km) south-west of Berlin, spent a year under scaffolding while work was carried out using modern techniques to seal its many thousands of cracks, cure it of extensive dampness, and to save its domed zinc roof, while retaining its authenticity. Continue reading...
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Shakira charged in Spain for failing to pay €6.7m in tax (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Singer already faces separate case due to be tried in Barcelona in November involving alleged €14.5m sum owed Spanish prosecutors have charged Shakira with failing to pay €6.7m (£5.8m) in tax on her 2018 income, authorities have said, in the country’s latest fiscal allegations against the Colombian singer. Shakira is alleged to have used an offshore company based in a tax haven to avoid paying the tax, Barcelona prosecutors said in a statement. Continue reading...
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Made-up New York restaurant goes from internet joke to one-night-only reality (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The idea behind Mehran’s Steak House might have been cribbed from an earlier faux opening in London six years ago A “fake steakhouse” that started as “an elaborate joke” between a group of tech industry friends has gone viral after putting on its first sitting, for 140 people and members of the media, in New York City. Mehran’s Steak House, which had previously only existed as a Google Maps listing created by the roommates of Mehran Jalali, the 21-year-old founder of an AI startup, drew diners to its first – and last – night on Saturday. Continue reading...
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Trump falsely claims wind turbines lead to whale deaths by making them ‘batty’ (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Ex-president attacks clean energy by making multiple false statements at South Carolina rally Donald Trump has launched a lengthy and largely baseless attack on wind turbines for causing large numbers of whales to die, claiming that “windmills” are making the cetaceans “crazy” and “a little batty”. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, used a rally in South Carolina to assert that while there was only a small chance of killing a whale by hitting it with a boat, “their windmills are causing whales to die in numbers never seen before. No one does anything about that.” Continue reading...
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Bestselling author Naomi Wood wins 2023 BBC national short story award (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The UEA creative writing lecturer won for Comorbidities, which judging chair Reeta Chakrabarti called a ‘sparkling gem’ that tackles serious issues with a ‘light and wry touch’ • Read the story below Naomi Wood has won the 2023 BBC national short story award for Comorbidities, a story about a married couple struggling to maintain their sex life who eventually decide to make a sex tape. The bestselling author and UEA creative writing lecturer was presented with the £15,000 prize at a London ceremony on Tuesday by judging chair and presenter Reeta Chakrabarti, who called Wood’s story a “sparkling gem” written with “a light and wry touch” but which “tackles serious themes”. Continue reading...
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Why is the prompter strolling around the stage? Meet the secret heroes of German theatre (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The souffleur has all but vanished, except in Germany, where they sit in the front row – or even take to the stage. As actors are placed under huge pressure, does this really make drama more exciting? Die Monosau, a play at Berlin’s Volksbühne theatre, is billed as “an evening free of direction”. But during a production earlier this summer, the controlled chaos briefly spiralled out of control. In the work, a dada cabaret by artist Jonathan Meese, seven actors switch between a staggering 66 different roles including Mao, Rasputin and Mike Tyson. When one missed their cue, for a few agonising minutes the actors stood huddled around a replica junction box, silently eating ice-cream and smoking cigarettes. It was precisely the moment Elisabeth Zumpe had been waiting for. “I can usually sense when someone is about to freeze two or three lines before it happens,” says the 38-year-old, who had spent the first few acts leaning against a pillar by the side of the stage, holding a clipboard and dressed all in black. “There’s a change of voice, or an odd movement of the head. You learn to notice it.” Continue reading...
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Taylor Swift: Eras tour concert film to get global release in October (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Film will play in more than 100 countries including the UK from 13 October, in line with its previously announced US, Canada and Mexico release Eight months before the real thing is due to hit the UK, the concert film of Taylor Swift’s behemoth Eras tour will screen in British cinemas this October. Taylor Swift The Eras Tour will play in more than 100 countries from 13 October, the same day as its previously announced US, Canada and Mexico release. Continue reading...
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‘His work seems endless’: music stars pay tribute to the incredible life of Moondog (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The eccentric musician, dressed like a Viking playing songs on the streets of New York, is being celebrated by names such as Rufus Wainwright and Jarvis Cocker on a new album Most tourists who come to New York City for the first time seek out sights like the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and Central Park. But between the early 60s and 1972, visitors with a more adventurous nature had a different agenda. “Certain people flying into the city at that time would jump into a cab and tell the driver – ‘take me to Moondog!’” said Robert Scotto, author of a book about the eccentric musician and composer who went by that luminous name. “The driver would take them straight to 6th Avenue and 53rd Street because everyone knew that’s where he was.” Certainly, no one who passed by that busy stretch of the city during that era could have missed him. Outfitted like a fantasy Viking, complete with a double-horned headdress, a doomy black tunic, an eight-foot spear and a long white beard, Moondog had an imposing presence to say the least. It only magnified the intensity of his appearance that he was blind, a fact he refused to hide behind dark glasses. From his reliable perch, Moondog would pull from his pockets reams of poetry, sheet music, 78rpm recordings and broadsides he had written to sell to curious passersby. Some people thought he was a freak or a vagrant. (He was, in fact, homeless during several short stretches of time.) Others saw him as the ultimate counter-cultural figure, while some major musicians viewed him as a visionary, including the jazz greats Benny Goodman and Charlie Parker and classical artists from Arturo Toscanini to Leonard Bernstein. Janis Joplin covered his existential composition All Is Loneliness, on her first album with Big Brother and the Holding Company, and pop acts from T-Rex to Prefab Sprout referenced him in their lyrics. Moondog was written up in many local and national papers and, in 1969 and 1971, he had two albums on Columbia Records which, at the time, was headquartered on the same block he haunted. Continue reading...
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‘It has a price’: war photographer Corinne Dufka on capturing conflict (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The esteemed photographer has spend more then a decade in places such as Bosnia and Liberia, remembered in a powerful new book When the tears came, they weren’t always for the dead and the unfathomable depths of suffering. They also flowed for the times in between, for the joy and smiles of the unknowing. As the acclaimed American war photographer Corinne Dufka sorted through the pictures and negatives for her new book, This Is War: Photographs from a Decade of Conflict, covering more than a decade on frontlines from El Salvador to Bosnia and Liberia, she once again looked into the faces she had perhaps only registered briefly years ago. Continue reading...
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The Creator review – vast and exhilarating sci-fi actioner rages against the AI machine (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Director Gareth Edwards draws together the many strands of our current AI debate with tremendous boldness, conjuring up an intriguing and stimulating spectacle This colossal sci-fi thriller from Gareth Edwards features John David Washington and Gemma Chan in vast mysterious panoramas and vertiginous vistas which deserve to be shown at Imax-plus scale; it also shows that Christopher Nolan isn’t the only British director in Hollywood thinking (and acting) big. After a stint making franchise movies such as Godzilla and the enjoyable and underrated Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Edwards has now crafted this ambitious original picture, co-written with Chris Weitz, which is closer in spirit to his ingenious 2010 debut Monsters. The Creator is an old-fashioned science-fiction actioner with some ideas to match to state-of-the-art digital effects, in the tradition of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner or Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, with a creeping colonialist’s fear of the unknown to match that in Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. And given that Edwards has served some time aboard the Star Wars mother ship, it shouldn’t be too surprising to find some holograms in the mix and a certain dustbin-sized droid which whimpers something poignant about what an honour it’s been to serve his comrades before lumbering out to face the enemy on a kamikaze mission. Continue reading...
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‘I was so young when I was diagnosed’: how one family faced childhood cancer (Fri, 08 Sep 2023)
When Katie Currie was diagnosed with leukaemia as a toddler, the lives of her family changed overnight. Here, they share how doctors, nurses and an experimental drug brought hope – and then eventual recovery When Katie Currie was just three, the usually energetic toddler became lethargic and her skin developed random, unexplained bruises. “I remember my gran saying she saw me just lying on the bed, not moving or wanting to play, and that’s when she knew something wasn’t right,” she says. Tests revealed that the little girl was suffering from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer of the white blood cells – making her one of about 520 children to be diagnosed with leukaemia in the UK every year. Leukaemia is both the most common type of childhood cancer and among the most treatable – although certain kinds of leukaemia a have significantly worse prognosis than others. Katie enjoying time away from the hospital during treatment: “I was so young when I was diagnosed that I don’t remember much from then.” Continue reading...
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‘Cancer made me grow up very quickly’: how a 12-year-old and his family faced a serious illness (Fri, 08 Sep 2023)
Taylor Kershaw wasn’t even in his teens when he was told he had Hodgkin lymphoma but, thanks to a groundbreaking clinical trial, he went into remission without having to go through radiotherapy “The doctor asked if I had any questions and I asked two: ‘Am I going to die?’ And: ‘Am I going to lose my hair?’” Taylor Kershaw was in his first year of secondary school when his mother, Michelle, noticed a lump in Taylor’s neck. She contacted the GP and they initially thought he was suffering from mumps. But when the lump didn’t go away, he had more tests, including a biopsy, which confirmed bad news: Taylor had Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of cancer that affects the lymph nodes and lymphatic system. Taylor’s mother, Michelle, remembers how pleased he was to be able to help others Continue reading...
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‘You have to look for the good things or you will fall apart’: how families face childhood cancer together (Tue, 12 Sep 2023)
When a young person is diagnosed with cancer, the impact is felt by all who love them. Five families share the realities of loving and, tragically, sometimes losing a child with cancer There are around 4,200 new cases of cancer in children and young people each year in the UK. That’s 12 families a day whose lives are changed for ever. When a young person is diagnosed with cancer, their loved ones’ lives are upended too, from the emotional turmoil to the practicalities of work. However, the pain of a diagnosis often brings families together to get through their darkest moments … Continue reading...
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Treating cancer in children: the story behind the dramatic increase in survival rates (Thu, 07 Sep 2023)
Cutting-edge research has driven huge gains in the understanding and treatment of children’s cancers, but those at the forefront of this progress insist there is still much work to be done The increase in survival of children and young people diagnosed with cancer has been astounding. In the 1970s in the UK, just 36% of children (aged 0-14 years) survived for 10 years beyond a cancer diagnosis. Now, it’s about eight in 10. According to Laura Danielson, children’s and young people’s research lead at Cancer Research UK, cutting-edge research is the driving force behind this success. However, progress against different cancers is advancing at different rates. While about 99% of children diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a type of eye cancer, survive for at least five years, for those diagnosed with certain types of brain tumours, survival beyond five years remains very low, at less than 25%. And although around 90% of children diagnosed with the most common type of leukaemia will survive for more than five years, the prognosis for other forms of this type of cancer isn’t as good. Continue reading...
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Dior opens Paris fashion week with feminist sloganeering on the catwalk (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Anti-sexism and anti-capitalism themes abounded as designer Maria Grazia Chiuri rejected fashion’s ‘hourglass idea of perfection’ The patriarchy is so last season. Dior opened Paris fashion week with a diatribe against sexism spelled out in Barbie pink and McDonald’s yellow, illustrated by a loose-fitting summer wardrobe which designer Maria Grazia Chiuri said was “a rejection of the fashion industrial system which dictates women must conform to an hourglass idea of perfection”. Giant video screens splashed images of housewives in makeup and Marigold gloves, and of curvy models bending obligingly over cars, while feminist placard slogans flashed with neon urgency behind the catwalk. The words: “Take your hands off when I say no, take your eyes off when I say no” were spelled out on video screens as the first model marched past in loose black layers, a punky choker and black shoes. The second model was defiantly un-pristine in unbuttoned shirt cuffs and tails. However, how the glossy, logo-stamped designer handbag she carried gelled with the words: “Capitalism won’t take her where she really wants to go” on the screen behind her was left notably unresolved at this show. “Monsieur Dior always emphasised the waist, but I don’t want to do that any more,” said Chiuri before the show. “The idea that we have of Dior comes from the famous images of the New Look, where what you see is always a silhouette, a body. I want to see instead the woman’s face and think about her personality.” The video installation was created for the occasion by artist Elena Bellantoni, and was commissioned to support the message of a collection which celebrated the ease of unwaisted silhouettes, simple workwear styling and practical kitten heels. There was a pop art spirit to the 7ft screens, with their billboard-sized letters in cheerful newsstand colours. “Women in fashion don’t have to be passive – we can be critics too,” said Chiuri. Women will be in the spotlight throughout this Paris fashion week, where 67 shows are planned over eight days, as Sarah Burton and Gabriela Hearst present farewell collections for Alexander McQueen and Chloé respectively. But while the goodbyes will be emotional, fashion is hardwired to focus on the future, and the real story of the week is intrigue over the round of designer musical chairs which these two departures will prompt. Continue reading...
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How many grams in a cup? How to convert US recipes to metric | Kitchen aide (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
British home cooks famously don’t get on too well with cups, but there’s nothing to fear, so long as you keep a few basic rules in mind Can you reliably convert American recipes to UK measurements?Joe, Margate “It really depends on the kind of recipe you’re talking about,” says the American food writer Sarah Chamberlain, who has converted the likes of Diana Henry’s From the Oven to the Table for US cooks. “People in the UK get caught up on, ‘Oh my god, you use cups!’, but with all liquid measurements, it’s a pretty straightforward conversion: one cup equals 240ml, which you can easily divide, so half a cup is 120ml.” In some cases, you can even “fudge it and say 250ml, because 10ml either way isn’t going to make a huge difference”, but that really boils down to what it is you’re making. Stews and curries, say, are far more forgiving than baking, which Chamberlain brands “another adventure entirely”. Here, you simply have to look up the conversions, which is what the internet is for: “The information is commonly available online,” Chamberlain says, “but if you’re baking or measuring solids, just buy a set of cups.” Ingredient weights differ – a cup of flour, for example, is 125g, while the same of sugar is 200g – so this will just make your life easier. Continue reading...
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The ins and outs of air purifiers: which to buy, how to clean it and when to change the filter (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Air purifiers can help improve indoor air quality – but it’s important to keep them free of dust, mould and other undesirables Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Up until 2019, air purifiers were a relatively niche appliance in Australia. “Hardly anyone had an air purifier in their house,” says Chris Barnes of consumer advocacy group Choice. What happened next need not be revisited, but, Barnes says: “They’ve become a lot more commonplace and people are a lot more conscious of indoor air quality.” With the arrival of El Niño threatening another smoke-choked summer, many Australians will be dusting off their air purifiers for the first time in years, or contemplating making a purchase. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...
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My partner and I used to have amazing sex. Then he came out as asexual (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
We had a great sex life, but intercourse has become a rarity and is no longer so fulfilling. Can our relationship survive? I am a 23-year-old woman who has been with my 26-year-old male partner for almost four years. When we first started seeing each other we had a great sex life. But as the years have passed, and we have dealt with problems such as depression, it has ground to a halt. A little over a year ago, my partner revealed that he is asexual. We had a calm and composed conversation, and I am very happy that he opened up to me about it. He explained that for him the most important thing about intercourse is that it makes me feel good, and the intimacy that this brings. Although I appreciate him telling me this, it made me realise that we view sex differently. Nowadays, we very rarely have intercourse, and when we do, I can’t help but feel that it’s not as fulfilling as it once was. Sometimes, I want to do fun and spicy stuff, but I feel that I can’t do that with him any more. I feel unable to initiate for fear that my actions will not be reciprocated. We briefly discussed the possibility of finding sexual partners for me, but he is unhappy with the idea. If your partner is truly asexual then it will be very difficult – if not impossible – for you to ever have the kind of sexual relationship you want and need. But it sounds as though you were satisfied with your erotic connection in the early stages of your relationship. This must be very confusing for you. Of course, the depression you mentioned – or medication for it – can cause a significant loss of libido, so perhaps that should be explored. You will have to decide if you can continue being with him – given that sex will be rare, and not in the way you would hope – or if you should move on. You should also ask yourself: “Could I be comfortable simply receiving pleasure from him, knowing that his sexual interest is minimal?” Could you remain in a sexless relationship if other aspects were positive? Note that many people do. The fact that your partner came out to you suggests that he too may have some questions about the viability of your future together. Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders. If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send attachments). Each week, Pamela chooses one problem to answer, which will be published online. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. Comments on this piece are premoderated to ensure discussion remains on topics raised by the writer. Please be aware there may be a short delay in comments appearing on the site. Continue reading...
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The couple who bought a crumbling Scottish villa – by accident – and turned it into a holiday let (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Cal Hunter and Claire Segeren spent four years, and acquired 300,000 Instagram followers, doing up a dilapidated house in Dunoon. Now it’s open to holidaymakers, you can see the results for yourself You know that feeling when you accidentally buy the wrong house? No, me neither. Cal Hunter does, though, and it was to prove quite the most fortuitous error of the 31-year-old carpenter’s life. The blunder, in 2018 – attributed to a fast-talking auctioneer and a mix-up with lot numbers – left him and his partner Claire Segeren, 29, with a derelict Victorian villa 35 miles from the apartment in Glasgow that they had been targeting. Continue reading...
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‘It felt futile’: young Britons swap career-driven lives for family and fun (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
UK millennials are shunning overtime and excess work stress, and focusing more on loved ones and personal fulfilment When Molly*, 35, was growing up, she remembers the message of “work hard and you’ll get rewarded” being drilled into her by parents and schoolteachers. As a result, she spent her early career putting in the hours. But when she had a child and sought a flexible work pattern at her professional services job, the company denied her request. “I was replaceable,” she says. “I was very much a cog in the machine.” Continue reading...
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‘Unthinkable’ NHS waiting lists force patients to get surgery abroad – video (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
A record 7.68 million patients are waiting for routine NHS hospital treatment in England which is prompting some people to explore other options, including going abroad. Annabel Harris was told by her doctor that she needed a full hip replacement, and discovered it would be years until she could be treated by the health service. Instead, she joined the growing number of Britons choosing to pay to have surgery in another country Continue reading...
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'Genocide is being committed': Armenians protest after Nagorno-Karabakh violence – video (Fri, 22 Sep 2023)
Protesters in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, have called for help from the international community, saying an Azerbaijani blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh region has led to shortages of food, medicine, gas and other essentials. The demonstrators say the humanitarian crisis in the disputed region is creating 'a real possibility of genocide' Continue reading...
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'We have suffered': Spain women speak on struggles after Rubiales scandal – video (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Spain's Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey have spoken about their struggles and said they are looking forward to focusing on football after weeks of controversy following their World Cup victory. 'We weren't getting enough sleep, we couldn't rest well, we suffered from stress and anxiety,' said Bonmatí. 'Things are getting more calm eventually and now we're 100% focused on football.' The players also spoke about their desire to leave a legacy for women going forward. 'This is a global fight and all the women and players own it,' said Caldentey Continue reading...
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Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians hold talks with Azerbaijan amid protests in Armenia – video (Thu, 21 Sep 2023)
Armenian separatists in the Nagorno-Karabakh region held talks with a delegation of Azerbaijani government officials on Thursday, after they agreed a ceasefire that ended a 24-hour military operation by Baku. Under the terms of the ceasefire Armenian forces in the region were required to lay down their arms and disband. Armenia's prime minister said a ceasefire was holding but was widely denounced by protesters in the capital, Yerevan. The delegation representing the region's Armenian population met Azerbaijani officials to discuss the future of their region in the city of Yevlakh. No statements were made after the meeting Armenian PM says ceasefire is holding in Nagorno-Karabakh as talks begin Nagorno-Karabakh: thousands protest in Armenia in wake of ceasefire deal Continue reading...
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Why is Russia targeting hospitals in Kherson? – video explainer (Wed, 20 Sep 2023)
Russia has been systematically targeting medical facilities in Kherson, Ukraine, severely affecting the lives of the city's residents, a report says. The Centre for Information Resilience, using information collected and verified through open-source research, says Russian shelling of civilian infrastructure in Kherson has intensified since it was liberated by Ukraine. The report focuses mainly on its impact on medical buildings: children's hospitals, maternity wards and a rehabilitation centre in the city Kherson: from heaven of Ukrainian liberation to hell of Russian bombardment Continue reading...
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Is Finland the best place in the world to be a parent? – video (Wed, 20 Sep 2023)
Finland is a world leader when it comes to early years education. Childcare is affordable and nursery places are universally available in a system that puts children's rights at the centre of decision-making. Now the country is applying the same child-first thinking to paternity-leave policies in an attempt to tackle gender inequality in parenting. The Guardian's Alexandra Topping travels to Helsinki to find out why the UK pre-school system lags so far behind and whether it really is easier to be a parent in Finland. Continue reading...
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Childcare is broken: is the UK failing its future? – video (Mon, 18 Sep 2023)
The early years education system in the UK is a mess. Soaring nursery fees are causing parents – usually mothers – to quit their jobs, yet childcare settings are so chronically underfunded they are barely able to stay afloat, prompting underpaid staff to leave in droves. The government has promised a childcare revolution, with more free hours for families. The Guardian's Alexandra Topping speaks to parents and campaigners to find out whether this additional help for parents will fix the problems in the childcare sector or simply heap more pressure on an industry already on the verge of collapse Continue reading...
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UK homeowners and landlords: tell us if you got into mortgage arrears recently (Wed, 13 Sep 2023)
We’d like to hear from homeowners and buy-to-let landlords who have fallen behind with their mortgage repayments in recent months Mortgage arrears jumped by 13% in the second quarter of the year to the highest level since 2016, according to Bank of England figures, as rising interest rates and unemployment over recent months have put pressure on household disposable incomes, forcing some families to cut or suspend their monthly mortgage payments. We’re interested to hear from homeowners and buy-to-let landlords in the UK who are currently in arrears with their mortgage repayments. Continue reading...
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Nagorno-Karabakh: how have you been affected by the situation in the region? (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
We would like to to speak to people affected by the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as those living in Armenia Following last week’s Azerbaijani military offensive in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, around 3,000 ethnic Armenians have crossed into Armenia. Hundreds of refugees started crossing over on Sunday after military operations left people displaced. Continue reading...
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Tell us: have you been through an amicable breakup? (Wed, 20 Sep 2023)
We would like to hear your advice for navigating an amicable breakup What is the best way to split up? Most of us will have to navigate the end of a serious relationship at some point, whether that’s a marriage with children or a long partnership. Have you experienced this first hand? What eased the heartbreak? What worked logistically for you and your family – and what didn’t? What advice would you give to others who are separating on how to do so amicably? Please do not write about someone else without their permission. Continue reading...
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Over 50s in the UK: tell us why you are working part-time (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
We’re keen to hear from UK workers aged 50 and over what their reasons are for working part-time, and how this is affecting their lives Record numbers of people in their 50s and older are in part-time work, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics, with one quarter of workers in their 50s working part-time. The data reveals that 3.6 million older people are working part-time in the UK, a 12% increase since 2021. 42% of the UK’s part-time workers are now aged over 50. Continue reading...
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Barça bounce back, a Juve calamity and madness in Marseille – Football Weekly (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Philippe Auclair and Sid Lowe for a round-up of the biggest stories in European football Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today; Barcelona are top of La Liga and look favourites to be there come the end of the season, Real Madrid’s lack of depth is exposed by Atlético and 15 Las Palmas players miss their flight in search of a coffee. Continue reading...
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WSL season preview 2023-24 – Women’s Football Weekly (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Sophie Downey round up the latest news across the women’s game and preview the WSL season We’re back! Has anything happened since we were last with you? Less than five weeks since the World Cup final and there’s so much to catch up on as we prepare for the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season. Continue reading...
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Deja vu’s lesser-known opposite: why do we experience jamais vu? – podcast (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
There’s a sensation many of us might have experienced: when something routine or recognisable suddenly feels strange and unfamiliar. It’s known as jamais vu, or ‘never seen’. Research into this odd feeling recently won an Ig Nobel prize, which is awarded to science that makes you laugh, then think. Ian Sample speaks to Ig Nobel recipient Dr Akira O’Connor about why he wanted to study jamais vu, what he thinks is happening in our brains, and what it could teach us about memory going right, and wrong Read Nicola Davis’ report on the Ig Nobel prizes here Continue reading...
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S5 E1: Nadiya Hussain, chef (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Cosying up with Grace to launch a new season of Comfort Eating is none other than the queen of baking and all our hearts – Nadiya Hussain. The Bake Off star, whose triumph in the tent launched a TV, writing and culinary career of which dreams are made, is dropping by Grace’s home to share her loves, her hates and her strategies for managing a house of teenagers. Over a plate of something so comforting you could curl up in it, Grace and Nadiya get down to brass tacks. Family, husbands, school and crisps – all the main bases – and there’s no shame allowed. Just get those elbows out and dig in New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent are released every Tuesday Continue reading...
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Blades put to the sword and north London honours shared – Football Weekly (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Kate Mason, and Nick Ames to discuss the Premier League action, including the north London derby Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email. On the podcast today: the panel discusses the significance of Newcastle putting eight past a hapless Sheffield United and asks if the jump from Championship to Premier League is too high for clubs. Continue reading...
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‘Voters are unhappier with the NHS than they’ve been for 30 years. As a GP, I feel the same’ – podcast (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
Even those at the top admit the NHS can’t do what is being asked of it today. But it is far from unsalvageable – we just need serious politicians who will commit to funding it Continue reading...
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The Blind Side and Hollywood’s blind spot – podcast (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
Why is the retired NFL player Michael Oher bringing a lawsuit against the family who took him in as a teenager? Andrew Lawrence reports When Andrew Lawrence, now of the Guardian US, interviewed the American football player Michael Oher in 2009, Oher was already uncomfortable about how his life story was being portrayed to the public. This was shortly before The Blind Side was released, and Lawrence says the film “threatened to blow up those uncomfortable elements one hundred fold”. The Oscar-winning film, starring Sandra Bullock, tells the story of Oher’s rise to the NFL with the support of the Tuohy family, who took him in when he was 17. Continue reading...
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Tragic death of the ticket office: the inhuman, isolating change that could ruin train travel (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Along with nearly 1,000 other railway stations in England, Ryde is set to lose their facility, part of a recent £10m transformation. Both locals and tourists are incensed It’s a lovely September Monday morning in Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. Schools have gone back, the summer language students have left, most of the DFLs (down from Londons, the second-home weekenders) have returned to the city. Soon the restless house martins will be off, too. The island is slipping gently into quiet mode. But the ticket office at Ryde Esplanade railway station is busy. Two women with a little black dog are talking to the man at the counter; another woman waits in line. Throughout the morning, there is a steady stream of customers, sometimes forming a queue at the ticket office. That is the shiny, new ticket office, opened this year as part of a £10m upgrade to the town’s seafront transport interchange. There is a ticket machine in the station, too, but no one uses it while I am there. Continue reading...
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John Turner obituary (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Architect impressed by urban squatter settlements in Peru who then set about persuading the wider world of their value In the 1950s and 60s John Turner, who has died aged 96, addressed the housing challenges faced by members of rural communities in Peru when they migrated to urban areas in search of a better life. Official planning and design approaches were neither appropriate nor affordable to such people, and Turner was immensely impressed by their resourcefulness in creating their own housing developments and even complete neighbourhoods. Turner’s writings, as John FC Turner, presented Peru’s urban squatter settlements – barriadas – to a global audience as not a problem but a resource. Predominantly poor people moved on to land on the urban periphery, subdivided it into residential plots and places for community facilities, and built their own housing using whatever materials came to hand. Settlements were improved gradually as people became integrated into the urban economy, making urban development effectively self-financed. Continue reading...
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‘Even Lucifer was using a fan’: Brazil bakes as mercilessly hot spring begins (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Having just emerged from its warmest winter since 1961, the country is sweltering amid unforgiving and unseasonal temperatures A ferocious heatwave was sweeping South America, and samba composer Beto Gago (Stuttering Bob) saw only one thing to do: pop out for an ice-cold beer with his drinking buddy Joel Saideira – Last Order Joel. “Damn, it was grim around here yesterday,” the 76-year-old musician grimaced as he stood outside his home in Irajá – reputedly Rio’s hottest neighbourhood – with a bohemian’s potbelly spilling out over his lilac shorts. Continue reading...
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Not-so-cuddly Lib Dems laser focused on target list of seats (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Streamlined party under Ed Davey will concentrate its finite resources on a number of key, mainly Tory, constituencies at the next election UK politics live – latest news updates Asked to sum up voters’ general impression of the Liberal Democrats, one pollster at their conference ventured “cuddly”. Well, yes and no. For all their comforting woolliness, England’s perennial third party is arguably building the UK’s most ruthless and focused election-fighting machine. To an extent, this is not news: of the 20 biggest byelection swings since 1945, four have been Lib Dem wins under Ed Davey since 2021, a product of ultra-disciplined messaging and a more-is-more attitude to leaflets and canvassing. Continue reading...
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Off the reef and on the menu: fishers in the Caribbean wage war on the invasive lionfish (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
In Venezuela, tourists and fishing communities are being encouraged to catch and eat the lionfish before it wipes out other species Beautiful, dramatically coloured and barbed with venomous spikes, the lionfish not only looks dangerous but is proving to be a grave threat to every other fish in the Caribbean. In Venezuela, William Álvarez, who lives in Chichiriviche de la Costa bay on the Caribbean country’s central coast, has made it his business to see off the threat. Each day, he removes them from the water one by one. He is also encouraging tourists and others in the fishing community to catch and eat the lionfish in an effort to control its voracious expansion. The species is decimating herbivorous fish that are important to coral reefs and the livelihoods of coastal communities. William Álvarez (right), fisher Rafael Mayora and diver Ricardo Ferrebus discover the shell of an endangered green turtle (Chelonia mydas) Continue reading...
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US surgeons are killing themselves at an alarming rate. One decided to speak out (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The grueling profession has long kept silent about mental distress. After losing a friend and quietly grappling with illness, Carrie Cunningham found a new way to save lives Carrie Cunningham puffed out her cheeks and exhaled. She looked out at the audience filled with 2,000 of her peers, surgeons who were attending the annual meeting of the Association of Academic Surgery, a prestigious gathering of specialists from universities across the United States and Canada. Cunningham, president of the organization, knew what she was about to reveal could cost her promotions, patients and professional standing. She took a deep breath. Continue reading...
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Sign up for the Fashion Statement newsletter: our free fashion email (Tue, 20 Sep 2022)
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every Thursday Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
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Sign up for the Guardian Documentaries newsletter: our free short film email (Fri, 02 Sep 2016)
Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the world Discover the stories behind our latest short films, learn more about our international film-makers, and join us for exclusive documentary events. We’ll also share a selection of our favourite films, from our archives and from further afield, for you to enjoy. Sign up below. Can’t wait for the next newsletter? Start exploring our archive now. Continue reading...
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Guardian Traveller newsletter: Sign up for our free holidays email (Wed, 12 Oct 2022)
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. Continue reading...
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Sign up for 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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Military might, a makeover and migrant moths: Tuesday’s best photos (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world Continue reading...
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David McCallum: a life in pictures (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
The Scottish actor has died at the age of 90. From Illya Kuryakin in The Man from UNCLE to Professor Plum in Cluedo, here we look back at his life and career Continue reading...
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Fighting stereotypes: the unexpected faces of combat sports – in pictures (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
Boxing and martial arts can provide a sanctuary to everyone from bullied kids to Grenfell firefighters. Aneesa Dawoojee captured their fighting spirit Continue reading...
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Slime, supermodels and swansongs: highlights from Milan fashion week spring/summer 2024 - in pictures (Tue, 26 Sep 2023)
From the hyped debuts at Tom Ford and Gucci to experienced stalwarts Giorgio Armani, Prada and Versace, the Milan fashion cohort leant into the codes of their brands more than ever Continue reading...
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‘Colours give comfort in these difficult times’: Ukraine’s Lego-inspired city – in pictures (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
Comfort Town is a residential area of Kyiv built on a former industrial area. It was designed to brighten up the former grey Soviet buildings from the 1950s and 60s Continue reading...
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A storm, skateboard moves and a skull collection: Monday’s best photos (Mon, 25 Sep 2023)
The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world Continue reading...
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