http://www.guardian.co.uk/

The Guardian

The Gaza students with scholarships to UK unable to take up their places (ven., 25 juil. 2025)
Visa obstacles threaten to dash the hopes of 40 students due to start in September. Here are some of their stories Middle East crisis – live updates Time is running out for 40 students in Gaza who have been awarded full scholarships to study at some of the UK’s leading universities this September, but have been unable to fulfil visa requirements due to the war. Campaigners have called on the British government to intervene to ensure their safe passage. Here are some of the students’ stories. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Islamophobia isn’t just socially acceptable in the UK now – it’s flourishing. How did this happen? | Zoe Williams (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Most people believe Muslim values are incompatible with British ones, a new poll has found. It makes for bleak reading According to YouGov, more than half of people do not believe Islam to be compatible with British values. I’m often dispirited by these polls, as much by the timbre of the questions as by the responses (how many times do we need to ask one another whether we can afford to avert a climate catastrophe, for instance?) But I can’t remember the last time I was stunned. This latest poll found that 41% of the British public believe that Muslim immigrants have had a negative impact on the UK. Nearly half (49%) think that Muslim women are pressured into wearing the hijab. And almost a third (31%) think that Islam promotes violence. Farhad Ahmad, a spokesperson for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, which commissioned the poll, was surprised that I was so surprised. Things had been really bad for ages, he said, directing me to not dissimilar numbers in 2016 and 2019. Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Press shift: how the rightwing media are pivoting to Reform (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
It remains to be seen whether any paper will back Farage at next election, but damage may already be done for Tories As the 2015 election hove into view, one of Nigel Farage’s team was frustrated. Ukip, the party Farage then led, had recently caused what was widely regarded as a political earthquake by winning the European parliament elections. The Daily Mail seemed to agree with everything Farage was saying, most notably his condemnation of the number of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to Britain. Why then, Farage’s adviser asked a senior Daily Mail journalist, would the paper not endorse Ukip? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘It was a buddy movie – and then they kissed’: Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi on My Beautiful Laundrette at 40 (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
We meet the director and writer of the classic gay romance for tea, cake and bubbles to talk about the movie that changed cinema – and the lives of everyone involved It is a sweltering summer afternoon and I’m blowing bubbles over the heads of Stephen Frears and Hanif Kureishi while they have their pictures taken in a sun-dappled corner of the latter’s garden. Perched in front of them as they sit side by side – Kureishi, who has been tetraplegic since breaking his neck in a fall in 2022, is in a wheelchair – is a silver cake made to look like a washing machine, commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of their witty, raunchy comedy-drama My Beautiful Laundrette. Some of the bubbles land on the cake’s surface, causing everyone present to make a mental note to skip the icing, while others burst on the brim of Frears’s hat or drift into Kureishi’s eyes. It is not perhaps the most dignified look for an esteemed duo celebrating an enduring Oscar-nominated gem. Don’t think they haven’t noticed, either. As the bubbles pop around them, Kureishi upbraids the photographer for trampling on his garden – “Mind my flowers!” – while Frears grumbles: “I could be watching the cricket.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

If not taking the knee, then what? Football needs to figure out how best to fight racism | Suzanne Wrack (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Few noticed the Lionesses taking a stand when they didn’t kneel. Tackling racism is much bigger than just football, but there are plenty of active steps fans and clubs can take Searching for ways to wield power when you ultimately have none is hard. The decision of the Lionesses to use their most powerful tool, their collective profile and voice, which is amplified during a major tournament, to support Jess Carter after her decision to speak out about the racist abuse she has received during the Women’s Euro 2025 was a brave one. They should be applauded because in their statement and collective action there is an attempt to go beyond condemnation of racism to demanding real change and grappling with what that looks like and how you do it – all while trying to win a second major tournament trophy. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘They all looked the same, they all dressed the same’: has Hollywood distorted the Smurfs’ communist roots? (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
In Chris Miller’s new film, a Smurf is told to ‘believe you were born great’. But does this approach contradict what Peyo’s original Smurfs stood for? Smurfs, a new Paramount Pictures CGI-spectacle directed by Chris Miller, has received an all-round critical panning and faltered at the box office. But it does a serviceable job reminding viewers of the utter strangeness of the three-apples-tall characters originally conceived of by Belgian comic artist Pierre “Peyo” Culliford in 1958. In the film, James Corden voices No Name Smurf, who experiences existential angst because unlike the other inhabitants of Smurf Village – Brainy, Grouchy, Hefty etc – he does not “have his own thing”, a skill or character trait that makes him stand out. This special trait is eventually identified as “magic” and No Name is pressed – by a serenading Rihanna-voiced Smurfette – to realise his inner USP and “don’t let anyone ever say you are not anyone” and accept that “you were born great”. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Middle East crisis live: Gaza running out of specialised food to save malnourished children, UN agencies say (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Supplies of ready-to-use-therapeutic food will be depleted by mid-August if nothing changes, says Unicef Gaza is on the brink of running out of the specialised therapeutic food needed to save the lives of severely malnourished children, United Nations and humanitarian agencies say. “We are now facing a dire situation, that we are running out of therapeutic supplies,” Salim Oweis, a spokesperson for Unicef in Amman, Jordan, told Reuters on Thursday, saying supplies of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a crucial treatment, would be depleted by mid-August if nothing changed. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Exactly what a union should be doing’: doctors in Manchester defend strike action (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
BMA members on Manchester Royal Infirmary picket line had hoped Labour government would end pay dispute Outside Manchester Royal Infirmary, car horns beep as striking medics wave orange placards demanding “Pay Restoration for Doctors.” Most are decked out in matching British Medical Association-branded tangerine baseball caps and bucket hats. Some carry homemade cardboard signs: “Overworked, underpaid, undervalued” or “Wes: stop (S)Treating us like [poo drawing]”. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Tory peer apologises for helping set up ministerial meeting for firm he advises (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Deputy speaker Ian Duncan found to have breached rules by providing parliamentary service for Terrestrial Energy A Conservative peer has apologised for breaking the House of Lords rules by helping to secure a meeting with a minister for a Canadian company he advises. Ian Duncan, a deputy speaker of the Lords, was found to have breached the rules by providing a parliamentary service for Terrestrial Energy when he facilitated an introduction between its chief executive and a new energy minister. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Rachel Reeves considers overruling supreme court in £44bn car finance scandal (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Exclusive: Chancellor could step in if justices uphold entirety of ruling over commission paid to brokers The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering overruling the supreme court over a £44bn car loan commission scandal after lobbying by some of the UK’s biggest lenders, the Guardian can reveal. Under Treasury contingency plans being discussed for the event that justices decide to uphold the entirety of last October’s shock appeal court ruling that customers may be entitled to billions in compensation, the government would retrospectively change the law to cut liabilities for lenders. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Zack Polanski ‘open to’ working with new Corbyn and Sultana party (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Green leadership candidate says any decision on alliance would be one for party members UK politics live – latest updates Zack Polanski, the Green party leadership candidate, has said he may be willing to cooperate with a new leftwing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, after calls for the two groups to form an alliance. Polanski emphasised that any decision would be for Green members, and would depend on the eventual form of the as yet unnamed party, which currently does not officially exist. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Campaigners targeting dozens of UK councils in push for four-day week (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Move comes as South Cambridgeshire becomes first UK local authority to vote to make work pattern permanent Dozens of councils have been targeted by campaigners calling for a four-day week after it that emerged one local authority had become Britain’s first to vote to adopt the pattern permanently. The move comes shortly after thousands of private-sector workers were also told they would be staying on shorter working weeks with the same pay after more than 200 businesses decided it worked for them – in some cases, after lengthy trials. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Epstein revelations threaten to derail Trump’s trip to Scotland (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
President’s name appears as contributor in book celebrating notorious sex offender’s 50th birthday in 2003 The furore over Donald Trump’s ties with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein continued on Friday as new revelations about the pair’s relationship threatened to mire the president’s golfing trip to Scotland. The US president’s name appeared on a contributor list for a book celebrating Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003, according to reporting from the New York Times, lending further weight to reports that Trump participated in the leather-bound collection of messages, drawings and accolades – despite denying that he contributed a signed and sexually suggestive note and drawing, as reported by the Wall Street Journal earlier this month. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Surrogates at greater risk of new mental illness than women carrying own babies, study finds (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Canadian data analysis underscores importance of support during and after pregnancy, researchers say Surrogates have a greater chance of being newly diagnosed with a mental illness during and after pregnancy than women who carry their own offspring, researchers have found. In addition, regardless of how they conceived, women with a previous record of mental illness were found to have a higher risk of being diagnosed with such conditions during and after pregnancy than those without. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

England v India: Root becomes second-highest run scorer ever, fourth cricket Test, day three – live (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Live updates from the third day of play at Old Trafford County cricket – live | And mail Rob with your thoughts 49th over: England 231-2 (Pope 20, Root 17) Bumrah it is after one over of Thakur. Root picks a full ball off his toes for four, he looks in decent nick does Joe. A majestic drive is unfurled later in the over but pings straight to the fielder. Be still my… 48th over: England 227-2 (Pope 20, Root 13) Mohammed Siraj opens up from t’other end and he bustles in to Pope, honing in on pads and stumps. Five dots are stitched together before the last ball of the over scuds through at no more than shin height and nearly scuttles Pope! That did not bounce at all, if that was straight then Pope was a goner and there’s nowt he could do have done about it. Pope wanders down and gets his Monty Don on, trust me, this pitch is going to go more up and down than a hormonal teenager on a paternoster. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘It’s spectacular’: volunteer Dorset divers see summer of surging seahorses (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
After efforts to make conditions better for the elusive creatures in Studland Bay, sightings are greatly increasing The divers emerged from the water smiling with satisfaction. They had found what they were looking for in the undersea meadows off the south coast of England. “Seahorses are tricky to spot,” said Mark Fox. “The seagrass sways and they blend into it pretty well. It helps if it’s sunny and not too choppy but you have to get your eye in. When you see them, it’s brilliant.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘I would be terrible at this!’: inside the fiendish TV guessing game whose players have no idea where they are (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Breathtaking landscapes! Machiavellian mind tricks! A whole month living on a coach! Rob Brydon takes us inside BBC travel game Destination X, where viewers – and contestants – try to find themselves in Europe Outside a cinema in east London sits an absolute beast of a bus. It is jet black from wheel wells to roof, the windows are obscured by metal plates and it is so massive rock stars might kip in it prior to hopping on stage and yelling: “Hello Milton Keynes!” Essentially, it looks like a gothic Megabus commissioned by Alice Cooper. It does, however, have one key design flaw: it’s impossible to see out of. Once you’re inside, you will have no idea where you are going. For the next five weeks, expect to see a lot of this vehicle. It’s the star of the BBC’s latest big reality series, Destination X. Based on a Belgian hit, it sees 13 contestants ferried around Europe in total ignorance of their location, with the worst at identifying it being eliminated. Viewers are encouraged to guess along as its OTT challenges see contestants locked in boxes in village squares, peeping through a tiny window to work out where they are, or being whisked up a snow-topped mountain and made to hunt for clues while dangling from a rope 2,000 metres above sea level. Given that they spend an entire month living and sleeping on a coach together, there are points where cabin fever-ravaged contestants become so suspicious of each other that heated arguments flare up. It is, essentially, The Traitors meets Race Across the World – hosted by Rob Brydon. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘He spoke up for me when I was in prison’: Anthrax, Lamb of God, Rick Wakeman and more share memories of Ozzy Osbourne (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
After Osbourne’s death at 76, the heavy metal greats he inspired remember his pranks, generosity and quadruple brandies – and relive the tears at his farewell show Brann Dailor, drums/vocals, Mastodon Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Dame Cleo Laine obituary (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Celebrated singer with an agile contralto voice who, with her husband John Dankworth, helped bring new audiences to jazz Cleo Laine, who has died aged 97, was not only the most creatively and materially successful jazz singer the UK scene has known, but was also respected worldwide as one of a handful of truly original jazz-inspired vocalists. From modest beginnings in the pubs and dancehalls of austerity Britain in the 1950s, the diminutive singer with the majestic and agile contralto voice went on to achieve international fame in a career that also embraced acting and writing. Laine could travel easily in almost any idiom, from jazzy standards-singing to the frontiers of classical music and opera, and she was the only female singer to receive Grammy nominations in the jazz, popular and classical categories. When she became the first British artist to win a Grammy as best female jazz vocalist (for the third of her live Carnegie Hall albums) in 1985, she received two dozen roses from Ella Fitzgerald and a card inscribed: “Congratulations, gal – it’s about time!” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘I call it a nihilist western’: director Athina Rachel Tsangari on her trippy folk horror Harvest (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The genre-hopping director’s new work is a haunting pastoral feature about the destruction of a village. She talks ‘traumatic’ reviews, the film’s spectacular Romanian rock-inspired soundscape, and the problem with Greek cinema A hand emerges from sheaves of wheat waving in the wind. Then we see a face, trying to eat moss on a log, and a tongue searching for liquid in rocks. When Caleb Landry Jones (Dogman, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) fully emerges, his blue cape flows like a toga or a Japanese courtier’s cape, close mics capturing every tiny sound – and then exhilarating Romanian prog rock kicks in. Harvest has been described as a folk horror film – one that has sharply divided the critics – but its trippy, haunting opening, inspired by Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s unfinished book Reveries of the Solitary Walker, introduces something far stranger than that. It’s been a “very personal film” for its genre-hopping Greek new wave director Athina Rachel Tsangari, whose previous work includes an avant garde commentary on Greek society (Attenberg), a twisted male friendship comedy (Chevalier) and a BBC Two series about a throuple (Trigonometry). Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Happy Gilmore 2 review – Adam Sandler’s Netflix sequel is strictly for the fans (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Belated sequel to the 1996 comedy is unlikely to convert newcomers but there’s more than enough to entertain its cult fanbase Happy Gilmore 2, the much-anticipated follow-up to the canonical sports comedy that dominated pop culture at the turn of the century, opens with Adam Sandler’s irascible hero catching viewers up on the past 29 years. After humiliating tour nemesis Shooter McGavin (an on-form Christopher McDonald) in the big tournament and riding off into the sunset with the girl, they marry and have five children as Happy’s prosperity continues unbidden. He considers stepping back from the game as his years and wealth stack up, but keeps going at the encouragement of his dear Virginia (Julie Bowen). But when Happy accidentally kills her with a shanked tee shot, a shock that comes in the first two minutes, his world is even more upended than it was when we met him as an orphan in 1996. Happy Gilmore 2 is out now on Netflix Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘We ended up in a pay-by-the-hour love motel’: travel pros on their holiday disasters (and how to avoid them) (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
From smart luggage causing an airport security panic to a destination wedding where the dress went missing, even the best-laid vacation plans can go wrong. Here, travel experts share their cautionary tales Cat Jones, founder of Byway, flight-free holiday agents Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Fleabag and Baby Reindeer superproducer Francesca Moody: ‘The next best play can come from anywhere’ (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
She is the Olivier-winning producer behind two of the most successful TV shows in recent memory. Now she has a slate of upcoming projects, including a bold new venture at the fringe. Will one of them be the next big thing? Best of the fest: 10 sensational Edinburgh fringe comedy shows Francesca Moody’s name is a sign to pay attention. The Olivier-winning producer discovered the plays that led to two of the most successful TV shows in recent memory: Fleabag and Baby Reindeer. If a show has Moody’s backing, it has a higher-than-average chance of soaring to success. But as Moody’s recognition has grown, so has the pressure to create a hit. “That is exciting,” she cautions as we slip into a small glass-walled room in her office off London’s Leicester Square. She looks surprisingly calm given the restaurants’ worth of plates she’s spinning. “But it’s also terrifying. The stakes are higher than they used to be.” She’s busy unleashing a new set of shows across the US and UK – including an entire miniature festival at the Edinburgh fringe – and has another Netflix show in development. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Experience: I found a stranger under my hotel bed (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
There was an odd smell – I craned my neck to check, and two dark, wide eyes blinked back at me in the darkness It was early evening in Tokyo this March, and super busy – a whirl of neon signs, street vendors and more people than I could possibly imagine. I was visiting on holiday from my home in Thailand, heading back to my hotel, my belly full of ramen and keen to relax after a day of travelling. By 7.30pm, I was back in my room. I stripped off, put on a sweatshirt and tidied my things. Then I got into bed and started researching train times. After about 20 minutes, I began to feel uneasy and noticed a strange odour – it smelled like a dead animal covered in sugar. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

To end the starvation in Gaza, Trump must lean on Netanyahu – so Starmer must lean on Trump | Jonathan Freedland (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Britain’s PM will see his US counterpart on Monday. He should urge Trump to force an end to the Palestinians’ agony So great is the despair, so intense the desperation, that the hopes of the Palestinians of Gaza now rest on a man who covets their land and wants to see them gone. The man in question is Donald Trump – and this weekend, there is a rare chance to push him to do the right thing. There should be no mystery as to what that right thing is. Ideally, it would mean the US president using his leverage to force the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, into ending the nearly 22-month war in Gaza. But if that’s too much to ask, there is an even more pressing demand that Trump should be making right now: that Israel lift all restrictions, remove all bureaucratic impediments, and flood Gaza with the food and medicine the people there so urgently need – and that it happen immediately. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The polls look bad for Trump – but tyrants don’t depend on approval ratings | Judith Levine (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Claims that Maga is fracturing are overblown. But that doesn’t mean Trump can’t be defeated The fracas over the Jeffrey Epstein files – and declining poll numbers on every issue that won Donald Trump the 2024 election – indicate cracks in the Maga coalition and weakening support for the president’s self-proclaimed mandate. But reports of Maga’s death are probably exaggerated. Judith Levine is Brooklyn-based journalist, essayist and author of five books. Her Substack is Today in Fascism Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

My life has been hell since mafia bosses blamed me for their downfall. Finally, justice has been done | Roberto Saviano (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Threats were made to stop me and other journalists reporting on their crimes. Now I hope to reclaim my freedom What criminal organisations fear most is the written word. That is what a court in Italy has established for the first time. It has taken 17 years for me to see justice done, but it finally came on 14 July. The court of appeals in Rome upheld a 2021 verdict in which the mafia boss Francesco Bidognetti and his former lawyer were found guilty of mafia-related threats against me. Bidognetti is the head of one of the most powerful and violent Camorra clans: the Casalesi. He is already in jail, serving a life sentence. Yet far from being merely symbolic, the new sentences (Bidognetti got a year and a half, his lawyer Michele Santonastaso a year and two months) are momentous. Roberto Saviano is an investigative journalist and the author of Gomorrah 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...
>> Lire la suite

Doctors of my generation support this strike – you don’t need a medical degree to see why | Michael Akadiri (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Gen Z and millennial resident doctors are fearless in pursuing their true worth. Maybe if their older colleagues had been, we wouldn’t be in this situation Michael Akadiri is an award-winning standup comedian and resident doctor So there was no last-minute intervention by Wes Streeting and his team at Whitehall. Resident doctors in England (formerly known as junior doctors) are on the picket line from 7am today until 7am on 30 July, a full five-day walkout. And I’ll be joining them, in solidarity. Though I’m a resident doctor by grade, I currently work for NHS England on a freelance (locum) basis, so I’ll be supporting my colleagues by electing not to work on the aforementioned days, despite the sauteed carrot of “enhanced strike rates”. Michael Akadiri is an award-winning standup comedian and resident doctor Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Trump is fighting to kill off DEI – and the corporate cowardice over Gaza shows he’s winning | Jinan Younis (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
By silencing staff who condemn Israel’s actions while promoting themselves as champions of dignity and respect, businesses are failing I have been working in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) for more than six years. This year, more than ever, I have started to question what the purpose of it really is. Though I’ve been celebrating companies that took a stand against Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders, under the radar I have noticed an insidious censorship rearing its head. Since 2023 we have been witness to one of the worst atrocities of our lifetimes. Livestreamed to our phones, we have seen the slaughter of at least 58,000 Palestinians, more than 17,000 of them children, and many of them in hospitals, schools, refugee camps and food queues. We have seen the denial of water, electricity and medical supplies, the obliteration of communities, mass manmade starvation, and continued calls by Israeli ministers for the permanent expulsion or eradication of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel’s plans for a so-called humanitarian city to be built on the ruins of Rafah has been described by the former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert as a “concentration camp”. Jinan Younis is the founder of diversity, equity and inclusion agency WeCalibrate and former assistant politics editor at gal-dem magazine Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Digested week: Naked glamping and the Gen Z stare (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
This week I inadvertantly conducted a valuable experiment on the reliability of couriers Spare a thought, please, for all the participants returning from the fifth annual swingers’ festival Swingathon (suggested tagline: “Genitally bored? You don’t have to be! But it’s easier”) in Allington, Lincolnshire, whose weekend event was beset by thunderstorms and heavy rain. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

If the king of Belgium can speak the truth about Gaza, why can’t Europe’s cowardly politicians? | David Van Reybrouck (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
EU leaders should have said what Philippe did months ago. He has highlighted their complicity Just when it seemed that Europe’s moral failure over Gaza was complete, the head of state of one EU country has stood up with a powerful message of moral clarity. King Philippe of Belgium, whose direct political statements are rare, condemned the grave humanitarian abuses in Gaza as “a disgrace to humanity”. In a televised address to mark Belgium’s national day on 21 July, Philippe said: “I stand with all those who denounce the grave humanitarian abuses in Gaza, where innocent civilians, trapped in their enclave, are dying of hunger and being killed by bombs.” The monarch said he fully supported the calls of the UN secretary general, António Guterres, to end “this unbearable crisis”. From the royal palace in Brussels, the king added: “The current situation has dragged on for far too long. It is a disgrace to humanity.” David Van Reybrouck is philosopher laureate for the Netherlands and Flanders. His books include Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World, and Congo: The Epic History of a People 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...
>> Lire la suite

The Guardian view on Ukraine’s protests: Zelenskyy must heed critics at home and abroad | Editorial (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Stripping anti-corruption agencies of their independence was a terrible – and unpopular – move. There are broader lessons for the president in this crisis When Russian troops rolled across the border in 2022, it established a new contract between Ukrainians and their president. The existential need for unity was cemented by admiration for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s courage, and recognition of his ability to articulate the national mood and rally international support. Ordinary politics were suspended. Critics who were already suspicious of his populist instincts and centralising tendencies did not want to aid Russia’s cause. They understood that wartime could require a different mode of leadership. This informal contract essentially held despite growing concerns about the concentration of power, the role of Mr Zelenskyy’s right-hand man, Andriy Yermak, and the departure of popular figures seen as potential rivals – notably the military chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, now ambassador to London, and the foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba. 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...
>> Lire la suite

The Guardian view on global inequality: the rising tide that leaves most boats behind | Editorial (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The world’s assets are piling up in the hands of the few as growth is built on widening gaps. That’s not just unfair – it’s economically unsustainable This year’s global wealth report by the City bank UBS confirms what is self-evident but rarely confronted: while riches are accumulating, their distribution remains starkly unbalanced. In the 56 countries and economic areas surveyed, the report says global personal wealth grew 4.6% in 2024. However, not all boats have been lifted by this tide. The gap is growing between those who hold assets and those who don’t. The figures are shocking: just 60m of the world’s adults – 1.6% of the population – have net personal wealth of $226tn, or 48.1% of all the world’s riches. At the other extreme, four in 10 adults – 1.57bn people – have only $2.7tn, or just 0.6% of all the world’s personal wealth. Economists now argue that inequality is no longer a by-product of growth but a condition of it. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Cohesive communities built on work and charity | Letters (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Dr Piers Taylor on reintegrating light industry into the heart of communities and Ruth Marks on how the third sector can bring people together. Plus a letter by Dr John Hull Your editorial rightly argues that collective belonging is rooted not only in place but also in shared purpose, and the dignified structures of mutual support that have too often been dismantled (The Guardian view on strengthening social cohesion: we can learn from the working-class past, 17 July). Our work at the University of the West of England engages directly with these concerns through research into how light industry – historically a binding force in working-class towns – might be reintegrated into the heart of our communities in a sustainable manner. The disappearance of production from everyday urban life has not simply meant the loss of jobs; it has also eroded identity, civic pride and interdependence. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Water firms should serve the common good | Letters (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Jeffrey Henderson suggests legally requiring water and other private companies to operate in the interests of the British public, while Peter Bowden favours the Green party’s clear commitment to renationalisation The Water Commission’s failure to consider renationalisation as an option for the industry does not necessarily mean that we’ll “watch the industry continue to sink under the failed model of privatisation”, as the Green party’s co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, has suggested (‘Less reorganising, more doing’: landmark report alone won’t fix broken water sector, 21 July). But, as you say in your editorial (21 July), it will mean that “making water companies value the public interest more highly, relative to private profit, will be an ongoing struggle”. There is a way, however, of ensuring that the public interest wins this struggle. Change the laws on corporate governance. Legally require water and other private companies to operate in the interests of the common good, and develop a regulatory system to ensure that this happens. This would make it easier to prosecute CEOs and other senior executives, should they fail to run their companies in the interests of the British people. In legislating this way, the government could take its lead from the German constitution, article 14, clause 2 of which states: “Property entails obligations. Its use shall also serve the public good.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Libya is ready to work with European governments to stem the migrant flow | Letter (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The UN-backed government of national unity is working to ensure the rule of law in Libya and could tackle traffickers at source, writes Walid Ellafi The ambition of Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, to join the UK-France migrant returns agreement overlooks one of the most important changes that would substantially reduce the flow of irregular migration to Europe: a pact with the internationally recognised government of national unity (GNU) in Libya (Merz calls for UK, Germany and France to align on migration and defence, 17 July). European governments should be working ever more closely with the GNU in Tripoli to help deliver national sovereignty in Libya, so that the UN-backed government can ensure the rule of law, and – to borrow one of Sir Keir Starmer’s favoured mantras – “smash the gangs” that traffic in human lives at source. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Protesters and police in Grosvenor Square | Brief letters (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Vietnam war demo | Wombles’ residence | Nigel Farage’s magic money tree | Crime crackdown | Photo from Gaza Covering a Vietnam war demo in Grosvenor Square in 1968, as a Guardian reporter, I was dipping in and out of the procession, getting quotes from protesters (The super-rich have done what protesters never could: taken over the US embassy in London, 22 July). Then a man sidled up and asked: “Are you from special branch too?” Richard Bourne London • As a resident of SW19, may I point out that the Wombles live on Wimbledon Common, not in Wimbledon Park (Letters, 23 July). Caroline Ewans London Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Martin Rowson on the doctors’ strike in England – cartoon (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Tour de France 2025: Arensman pips Pogacar and Vingegaard to win stage 19 on La Plagne – live (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Friday’s mountain stage changed around Col des Saisies Stage-by-stage guide | And mail Luke with your thoughts “Clearly the only strategy Visma have left is to try to run Pogacar over with their team car,” emails Bob. “That will definitely work.” “Oh.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Euro 2025 final buildup, latest transfer updates and more: football news – live (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Keep up with all the latest football news as it happens Euros top scorers | Player guide | And email Emillia Keira Walsh has said she hopes Spain’s players are able to “just enjoy the game of football” when they face England in the Euro 2025 final on Sunday after their World Cup final victory two years ago was overshadowed by Luis Rubiales’s actions afterwards. Reflecting on England’s 2023 World Cup final defeat to Spain, Keira Walsh said: “Obviously it was a massive disappointment. From a collective we probably feel like we didn’t have our best performance that day. But as a football player you can become too emotional and if you pull too much on that then you can be too emotional. This is a new game, new team, we know what we bring in this tournament so we’re going to keep doing that and focus on the positives, not try and draw on that too much. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Marcus Rashford must stave off sense of anticlimax after Barcelona switch | Jonathan Wilson (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Blockbuster loan move brings real pressure for 27-year-old because, if this doesn’t work, what does his future hold? If Anthony Martial hadn’t been injured in the warm-up, and Manchester United hadn’t already been missing 12 players, Marcus Rashford wouldn’t have played. It hadn’t seemed a particularly significant game: the second leg of a round-of-32 Europa League tie against Midtjylland on a chilly and cloudy February night. Old Trafford was far from full, the disillusionment that was beginning to stalk Louis van Gaal escalating after a 2-1 first-leg defeat. It soon got worse for United as Pione Sisto increased Midtjylland’s advantage. An own goal pulled one back but, before half-time, Juan Mata missed a penalty. But Rashford then slammed in a Mata cutback and converted a Guillermo Varela cross with a side-foot volley to give United the lead. They ended up winning 5-1. In the space of 12 second-half minutes, Rashford had been elevated from almost complete unknown to potential messiah, a status he confirmed three days later by scoring two and setting up another in a win over Arsenal. He was 18, Manchester-born, confident but understated. It was almost too perfect. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Football Daily | Alexander Isak, the final boss of this summer’s transfer window (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now! “Winning the transfer window” is common parlance these days, despite its entire premise lacking anything like common sense. Some players come good/go bad quicker/slower than others. But such is the binary nature of football’s unrelenting push towards being a mercantile, rather than sporting pursuit, that Football Daily is all too happy to throw itself into such nonsense. It’s what we’re here for, in all honesty. I don’t know about Ashley Young running legendary north London boozer the Faltering Fullback (yesterday’s Football Daily). But he could probably get a game. The Fullback will be making its debut in a London vets league this season and players need to be 40 years old/young. Enquire within, Ashley. Training’s in Finsbury Park most some weeks” – Dan Ashley. I hate to be that person, but I want to avoid the erasure of Grimsby Town’s link with footballing history. Tony Ford didn’t spend the majority of his career in Lancashire (yesterday’s Football Daily), he spent the majority on the banks of the River Humber where the salty air from the mudflats no doubt prolonged his career, allowing him to finish it at Rochdale. Some 444 games in total with two spells at the Mariners, with time spent in Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and the West Midlands in between” – Mark Gill. Is everyone still arguing about the north and south of England (Football Daily letters passim)? Thankfully I live in New Zealand, where the north and south are conveniently divided into different islands. If you followed the example of New Zealand, the Solent would be the dividing line, and residents of the Isle of Wight would refer to it as the mainland” – Tim Scanlan. This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Chessum faces biggest challenge in rival Skelton as Lions await ‘different beast’ (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Forward makes first Lions Test start against Wallabies at the MCG as he collides with mountainous adversary The visiting dressing rooms at the Melbourne Cricket Ground are more spacious than most. Big enough to accommodate the red army of British & Irish Lions players, coaches and backroom staff – the entire tour party is now almost 100-strong – but short on cosy intimacy. And when the players walk out into this famous arena with 90,000-odd fans filling the distant stands they will feel even smaller. The field of play is such a vast expanse that the Australian rules footballers who roam here can cover up to 17km during a single game. When it hosts rugby matches the participants are so far away from their audience they are almost in a different postcode. People like to talk about there being nowhere to hide in top-level sport and, outside a heavyweight boxing ring, there are few better examples. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

England v Spain: where the Women’s Euro 2025 final could be won or lost (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Sunday’s finalists have played against each other twice in the past six months. Here are five key areas where the game could be decided Spain’s domination in the middle of the park, in and out of possession, is what contributed significantly to their victory over England at the World Cup in 2023. The trio of Aitana Bonmatí, Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro are very technical and comfortable on the ball and create midfield rotations. Guijarro is instrumental, allowing the other two to make their runs and finding the passes to cut through defensive lines. In the semi-final against Germany, she completed more passes than anyone else. How England set up their midfield will be crucial. Their Nations League victory in February was down in large part to the selfless work rate of Ella Toone, Grace Clinton and Keira Walsh, who at times had to sacrifice the creative aspects of the game to close the midfield spaces, cut off the passing triangles that Spain love and prevent them from having free rein to roam through the thirds. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The value of Spain’s Patri Guijarro: ‘Watch her play and you can’t help but smile’ (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The ‘third’ player in Spain’s midfield is often underrated but has a crucial role in allowing Putellas and Bonmatí to thrive It’s England v Spain again in a major tournament final and most people know the strength of the world champions’ midfield. We have Alexia Putellas and we have Aitana Bonmatí. Superstars. But what about that third player? Who is she and what does she do? Well, there is an unwritten rule in Spanish football which says that when Patri Guijarro plays well, so do Spain and Barcelona. Undervalued and indispensable in a midfield triangle with the two Ballon d’Or winners, the Mallorca native has become essential for club and country. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Why one extra day could be secret to England getting revenge on Spain (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
History and science show playing their semi before their final rivals should be advantage for Sarina Wiegman’s team What do the past three Women’s World Cups, the past three men’s World Cups and the past four men’s European Championships have in common with this summer’s men’s Club World Cup? The answer may give England fans an extra glimmer of hope for Sunday’s Women’s Euro 2025 final because all of those competitions were won by the team who contested the first semi-final, 24 hours earlier than their opponents in the final. Most women’s football tournaments used to schedule the semi-finals for the same day but, since that began to change about 20 years ago, it has been a trend in international tournaments for the winners to have come from the first semi-final. As the Lionesses prepare to meet Spain, who came through their semi-final against Germany a day later than England’s comeback win over Italy, it begs the question: how much of an advantage could it offer to Sarina Wiegman’s team? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Wood you believe it? The footballer who made Euro trophy cases on the Wirral (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Yana Daniëls did not make Belgium’s squad but, as a carpenter, her contribution to the Euros appears at every game On the Wirral, to the west of Birkenhead and behind a hospital and a Toby Carvery, is Arrowe Park, a 250-acre country park. This is one of the many fields of play for Yana Daniëls, a footballer and a carpenter, and one of the more solitary and spacious. There is something to be said for the similarities between the art of carpentry and Daniëls’s sport, of the precision born of graft and execution, although crafted by hand rather than foot. But perhaps more to be said about the balance of life, control and chance. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sports quiz of the week: England v Spain, Tour, Tests and transfer deals (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Have you been following the big stories in football, boxing, golf, tennis, athletics, cricket, rugby and cycling? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

James Trafford returns to Manchester City in £27m deal after Newcastle snub (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Goalkeeper back at the Etihad following Burnley spell Newcastle suffer latest blow in frustrating window James Trafford will rejoin Manchester City from Burnley after the club matched a £27m offer from Newcastle for the goalkeeper, who will sign a five-year deal at the Etihad Stadium. The 22-year-old started his career at City after joining the academy from Carlisle. He never made a first-team appearance for the club, spending time on loan at Accrington, Bolton and Burnley before moving to Turf Moor for £14m. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

WSL to establish regular Sunday noon slot next season for live games on Sky Sports (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Goal is to ‘develop around the grounds’ narrative Chelsea open season at home to Manchester City Sky Sports is intending to schedule the majority of its live Women’s Super League matches at noon on Sundays in the new season, the Guardian understands, as the division seeks to establish a new regular slot. The fixtures for the 2025-26 WSL and WSL 2 campaigns were released on Friday but the broadcast picks were revealed only for the opening weekend. According to sources the regular 6.45pm UK time slot on Sunday evenings will be ditched, after extensive feedback from fans and clubs, in favour of lunchtime games. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

David Squires’ extended universe: buy an exclusive cartoon (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
In this month’s limited-time print drop, we’re showcasing work by David Squires, whose cartoons offer a unique take on the world of football – including a brand new coloured cartoon created exclusively for this release. This limited numbered edition is available until 5 August Buy your prints here David Squires is an Australia-based cartoonist and illustrator best known for his weekly football cartoons in The Guardian in the UK and Australia. David has also had four books published and provides regular cartoons for L’Équipe magazine in France and 11Freunde in Germany. David is uncomfortable about referring to himself in the third person, but will make an exception for the purposes of this format. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The Shahed blitz: can Russian drone onslaught break Ukraine’s resolve? (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Civilian casualties on rise as Moscow launches salvoes of hundreds of missiles after ramping up production Europe live – latest updates Night by night, the blitz develops. Russian drones, decoys, cruise and ballistic missiles – increasingly aimed at a single city or location – are being launched in record numbers into Ukraine, straining the country’s ability to defend itself and raising questions about how well it can endure another winter of war. One day earlier this month, 728 drones and 13 missiles were launched, mostly at the western city of Lutsk, home to many Ukrainian airfields. Large salvoes now come more frequently: every three to five days, rather than every 10 to 12, and civilian casualties are rising: 232 people were killed in June, the highest monthly level for three years. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Cleo Laine, Britain's most successful jazz singer, dies aged 97 (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Versatile vocalist straddled jazz, classical, pop and musical theatre with four-octave range, and collaborated for decades with husband, John Dankworth Dame Cleo Laine, the UK’s most successful and celebrated jazz singer, has died aged 97. A statement from her children Jacqui and Alec reads: “It is with deepest sadness that we announce the passing of our dearly beloved mother, Cleo, who died peacefully yesterday afternoon. We will all miss her terribly. The family wish to be given space to grieve and ask for privacy at this very difficult time.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Jay Slater died by accident in Tenerife after falling from height, coroner finds (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
British teenager was found dead on Spanish island after going missing while on holiday last summer A British coroner has concluded that the teenager Jay Slater, whose disappearance in Tenerife prompted a month-long search last summer, died after accidentally falling down a remote ravine in a dangerous area. The coroner, James Adeley, said the death of the 19-year-old was accidental, with no one else involved. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Thailand-Cambodia border dispute: 130,000 Thai civilians evacuated amid second day of clashes (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Thai PM says cross-border clashes ‘could develop into war’ as fighting spreads to 12 locations Thailand has evacuated more than 130,000 people along its border with Cambodia, as the worst fighting between the two neighbours in more than a decade spread to new areas with both sides firing artillery. Clashes had taken place in 12 locations along the disputed border, according to a Thai military official – an expansion of the conflict that erupted a day earlier. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘We’re terribly sorry’: South Park creators respond with humour to White House anger over naked Donald Trump (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Speaking at Comic-Con on Thursday, Trey Parker and Matt Stone revealed they spent days negotiating with producers to show the US president’s genitals South Park co-creator Trey Parker had the briefest of responses on Thursday to anger from the White House over the latest season premiere, which showed a naked Donald Trump in bed with Satan. “We’re terribly sorry,” Parker said, followed by a long, deadpan-comic stare. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Intrinsically connected’: how human neurodiversity could help save nature (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Biodiversity is linked to people’s diversity, and nature lends itself to people who are different, says author Joe Harkness When Joe Harkness received a message from a friend about macerating moth abdomens to check their genitalia to identify the species, it sparked an idea for a new book about wildlife obsessions. But over time, this developed into a completely different book: a clarion call to embrace neurodiversity in the fight against the extinction crisis. Across Britain, 15% of people are thought to be neurodivergent. In the process of writing Neurodivergent, By Nature, Harkness discovered that an estimated 30% of conservation employees were neurodivergent. Why? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Caribbean leaders hail ICJ climate ruling as ‘historic’ win for small island states (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
PM of St Vincent and the Grenadines says ruling will strengthen the Caribbean’s negotiating power when it comes to climate change reparations Leaders in the Caribbean have hailed the outcome of the international court of justice (ICJ) climate change case as a “historic legal victory” for small island states everywhere. Several countries in the region had provided evidence to the ICJ case, which ended this week with a landmark advisory opinion that could see states ordered to pay reparations if they fail to tackle fossil fuels and prevent harm to the climate system. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘It’s all a game’ to some politicians, says Labour MP suspended for rebellion over planning bill (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Chris Hinchliff says language used is indicative of ‘private schoolboy drinking club’ culture within government Chris Hinchliff was surprised when he was called into the whip’s office at short notice to be told he was no longer a Labour MP because of his campaign to enshrine chalk stream protections in law. Hinchliff, 31, who last summer became the new MP for North East Hertfordshire, was suspended from the parliamentary Labour party, along with three other MPs, because of a small rebellion he organised over the planning and infrastructure bill. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Weather tracker: heatwave triggers deadly wildfires in Turkey (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
At least 10 killed and dozens hospitalised in north of country, while intense heat grips parts of Scandinavia Turkey and other parts of the Balkan peninsula have been gripped by a heatwave this week, sparking wildfires that have killed at least 10 people and left dozens in hospital. Temperatures intensified at the weekend, peaking at 43C (109F) in Volos, Greece, on Tuesday. Authorities closed tourist attractions such as the Acropolis between midday and 5pm. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Wales to roll out subsidy cards to help reduce cost of gluten-free food (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
UK-first scheme aims to improve access to wider range of food for people with coeliac disease and gluten intolerance People with coeliac disease and gluten intolerance in Wales will be eligible for a prepaid card designed to help towards the cost of specialised foods. The debit-style subsidy cards will be rolled out in a UK-first this autumn, the Welsh government said on Friday. The scheme aims is to give people with conditions such as coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis access to a wider range of gluten-free food at supermarkets and online, rather than relying on prescriptions from a pharmacy. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Samaritans to close at least 100 branches across UK and Ireland (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Mental health charity says it plans to move volunteers into larger regional hubs and pilot remote call handling Samaritans has announced plans to close at least half of its 200 branches across the UK and Ireland, move volunteers into larger regional hubs and pilot remote call handling, in a shake-up that has left some volunteers dismayed. The mental health charity told volunteers in a video last week it hoped “within the next seven to 10 years, our branch network will have reduced by at least half” and that it would move to “fewer but bigger regions”. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Minister apologises to generation of UK children exposed to toxic online content (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
As new measures to protect young people online come into force, Peter Kyle says politicians were too slow to act The technology secretary has apologised to a generation of children who have been let down by governments failing to keep them safe from toxic online content. Peter Kyle said the length of time it had taken to bring in laws to keep children safe online had “sold a whole generation of children downstream” and that politicians must find a way to act more swiftly in the face of rapid technological changes. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

NatWest investors given £1.5bn weeks after full privatisation (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Profits rise 4.4% at lender, which plans to distribute interim dividend of 9.5p a share on top of fresh £750m buyback Business live – latest updates NatWest will give a further £1.5bn to shareholders only weeks after the UK government sold the final part of its stake in the once bailed-out bank. The high street lender on Friday announced plans to distribute an interim dividend of 9.5p a share, worth a collective £768m, on top of a fresh £750m share buy-back in the second half of the year. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Donald Trump says there is a 50-50 chance of EU-US trade deal – Europe live (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
US president tells reporters that Europe ‘wants to make a deal very badly’ as he leaves the White House for his trip to Scotland Separately, Reuters reported that Elon Musk’s Starlink systems used by Ukrainian military units were down for two and a half hours overnight, a senior commander said, part of a global issue that disrupted the satellite internet provider. Starlink experienced one of its biggest international outages on Thursday when an internal software failure knocked tens of thousands of users offline, the agency reported. “I have not communicated with Ursula von der Leyen in recent days. Everything that was written about it, everything that she allegedly told me, is a fake. We did not have a conversation.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Volkswagen takes €1.3bn hit from ‘high costs’ of Trump tariffs (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Manufacturer cuts profit margin range for year as German car exports to US fall sharply Business live -latest updates The German car manufacturer Volkswagen has said Donald Trump’s US import tariffs have cost it more than £1bn in the first half of the year. Volkswagen said it had made strong progress realigning the company, which is considering cutting 35,000 jobs by 2030, but that it had suffered a €1.3bn (£1.13bn) “decline in operating result primarily due to high costs from increased US import tariffs”. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Come with me, Chuck E’: Florida police arrest mascot for credit card fraud as children look on (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Police arrested employee of the chain after credit card stolen from customer was allegedly found in his possession Florida police have arrested a Chuck E Cheese mascot for credit card fraud, telling him “Chuck E, come with me” and leading him away in handcuffs while still in his gigantic mouse head costume as horrified children looked on. Police confirmed to the Tallahassee Democrat newspaper that they had arrested Jermell Jones, an employee of the chain of family entertainment centers, on three felonies. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Democratic lawmakers seek answers from homeland security head about masked Ice agents (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Exclusive: Robert Garcia and Summer Lee sent letter to Kristi Noem regarding masked immigration agents and concerns over constitutional protections Democratic members of Congress are pressing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to reveal information about immigration officers’ practice of wearing masks and concealing their identities, according to a letter viewed by the Guardian. The letter marks another step in pushes by US lawmakers to require immigration officials to identify themselves during arrest operations, especially when agents are masked, a practice that has sparked outrage among civil rights groups. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The Assassin review – Keeley Hawes’s menopausal hitwoman drama is perfectly crafted TV (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Stylish, witty, tightly written: this tale of a retired killer going on the run with her adult son is massively entertaining. Hawes just gets better and better A menopausal assassin has been a long time coming, even though there is literally no more perfect pairing in the world than a woman rapidly emptying of oestrogen and a gun. I blame the patriarchy, but I understand its unwillingness to confront the truth that if women were free to express themselves instead of raised in mental straitjackets, then armed at 40, the world would look very different indeed. Keeley Hawes, who just gets better and more impressive with every outing, is that menopausal assassin, in the aptly named six-part series The Assassin. Julie is her name and trying to live quietly in Greece and spurning every overture of friendship in the village is her game. Alas, she is called by her handler Damian, after 10 years of quietude, to perform one more time. This happens just as her son Edward (Freddie Highmore, absolutely shining in what is essentially a light comic part in a bloody, murderous caper) comes to visit for the first time in four years too! Even hitwomen have to juggle home and work demands. Oh, and Edward’s gone vegan since they last spoke and she got wagyu steaks in for tea. Handlers and kids, eh? Anyway, Edward’s here to ask her about the fortune that landed in his account when he turned 30 and if it’s anything to do with the father she has always refused to tell him about. She, more or less, tells him to shut up and eat his goddamn tofu. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Unforgivable review – Jimmy McGovern’s mesmeric new drama is even better than Adolescence (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
This rich, subtle and sophisticated look at child sexual abuse features a stellar cast putting in faultless performances. Its lack of easy answers feels exactly right “We pray for it every day, but it’s man’s will that gets done, not God’s.” Thus speaks a former nun, pretty much an emblematic character of a Jimmy McGovern drama, delivering an emblematic line. McGovern has always been a chronicler of pressing social issues, from police incompetence and corruption (Hillsborough) to government failures and cover-ups (Sunday, Reg), class struggle (Dockers), disability (Go Now), religious hypocrisy (Priest, Broken), violence (Anthony, Time) and the brokenness of systems supposedly set up to help our most vulnerable (Care). But whatever the issue under examination and – usually – excoriation, there is the profounder concern of how far from grace we have fallen. From there, McGovern asks: what would it take for us to rise again? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Rumours to Fallen Leaves: the seven best film to watch on TV this week (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
A wild zombie plot set in a G7 summit, and a unique romantic comedy packed with deadpan humour Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Chief of War to Hurricane Katrina: the seven best shows to stream this week (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Jason Momoa takes the lead role in this epic, violent dramatised story of Hawaiian history. Plus, a gripping five-part documentary series to mark 20 years since the horrific Gulf of Mexico storm An epic history lesson, courtesy of the mountainous Jason Momoa. When we first meet Ka’iana (Momoa) he is something of a loner, capturing a shark with his bare hands and some rope. But he is coaxed back into armed service by the prophecy of an invasion that will lead to the unification of Hawaii. The drama is based on true events and great care has evidently been taken to present an authentic version of this undertold story. It is steeped in Polynesian cultural practices but it is also full of universal, action-adventure staples – namely, political machinations that periodically dissolve into prolonged outbreaks of expertly choreographed, frequently blood-curdling violence. Phil Harrison Apple TV+, from Friday 1 August Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Westside Cowboy’s ramshackle Americana – plus the week’s best new tracks (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The Manchester band have coined the ungainly term ‘Britainicana’ for their sound – but their mix of punky vigour and country classicism rattles along at high speed From Manchester Recommended if you like Pavement, Ezra Furman, Guided By Voices Up next Debut EP out 8 August Westside Cowboy describe their sound as Britainicana. You get what they mean. The winners of this year’s Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition are the product of a burgeoning new Manchester underground scene but started out performing Hank Williams and Bob Dylan covers in drummer Paddy Murphy’s bedroom. While the vocals locate them firmly in the UK, there’s a distinct country/rockabilly undertow to their sound. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Editrix: The Big E review – experimental trio speak their own ferocious musical language (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
(Joyful Noise) Led by Wendy Eisenberg, the Massachusetts band’s third album explores communication challenges in an articulate and exhilarating rock fusion What would an alien satellite tell us if it could overcome the gulf of time, space and language? “Thirteen thousand years orbit Earth get mistaken for trash,” suggests Wendy Eisenberg, their cool, clear voice transforming compressed lyrics into a post-human plea for connection. It’s a sharp opening to a fresh, ferocious third album from Editrix – an experimental trio founded in Massachusetts’ DIY scene – which explores forms of frustrated, imbalanced communication via a musical language all their own. From rock’s foundations and various genres – blues, jazz, punk, prog, hardcore, indie, metal – Editrix carve a style that is articulate and crushingly exhilarating. With galloping interplay between Steve Cameron’s bass and Josh Daniel’s drums (which alternate between cavernous and deadened, sometimes as if he’s simply drumming his fingers on a plastic tabletop), the band fall in and out of togetherness; musical conversations begin, get interrupted and pick up somewhere new. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Anthony Braxton: Quartet (England) 1985 review | John Fordham's jazz album of the month (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
(Burning Ambulance) The free-collective energy of one of Braxton’s most intuitive groups jostles and enchants as a mirror of life’s rhythms Sometime in the 1980s, Anthony Braxton left this 3am announcement on his record producer’s answerphone: “Leo Feigin, I’m telling you, our children will be dancing to my music! Bye bye.” At that moment, the awesomely virtuosic and intellectually formidable multi-reeds improviser and composer had probably heard one too many carps from traditionalists that his ideas were too cerebral and unswinging for jazz. Now 80, Braxton’s cross-genre visions have since fascinated jazz bands, symphony orchestras, opera and experimental modern-dance companies, and the influential imaginations of younger admirers including John Zorn and Mary Halvorson. Feigin’s Leo Records label, and Switzerland’s Intakt, have kept the immense resource of his influence simmering for years. Now the enterprising Burning Ambulance Music (which has also brought much of the now-retired Feigin’s invaluable Leo Records catalogue to Bandcamp) releases Quartet (England) 1985, catching the sound of one of Braxton’s most skilfully intuitive groups on that year’s UK tour. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Tyler, the Creator: Don’t Tap the Glass review | Alexis Petridis’s album of the week (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
(Columbia) The soul-searching of last year’s Chromakopia is expelled – for the most part – by half an hour of early 80s rhythms and slick one-liners with the IDGAF attitude of his early years Tyler, the Creator’s ninth album received a very contemporary grand unveiling. Rush-released two days after its existence was announced, it had been trailed by the appearance of cryptic art installations at the rapper’s live shows – he’s still theoretically touring his last album, 2024’s Chromakopia – and at One World Trade Center in New York, and by a flurry of online gossip: one US website was forced to retract and apologise for publishing a tracklisting, complete with guest appearance by Kendrick Lamar, that turned out to be fake. Despite all this, Tyler Okonma seemed keen to deflate the kind of anticipation that arises when your last three albums have all been critically lauded, platinum-selling chart-toppers full of big ideas. “Y’all better get them expectations and hopes down,” he posted on X, “this ain’t no concept nothing.” He then published an essay that read suspiciously like an explanation of the album’s concept, bemoaning the intrusion of cameraphones and social media on our ability to live in the moment: “Our human spirit got killed because of the fear of being a meme.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Children and teens roundup – the best new picture books and novels (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
A picture of patience; first days at school; a cruise ship detective; a terrible storm; time travellers; rebels in love and more Put Your Shoes On by Polly Dunbar, Walker, £12.99Late for a party, Mummy really wants Josh to put his shoes on – but he’s too lost in his imagination to hear until she shouts. Featuring a child’s inner world vividly evoked by Dunbar’s own sons’ drawings, this tender, relatable picture book encourages patience and communication. The Tour at School (Because You’re the New Kid!) by Katie Clapham, illustrated by Nadia Shireen, Walker, £12.99This irrepressibly bouncy tour of all the school essentials (including toilets, emergency meeting tree and library with possibly more than a million books) humorously distils the scariness of starting school and the thrill of making a new friend. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Gurnaik Johal: ‘I had no idea Zadie Smith was such a big deal!’ (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The author on a brilliant biography of Buster Keaton, coming round to Joseph Conrad, and marathon training with Karl Ove Knausgård My earliest reading memory I used to regularly reread my bright green copy of the Guinness Book of Records. I can still clearly picture the woman with the longest fingernails in the world. My favourite book growing up I loved the world-building in Michelle Paver’s Wolf Brother series. Its stone age setting was different to anything I knew, but so easy to imagine being a part of. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Fair by Jen Calleja review – on the magic of translation (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
A highly original book from the author of Goblinhood explores the art and work of translating fiction Jen Calleja is used to making things happen for herself, by herself, despite the fact that collaboration is vital to all her endeavours: her work as a literary translator, rendering German prose and poetry into English; her life as a publisher, and co-founder with her friend Kat Storace of Praspar Press, which aims to bring Maltese literature to a wider audience; her own writing, which includes the novel Vehicle and the essay collection Goblinhood; and her other incarnation, as a member of the post-punk band Sauna Youth. All of this takes a significant amount of energy and determination, but one of Fair’s central contentions is that it is all made far harder than it ought to be by, in effect, the covert acceptance of inequality and exclusion in the arts and literature. She recalls, for example, finally feeling that she has made it as a translator when she is invited to speak at the London Book Fair; years later, she returns to tell the audience that she has plenty of work, but only £30 in her bank account because so many of the organisations in the room are behind on paying her. “Out of the frying pan of grifting,” as she acidly notes, “into the fire of contempt”. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘A novel to be swept away by’: Lucy Steeds wins Waterstones debut fiction prize for The Artist (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Judges praised the novel, set in 1920s Provence, for its ‘atmospheric, sensory prose’ and described Steeds as ‘an exciting new voice’ Lucy Steeds has won the 2025 Waterstones debut fiction prize for her novel The Artist, which has been praised for its “atmospheric, sensory prose.” Set in an artist’s household in 1920s Provence, the novel follows aspiring English journalist Joseph Adelaide, reclusive painter Edouard Tartuffe and his niece Ettie, who has her own hidden artistic ambitions. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

How video games are keeping romance alive – one level at a time (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
Some are using Final Fantasy and GTA Online as dating sites and long-time lovers are finding comfort and connection through Resident Evil. Could video games be the ultimate relationship tool? Last week, Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour talked about the role of women in the video games industry. It featured interviews with gaming insiders, from esports presenter Frankie Ward to members of the inclusive online community Black Girl Gamers. It was wonderful to hear so many disparate, expert views on games culture being given so much time on the show. One of my favourite moments was when presenter Nuala McGovern read out some listener responses to the question: why do you play video games? “I don’t think there’s enough recognition of gaming as an activity for couples,” one replied. “My husband and I bonded over our shared love of gaming. Our honeymoon was playing Borderlands 2 while we saved for a flat deposit, and now, with a young child, we explore stories, we visit new worlds, we solve mysteries … There is an underappreciated romance to gaming – we communicate, encourage, collaborate and celebrate together. It’s a joy.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Donkey Kong Bananza review - delirious destruction derby takes hammer to platforming conventions (Wed, 16 Jul 2025)
Nintendo Switch 2; NintendoGiven that its hero can smash through any barrier – which is delightful fun in itself – Nintendo’s new 3D platformer has a surreal freeform audacity A lot rests on Donkey Kong Bananza. As Nintendo’s first major single-player Switch 2 game, it will set the quality bar for the console in the way Breath of the Wild did when the original Switch was released. But as the latest game from the team responsible for the exceptional 3D Mario series, it is already begrudged by some Nintendo fans as a distraction: what could possibly be so exciting about a tie-wearing gorilla to justify making Bananza ahead of another Super Mario Odyssey? Donkey Kong demolishes those concerns. He demolishes a lot in Bananza. It may resemble a Mario 64-style 3D platformer on the surface, with its themed worlds festooned with giant bananas to sniff out and collect, but DK’s fists show total disregard for the playground as built. All terrain is destructible. Mash the buttons and his powerful arms thump tunnels through hills, pound pristine lawns into muddy craters and tear up wodges of stone to swing as sledgehammers for even speedier landscaping. He is less a platforming mascot than a potassium-powered level editor. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Gaming in their golden years: why millions of seniors are playing video games (Mon, 14 Jul 2025)
Adults over the age of 50 represent nearly a third of US gamers and are becoming more visible in the mainstream Michelle Statham’s preferred game is Call of Duty. It’s fast and frenetic, involving military and espionage campaigns inspired by real history. She typically spends six hours a day livestreaming to Twitch, chatting to her more than 110,000 followers from her home in Washington state. She boasts about how she’ll beat opponents, and says “bless your heart” while hurtling over rooftops to avoid clusterstrikes of enemy fire. When she’s hit, she “respawns” – or comes back to life at a checkpoint – and jumps right back into the fray. The military shooter game has a predominantly young male user base, but Statham’s Twitch handle is TacticalGramma – a nod to the 60-year-old’s two grandkids. Her lifelong gaming hobby has become an income stream (she prefers to keep her earnings private, but says she has raised “thousands” for charity), as well as a way to have fun, stay sharp and connect socially. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘The way a child plays is the way they live’: how therapists are using video games to help vulnerable children (Mon, 14 Jul 2025)
Minecraft and other creative games are becoming recognised as powerful means of self-expression and mental health support, including for traumatised Ukrainian refugees Oleksii Sukhorukov’s son was 12 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. For months, the family existed in a state of trauma and disarray: Sukhorukov was forced to give up his work in the entertainment industry, which had included virtual reality and video games; they became isolated from friends and relatives. But amid the chaos, his boy had one outlet: Minecraft. Whatever was happening outside, he’d boot up Mojang’s block-building video game and escape. “After 24 February 2022, I began to see the game in a completely different light,” says Sukhorukov. I discovered that Ukrainian children were playing together online; some living under Russian occupation, others in government-controlled areas of the country that were the targets of regular missile attacks; some had already become refugees. And yet they were still able to play together, support one another, and build their own world. Isn’t that amazing? I wanted to learn more about how video games can be used for good.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Top Hat review – ravishing musical taps immaculately off the silver screen (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Chichester Festival theatreTwinkly eyed Phillip Attmore and silky-singing Lucy St Louis have natural chemistry in this stylish, witty adaptation of the mistaken identity drama It looks like there may be trouble ahead in the first tripping moments of this silver screen musical adaptation. Several performers slip and fall during the ensemble opening number – Puttin’ on the Ritz. The show is stopped, the stage mopped up (its wetness apparently caused by unexpected condensation), and then the show really does proceed to put on the ritz. Adapted by Matthew White and Howard Jacques, its drama of mistaken identity faithfully follows the 1935 movie starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers but it has more Irving Berlin tunes, each more divine than the last. Phillip Attmore plays Jerry Travers, the avowed bachelor and Broadway star whose head is turned by the independently minded fashion model Dale Tremont (Lucy St Louis). She, in turn, mistakes him for the older, married Horace Hardwick (Clive Carter) and the whole thing plays out like an American Restoration drama but with added tap dance and swing. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Andy Goldsworthy: Fifty Years review – a wild walk between life, death and sheep-shearing (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
National Galleries of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, EdinburghUsing barbed wire, graveyard pebbles and prickly thorns, this retrospective plunges viewers into the raw sadness and beauty of rural life Rural life hits you in the face like the stink of cow dung as soon as you step into the Royal Scottish Academy. Andy Goldsworthy has laid a sheepskin rug up the classical gallery’s grand staircase – very luxurious, except it’s made from the scraps thrown away after shearing, stained blue or red with farmers’ marks, all painstakingly stitched together with thorns. This is the Clarkson’s Farm of art retrospectives, plunging today’s urbanites into the raw sadness and beauty, the violence and slow natural cycles of the British countryside. Goldsworthy may love nature but he doesn’t sentimentalise it. At the top of the stairs there’s a screen and through its gaps you glimpse the galleries beyond. It feels mystical and calming, until you realise it’s made of rusty barbed wire strung between two of the building’s columns that serve as tightly-wound wire rollers. It made me think of Magnus Mills’ darkly hilarious rural novel about hapless fencers, The Restraint of Beasts. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

His Last Report review – dynamic celebration of chocolatier’s son who invented ‘the poverty line’ (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
York Theatre RoyalWith an 80-strong cast, this moving play about social reformer Seebohm Rowntree finds a universal message in the most local of stories There are myriad reasons why this parochial production will never travel outside the city walls of York, not least of which is the size of the more than 80-strong community cast. There are also jokes that you will only fully appreciate if you understand ancient antagonisms between Yorkshire’s West and North Ridings and why “Cadbury’s” (in a place built around Rowntree’s) is a punchline. Yet writers Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman have plundered this most local of stories and found something universal, relevant and powerful. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Ensemble Intercontemporain/ Bleuse review – from a clown to a clarinet and Cathy Berberian (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Royal Albert Hall, London A late-night Prom devoted to the music of Berio and Boulez (both born 100 years ago) demonstrated the intricacy, zaniness and sheer imagination of the two composers Twin titans of the 20th-century avant garde, Luciano Berio and Pierre Boulez were born seven months apart in 1925. This well-crafted concert by Ensemble Intercontemporain, the orchestra Boulez founded in 1976, avoided the obvious hits while demonstrating just how different their music could be. Berio’s Sequenza V for solo trombone is one of 14 pieces he wrote to test the boundaries of particular instruments or vocal types. It was inspired by Grock, a Swiss-born clown and one-time neighbour of the composer, whose personality had fascinated him as a boy. Lucas Ounissi, ambling on in full circus slap and a lime-green wig, put his instrument through its paces. Juggling a handheld plunger mute, he rasped and farted away, frequently singing and playing at the same time. A virtuoso performance showed off the breadth of the composer’s imagination as well as his singular sense of humour. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Week in wildlife: a rescued monkey, squabbling jays and an amputee camel (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The god of small things: celebrating Arvo Pärt at 90 (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The Estonian composer’s music of simplicity, spirituality – and silence – is universally appealing and enduringly rewarding. We pay tribute ahead of his milestone birthday In many ways Arvo Pärt and John Williams’s music couldn’t be further apart. One celebrates simplicity, purity, and draws much of its inspiration from sacred texts; the other captures strong emotions in sweeping orchestral scores. And yet the two men are today’s most performed contemporary composers. Bachtrack’s annual survey of classical music performed across the world placed Pärt second (John Williams is in the top spot) in 2023 and 2024. In 2022, Pärt was first, Williams second. This year, Pärt might return to No 1 as concert halls and festivals worldwide celebrate his 90th birthday, on 11 September. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Pärt has found a way to speak across boundaries of culture, creed and generation. In the world of contemporary classical music, where complexity and empty virtuosity often dominate, Pärt stands apart. His music eschews spectacle in favour of silence, simplicity and spiritual depth. Pärt has outlasted political regimes, artistic fashions and shifting trends in composition, yet his work remains strikingly relevant. In a cultural moment saturated with information and spectacle, Pärt offers something almost universally appealing. As the commentator Alex Ross observed in a 2002 New Yorker article, Pärt has “put his finger on something almost impossible to put into words, something to do with the power of music to obliterate the rigidities of space and time [and] silence the noise of self, binding the mind to an eternal present.” Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues – first trailer released (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The highly anticipated sequel to 1984’s seminal comedy sees the band reunite for a farewell show with appearances from Elton John, Questlove and Paul McCartney The first trailer for the long-awaited sequel to This Is Spinal Tap has been released, showcasing the venerable rockers’ supposed last hurrah in a film called Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. Spinal Tap II reunites Nigel Tufnel, David St Hubbins and Derek Smalls (played by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer) as they get together for a final concert, more than 40 years after the 1984 mockumentary that made their name. In between, Spinal Tap released the album Break Like the Wind in 1992, appeared on The Simpsons, played the Live Earth charity concert in 2007 and Glastonbury in 2009. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Laughing and out of breath, he thanked us for the snowball fight’: fans on the magic of Ozzy Osbourne (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The Prince of Darkness was unexpectedly self-effacing, hilarious and generous, say lovers of Black Sabbath I interviewed Ozzy in 1997, for Kerrang! magazine. We met in a hotel on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where he proceeded to drink gallons of Diet Coke, and take the piss out of himself. He was the least pretentious rock star I ever met, and during my decade in the industry, I met hundreds. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The best short shorts for men – and how to pull them off (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Not sure where to start with short shorts? From sporty to tailored to thrifted, these are the styles to try (and the easy rules to wearing them well) • 50 men’s summer wardrobe updates under £100 According to the hemline index, skirts shift upwards during prosperous times – the theory being that hemlines rise and fall in line with the economy. Well, it seems that for guys, it’s the opposite. With turbulent markets, our shorts are rising higher than ever – so much so that this season has been dubbed “thigh guy summer”. Sure, we’ve sort of been here before. Donald Glover was spotted in teeny tiny shorts back in 2022 while Paul Mescal, the king of short shorts, has been wearing them ever since Normal People was released in 2020. And lest we forget Milo Ventimiglia’s viral moment in his post-workout micro-minis in 2021. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Is your garden out of control? Don’t stress: embrace the chaos (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Instead of relentlessly weeding and trimming, take time to stop and stare – to marvel at the sheer beauty of nature The growing season is at its peak. There have been harvests already and more to come. The boughs of our plum tree bend towards the ground, heaving with fruit, and there are new cucumbers and courgettes swelling with each warm summer day. My season started late, and since the spring equinox I feel as if I’ve been stumbling while I try to catch up. My crops are being outpaced by the creeping buttercup, couch grass and nettles that sneak under the chicken-wire fence. Self-seeded lemon balm and teasels pop up wherever there’s a thumbnail’s worth of bare soil. While it’s a glorious time in the veg patch, all I seem to feel is overwhelm. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

No more meltdowns, mess or madness! 20 simple tips for surviving long family journeys (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Feeling frazzled at the thought of hours travelling by car, train or ferry? Try these easy, expert-backed ways to keep kids (and adults) calm, fed and smiling • 17 tips for keeping kids entertained over summer (some are even free) The phrases “Are we there yet?” and “I’m hungry” provide a soundtrack whenever I travel with my six- and three-year-old daughters. No matter how far we’ve gone, there’s a constant stream of demands for snacks, games, entertainment, stories, songs … the list goes on. Every summer, we travel to the Lake District, a seven-hour drive. And we regularly holiday in France, which involves long train, ferry and car journeys, so my husband and I have become skilled at managing these. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘The only thing that gets me out of my tent’: the camping essentials you need (and what you don’t) (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
From foam wash to hammocks, these are the non-negotiables seasoned campers swear by – and the kit they’d happily skip • The best camping mattresses for every type of adventure, tested Packing for a camping trip isn’t easy, especially if you’re not an experienced adventurer. Newbie campers often overpack while simultaneously leaving more useful items at home. As a lifelong city dweller, my lack of knowhow has been exposed on trips with my camping-savvy family in the US. It turns out that House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski and a medium-sized Bluetooth speaker aren’t must-haves on a four-day wilderness hike. Who knew? An extra water bottle would have been a better use of that space, something I learned through a series of hardships. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The best kettles to save energy and speed up your cuppa, tested (Tue, 22 Jul 2025)
Not all electric kettles are created equal. We boiled litres of water to find the best, from hard-water heroes to vintage-style, repairable and wi-fi connected models • The best air fryers, tried and tested for crisp and crunch Despite the march of progress, the humble kettle remains a kitchen staple. It’s what we turn to in times of strife, when spirits are flagging, or to start our day. And when a visitor calls, one of the first things we do is put the kettle on. While many small appliances have evolved beyond their original form, the kettle’s basic principles remain largely unchanged. Water goes in and heats up until a thermostat switches it off; the water then pours out, and we enjoy a cuppa. However, the technology that goes into a kettle has been slowly improving: better insulation to keep water hotter for longer and reduce reboils; different temperature settings to suit every drink from green tea to herbal brews; and more features such as filters and concealed elements to keep scale out of our cups. Best kettle overall: Bosch Sky kettle £76 at Amazon Best budget kettle: Kenwood Ripple kettle £29.99 at Kenwood The forever kettle Dualit Classic kettle £140 at Currys Best quiet kettle:Zwilling Enfinigy Pro kettle £139 at Zwilling Best budget variable temperature kettle: Lakeland Digital double-walled kettle £44.99 at Lakeland Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘It’s the low-key moments that stay with us’: the secret to happy summer holidays with the kids (Mon, 21 Jul 2025)
Affordable family fun; wedding gift ideas couples will actually want; and the best gins, tested • Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up here On a walk with my children, now in their mid-20s, I asked them what they remembered best from their school summer holidays. I expected to hear about the fiesta we witnessed in the heat of Tarifa, Spain, or be berated for the time I booked early flights to Crete, leaving us sitting in the waiting room of a resort from 4am until check-in time. I was greatly amused (and slightly relieved), then, to hear my son say: “Our summer books – that time we collected all those random things, took them home and stuck them into a book.” He was delighted that we’ve kept them. The best wedding gifts in the UK: 13 ideas that couples will actually want The best moisturising lip balms to hydrate and protect your lips The best gins for G&Ts, martinis and negronis, from our taste test of 50 ‘Unbelievably terrible’: the best (and worst) supermarket vanilla ice-cream, tested and rated Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Benjamina Ebuehi’s recipe for strawberry and custard doughnuts | The sweet spot (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Prefer jam or custard in your doughnut? There’s no reason not to have both I don’t make doughnuts very often, but few things are better than the first bite of a freshly fried, pillowy-soft one, sugar-coated lips and all. When it comes to fillings, custard just about beats jam for me, but who’s to say you can’t have both? So, to satisfy everyone, I’ve filled these doughnuts generously with a thick vanilla custard and a speedy strawberry jam. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

They’re great outdoors: wines to drink with a barbecue | Hannah Crosbie on drinks (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
When it comes to choosing a wine to serve with grilled meat or veg, it pays to think outside the box In one section of my first book, Corker: A Deeply Unserious Wine Book, I sought to address the single-biggest DM slide I get every summer: what wines to bring to a barbecue. And the reason this is my most common request is pretty simple: where I live, in London, being invited to a barbecue means you have a friend with a garden, whereas most of us are concertinaed into blocks of flats and house shares. The prospect of spending a hot afternoon outdoors and with a glass of something delicious is far more delightful than the idea of spending it in my sweaty room surrounded by black clothing (an excellent heat-insulating technique, by the way), especially if it involves an actual garden and generous pals. That’s an occasion to which you want to bring a bottle of something good. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Rachel Roddy’s rice salad with red peppers, celery, herbs and egg – recipe (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The secret to a really good rice salad is temperature, herbs, good protein and to make sure it’s studded with flavourful vegetables … transparent bowl optional A few weeks ago, when the weather turned boiling and the tarmac became soft, I made a bad rice salad. The principal reason for this was the overcooked rice, which was my fault for three reasons: I was using a brand I have never used before and didn’t read the packet; I forgot to set the kitchen timer; and I ignored my instinct to tip it out (dog? Cake? Compost? Bin?) and start again. To my overcooked rice I added not-tasty tomatoes, tough minced parsley, extra-virgin olive oil, a bit too much vinegar, olives, capers and hard-boiled eggs; I also added an expensive tin of tuna, which did a brilliant job of making the whole thing taste better, although still not good. Everyone agreed that it was a depressing dinner, then we went out for ice-cream. The good thing about making a bad rice salad is the need to redeem and reassure myself that I am capable of making not only a good one, but a great one, though I do appreciate that today’s first paragraph might make you doubt this. A good rice salad begins with well-cooked long-grain rice and involves a good balance of four vegetable elements: raw (tomatoes, red pepper, cucumber, celery, say), cooked (beans, courgettes, peas, sweetcorn), vegetables preserved in oil (peppers, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, aubergine), and pickled or salted vegetables (dill pickles, olives, capers, caper berries). There should also be some form of protein, whether that’s tuna, cheese, tofu, salami or wurstel; possibly involve (tender) herbs; be dressed with oil and a little vinegar; and always be finished with egg (slices, wedges or chopped – you decide). Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Turn a glut of courgettes into a moreish crunchy snack for pizza night (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
Scarpaccia is a crunchy polenta flatbread that makes clever use of seasonal courgettes and other summery toppings Anyone who has ever grown courgettes will know that, come peak season, you have to get inventive with the abundance and come up with new ways to use them before they turn to marrows or perish and melt back into the soil. One fabulous way to cook up a glut is scarpaccia, an Italian classic that’s similar to farinata and a distant cousin of pizza. Thinly sliced courgettes are degorged by tossing them in sea salt to extract their juices, then, true to Italian thrift, the flavourful liquid is used to make a batter that’s then reunited with the courgettes before baking into a thin, crisp slice. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

You be the judge: Should my partner stop obsessively cutting costs when we travel? (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Persephone prefers to splash the cash on holiday, whereas Cara likes to travel on a budget – starting with the baggage. You get to weigh up the case • Find out how to get a disagreement settled or become a juror Nice accommodation is a big part of a trip, and by cutting corners Cara actually costs us money I’m a budget babe and a foodie. I want to eat at nice places, not waste money on luggage fees and hotels Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘If I switch it off, my girlfriend might think I’m cheating’: inside the rise of couples location sharing (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Many apps like Find My allow us to follow our loved ones at all times. But just because we can, does it mean we should? When Alan and his partner got together, they were “both in failing marriages”. “If location tracking had been an option for our ex-spouses in those days, things would have been rather different,” he says. Alan, from north Oxfordshire, is still a fan of location sharing, despite the fact it would have once thwarted his romantic indiscretions. “I’m sure we would have still ended up together, but navigating the clandestine meetings would have been trickier.” The ability to share your location on your mobile phone has become a common way to keep tabs on friends, family and romantic partners. For some, it has become the signifier of a serious relationship: last year, the New York Times called location sharing “the final frontier in digital expressions of coupledom” and likened it to the Instagram “hard launch” (effectively announcing that you’re in a relationship by posting a photo of your partner for the first time). Others location-share on a whim and find themselves able to track the whereabouts of people they haven’t seen in person for years. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

After 15 years of premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction, will I ever satisfy my wife? (Tue, 22 Jul 2025)
We ‘saved ourselves’ for marriage – but our sex life began with disaster. Now she has lost all interest, and couples counselling doesn’t help I am a 48-year-old man. Both my wife and I come from a conservative background; we believe that sex before marriage is a sin and saved ourselves until we got married in our early 30s. Before getting married, I masturbated but never had any real sex. Our first night turned out to be a disaster. I couldn’t get an erection. However, as the days passed, we managed to have sex but not to my wife’s satisfaction, because I finished within 30 seconds of penetration. I think I suffer from both erectile dysfunction (ED) and premature ejaculation (PE). My ED is not consistent – I have been prescribed Viagra and use it sometimes – but my PE continues, and is taking a toll on us. My wife is uninterested in sex because she doesn’t get anything out of it. It has been about 15 years now and we have two kids but our sex life has not improved. I tried couples counselling but that was more about building a bond between us (which I believe is not an issue as we love each other and can’t think about being with someone else). The only missing piece in our life is satisfying sex. I would do anything to satisfy my wife but I am feeling helpless. 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. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Leftists are determined to date each other - and not settle for liberals: ‘Politics are the new religion’ (Mon, 21 Jul 2025)
Progressives are seeking ideologically aligned matches as ‘hot commie summer’ heats up, but the apps aren’t helping Zohran Mamdani gave Hinge an unofficial boost last month when the New York mayoral candidate revealed that he met his wife, Rama Duwaji, through swiping. “There is still hope on those dating apps,” he said on the Bulwark podcast a week before his stunning victory in the Democratic primary. The tidbit spread over social media, cementing the 33-year-old democratic socialist’s status as a millennial everyman. A subsequent Cosmopolitan headline read: “Zohran Mamdani could make history (as the first NYC mayor to meet his wife on Hinge).” Representatives for Hinge would not comment, but plenty of eligible New Yorkers did, claiming they would redownload the app due to Mamdani’s success, in spite of their dating fatigue. “Now I’m clocking in like it’s a full-time job,” one user posted on TikTok. “If he can find love on that app maybe I can,” another wrote in a caption. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

What to do if your TfL Oyster or Zip card is lost or stolen (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
From how to cancel it and the effect on the balance, there are steps you should consider taking Oyster cards revolutionised travel across London, making it easier and faster to get across the capital, and despite the uptick in journeys now made with contactless payments, they are still used by many to get around. They are easy to misplace, however. If yours is lost, damaged or stolen, here are some tips to get you back on track. Check whether your card is registered to a Transport for London (TfL) account. If you lose an unregistered card, you can’t get a refund or replacement, and will lose any pay-as-you-go credit. For a registered card, sign in to your TfL account and report it missing, stolen or faulty. You can also report a lost, stolen or damaged Oyster photocard, including the five to 10, 11-15 or 16+ zip cards, 18+ student, apprentice, 60+ and veterans Oyster photocard, by logging in to your web account. This will cancel the cards. Order a replacement card online or buy one at an Oyster Ticket Stop, which you can find in many newsagents or corner shops around London. It costs £7 for a new Oystercard and £11 to replace a photocard, plus postage. Your pay-as-you-go balance will transfer to your new card as long as you’re registered, as will a travelcard or bus and tram pass if you have at least five days travel remaining. If the card is for someone under 18, a parent or guardian must apply on their behalf. Create an account if you haven’t already and connect it to your Oyster card. You’ll already have an account if you buy a Zip card, 18+ student, apprentice, 60+ or veterans Oyster photocards. Transfer your account to your new card by confirming a security question and answer on your TfL account, or providing details of a journey you made with the Oyster card in the last eight weeks. You can do this by selecting “add new Oyster card” and entering the card number, or under the “transfer my products to another Oyster card” on your TfL account after you’ve reported it missing. If the card is for someone under 18, a parent or guardian will have to do this for them. If you get discounted travel, such as with a railcard, you will need to have the discount added to your replacement card. You can do this by asking a member of staff at a station to connect them, so will need your railcard handy. Keep your Oyster card in a secure place, ideally not with other cards, so if you lose one, you don’t lose them all. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

UK airport parking: how to drive down the cost on your summer holiday (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
From penalties for overstays and delayed flights to the price of ‘meet and greet’ versus long or short stay How much airport parking will cost you depends on several factors – when you book; how close to the airport you want to be; how you book; how long your vehicle will stay in the car park; and which airport you are flying from. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Why does British Gas keep playing dumb over my faulty smart meter? (Tue, 22 Jul 2025)
It won’t relay readings, and I now fear an estimated bill I may be unable to challenge I’m one of millions whose smart meters have gone “dumb” and stopped relaying readings to the supplier. British Gas cancelled the first appointment to fix it and failed to show for the second. They’ve since fallen silent. It’s now been five months and I am concerned that, at some point, I will be getting an estimated bill that I will be unable to challenge. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Rental fraud: the Facebook and Gumtree scam targeting desperate tenants (Sun, 20 Jul 2025)
Posing as a landlord, fraudsters post adverts for affordable properties to lure victims into parting with deposits upfront You’re desperately hunting for somewhere to live and scouring rental sites. The odds are stacked against you. Rents are high everywhere – in London tenants are paying almost £1,000 for a shoe cupboard with a bed – and living rooms have gone from a regular commodity to a luxury. But matters are made worse by scammers. Young people now account for three-quarters of rental fraud, according to data from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB). Last year alone almost £9m was lost across about 5,000 reported cases. Do not pay any deposit upfront without seeing a property, no matter how desperate you are to find a home. Make sure you go to see any property before you commit to renting. Gumtree advises: “Always ask to see proof of ownership, or the landlord’s right to let, and ensure a tenancy agreement is in place before paying deposits or holding fees.” Stand your ground; if something seems fishy, it probably is. On social media, or listing websites, check when the landlord’s profile was created. How long have they been active? Do they seem to be advertising multiple properties with similar messages? What comes up when you search their name? If a landlord is claiming to be part of the NRLA, you can check whether their accreditation is legitimate here. Report fraudulent accounts to Facebook and Gumtree. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Horrendous blisters’: Retired UK banker, 65, attempts to run 200 marathons in 200 days (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Steve James, from Devon, hits halfway mark in circuit of Great Britain’s coast as scientists monitor impact of extreme feat The first fortnight was tough – terrible blisters, a flare of gout that needed a visit to A&E and the rapid realisation that running 200 marathons in 200 days around the coast of Great Britain would not be a walk in the park. But Steve James, a 65-year-old retired banker from Devon, has found his feet, and on Thursday reached the halfway mark – an average of 100 marathons in 100 days. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Wait … can you get a hernia from wearing tight pants? (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Actor and singer Suki Waterhouse shared why she’d been absent from X: a hernia. Is it possible? We asked experts On 14 July, actor and singer Suki Waterhouse shared a tweet explaining her recent absence from X: “‘suki you never tweet anymore’ have you ever considered I wore pants so tight 6 months ago it caused a hernia & I’ve been too scared to tell you.” She followed up with two pictures: one shows her wearing what are presumably the offending pants, and the other shows her in a hospital bed, hooked up to an IV. (There is also a vape resting on her hospital gown. That’s not relevant to this story, just a fun detail.) Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Why do we age in dramatic bursts, and what can we do about it? – podcast (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Scientists are beginning to understand that ageing is not a simply linear process. Instead, recent research appears to show that we age in three accelerated bursts; at about 40, 60 and 80 years old. To find out what might be going on, Ian Sample hears from Prof Michael Snyder, the director of the Center for Genomics and Personalised Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, who explains what the drivers of these bursts of ageing could be, and how they might be counteracted Scientists find humans age dramatically in two bursts – at 44, then 60 Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

How do I stay healthy in my 50s, 60s and 70s? (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
By focusing on certain areas – like nutrition, exercise and positive connections – you can age well in every decade Staying healthy in your 50s, 60s and 70s means adapting to wear and tear, but also embracing all the different ways to thrive. By focusing on some common areas – like nutrition, exercise and meaningful connections – you can age well in every decade. Here’s what you need to know to extend the quality of life in these decades. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Perfect match’: Charli xcx in Vivienne Westwood becomes gen Z’s bridal muse (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Pop star’s choice was surprisingly traditional – but brand has a legacy of clothing unconventional brides Charli xcx is a British pop star known for pioneering trends. Last summer she turned the word “Brat” into a cultural phenomenon complete with a uniform featuring “a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter, and a strappy white top with no bra.” So it came as somewhat of a surprise to fans when, last weekend, she opted for a more classic bridal look to marry George Daniel, the drummer in the band the 1975. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Style goals: what to wear to watch the women’s Euro 2025 final (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Will you be roaring for England’s Lionesses or Spain’s La Roja? Whatever side you’re on, make sure you choose a winning look Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Made in Italy’: is the label just another luxury fashion illusion? (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Investigations reveal how cashmere jackets and €2,000 handbags may be stitched in workshops paying €4 an hour, challenging luxury’s ethical image For years shoppers have been aware of scandals about the origins of cheap clothing sold in high street stores. Garment industry workers who make clothes for leading brands have been beaten for asking for living wages and notes pleading for help have been found hidden in clothing. There have also been stories about hidden child labour and some workers in UK factories are feared to be trapped in modern slavery. Now after a series of labour investigations by Milanese prosecutors, the luxury fashion industry is fast coming under similar scrutiny. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sali Hughes on beauty: if your teen won’t wear sunscreen, try tempting them with these products (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
Six in 10 teenage girls say they have been sunburnt on their face, but fewer than one in three wear sunscreen daily Since Covid, anti-science conspiracy theories have been circulated ever more widely on social media. The most worrying to dermatologists is a growing movement against sunscreen, the best and most evidenced precaution (beyond covering up with clothing or staying indoors) that we can take against skin cancers, including melanoma. The conspiracy theorists claim that sunscreen causes cancer, rather than preventing it. Although there is no robust evidence to support this (and there is a mountain of clinical data showing the opposite), kids are inevitably most susceptible to the propaganda. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘A delightful slice of unhurried life’: readers’ favourite European islands (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Lesser-known isles, from a quieter alternative to Capri, to a gem in the heart of Helsinki and the smallest of Ireland’s Aran Islands • Tell us about your favourite coastal break in northern Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucher Procida, in the Bay of Naples, is not as famous as nearby Capri and Ischia, but is all the more appealing for it. Not a tourist trap but an island where people actually live, it’s a delightful slice of unhurried Italian life. The island is small enough to be explored on foot or by bicycle, though there is a bus service too. There are many pretty little beaches for swimming, sunbathing and picnicking – our favourite was Il Postino, where scenes from the movie of the same name were filmed. As people still fish for a living, there’s no shortage of wonderfully fresh seafood in the restaurants. A local delicacy is lemon salad, made from the enormous, thick-skinned lemons unique to Procida. Villa Caterina B&B’s orchard of lemon and orange trees provides fresh juice and marmalade for breakfast, and the rooms have wonderful views of the island and the bay, with Vesuvius looming in the distance and Naples only 45 minutes away by ferry. Bernie G Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Crest of a new wave: Cleethorpes is all set for a seaside revival (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
The resort is extending its bucket-and-spade appeal to a new generation with a raft of investment, a series of new festivals and some original offerings on the food and accommodation front Cleethorpes Pier, circled by the local gull squad, looks at its picture-postcard best. Ahead of the lunch crowd making for Papa’s Fish & Chips restaurant, I’m taking a seat in the pier’s ballroom to hear seaside historian Kathryn Ferry talk about her latest book, Twentieth Century Seaside Architecture. Ordering a pot of tea, I’m taken back to my student days. Back in the late 1990s, the ballroom hosted Pier 39, a sticky-floored nightclub where getting your heels wedged in the planks after too many vodkas was considered par for the course. Following a shift waitressing at a nearby fish restaurant, our girl gang would douse our hair in Charlie Red body spray to mask the fug of haddock before dancing the night away where the Humber estuary meets the North Sea. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘Women are the guardians of our culture’: why Kihnu is Estonia’s island of true equality (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
They wear traditional dress, play ancient melodies on violins and accordions, but the women of this island outpost ensure that it is more than just a living museum “Welcome to Kihnu. We are not a matriarchy,” says Mare Mätas as she meets me off the ferry. I’ve stepped on to the wild and windswept Kihnu island, which floats in the Gulf of Riga off Estonia’s western coast like a castaway from another time. Just four miles (7km) long and two miles wide, this Baltic outpost is a world unto itself that has long been shielded from the full impact of modernity, a place where motorbikes share the road with horse-drawn carts, and women in bright striped skirts still sing ancient sea songs. But Kihnu is no museum – it’s a living, breathing culture all of its own, proudly cared for by its 700 or so residents. Mare, a traditional culture specialist and local guide, promptly ushers me into the open back of her truck and takes me on a whistlestop tour of the island, giving me a history quiz as we stop at the museum, the lighthouse, the cemetery and the school. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Lookout, Devon! Our overnight stay in a 1940s observation post (Tue, 22 Jul 2025)
A clifftop bunkhouse built for the RAF during the second world war is perfect for a kid-friendly escape – with great views, sea swims, hiking and otter spotting It’s not always possible to take a holiday, but sometimes the yearning to be somewhere else, to leave the pressures of daily life behind, is too hard to ignore. Last bank holiday weekend, with a 13th birthday to celebrate and a row of suns on the weather app, we found a solution. Our family of four, plus two of my sons’ friends, would drive two hours west, to Devon. We’d stay by the sea, go cycling and swimming, play Perudo and sit around a campfire, eating birthday cake. And be home the next day. We’d be 24-hour party people. Only less rock’n’roll, more rock pools and bacon rolls. The catalyst was discovering Brandy Head on a Google Maps scroll. Like a mini youth hostel, sleeping six, with one double bed, two twin bunks, a shower room and an open-plan living, dining and kitchen area, this boxy little building sits on the clifftops between Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton, accessible only on foot. Perched nearly 60m above sea level, its terrace is the big selling point, enjoying such gull’s-eye views of the sea that it feels like surfing a very tall wave every time you step on to it. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Homes for sale with wild gardens in England and Wales – in pictures (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
From mature woodlands to wetlands and wildlife ponds to snowdrop and daffodil dells Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Country diary: A remarkable story of a remarkable plant | Tim Earl (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Stoney Mountain, Isle of Man: The lesser twayblade orchid has been giving the island’s botanists the runaround for nearly 150 years. Now, suddenly, we have hundreds Excitement ran high when lesser twayblade, a diminutive, two‑leafed orchid that normally grows under the cover of heather, was found by the botanists Aline Thomas and Andree Dubbeldam on one of our southern hills. After all, it had not been recorded in the island since 1881, and their Sunday walk close to Snuff the Wind – a former mine – had hardly been charged with expectation. A government ranger was called and the record was made official. That was in 2009. Afterwards, three further records were found, but then the shy little plant slipped back into hiding. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Adventures with the Pollen brothers – the Stephen Collins cartoon (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘The delivery man arrived with the ashes in a gift bag’ – why are so many people opting out of traditional funerals? (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
In the UK and the US, ‘direct cremations’ – where no mourners are present and relatives and friends can organise their own ceremonies – are on the rise. Is it time to rethink how we say goodbye our loved ones? When my father-in-law, Cliff, died in March 2021 after being diagnosed with an aggressive and late-caught cancer, he didn’t leave any funeral plans. Nor was there money squirrelled away to pay for them, even if he had. He was an ardent atheist, so a church service was out of the question, and pandemic restrictions had been limiting guest numbers, so my wife, Hayley, and her siblings decided to opt out of having a traditional funeral. Instead, they chose “direct cremation”, a service that minimises formalities – and, crucially, the cost. There is no funeral service; the coffin is simply brought into the crematorium before it is cremated, after which the ashes are returned to the family. During an online consultation with “death specialists” Farewill, Hayley was quoted £1,062 for a direct cremation, more than £3,000 cheaper than the current average cost of a basic funeral. The only catch was that no one would attend the cremation, aside from those paid to carry it out. It seemed a cruel choice to some, who could not get their heads around the idea that there would not be a funeral to attend. But Hayley explained why it seemed like the perfect option: they could obtain her father’s ashes without fuss and hold their own, intimate ceremony on the banks of the River Wye, where Cliff had loved to fish. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Guilt Trip: pilots torn between flight and the fight for the planet - documentary (Thu, 10 Jul 2025)
Commercial pilots George Hibberd and Todd Smith grapple with the reality of their dream jobs, torn between childhood ambitions of flying and the impact of their industry on the world beneath them. From the cockpit, they witness first-hand the climate crisis unfolding below and decide to take drastic measures. As part of Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers who want the industry to do better for the climate, they begin to transform their eco-anxiety and guilt into action. With an estimated 1.2 million passengers in the sky at any time, they ask when will society confront the urgent need to reimagine aviation - before it's too late To read more on how former Easyjet pilot George Hibberd thinks the aviation industry can be transformed, click here. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

The rise and fall of the British cult that hid in plain sight (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Philippa Barnes was a child when her family joined the Jesus Fellowship. As an adult, she helped expose the shocking scale of abuse it had perpetrated Until she was six, Philippa Barnes was surrounded by things that were hers. She had a favourite pair of red-and-white-striped dungarees and a long garden with a strawberry patch. She had a close-knit family: a mum, dad, two brothers and a sister, and grandparents who lived near the family home in Surrey. When her mum made lemon meringue pie, she would pass the curd pan out of the window to where Philippa was playing so she could lick it clean. One day, when Philippa was about two years old, a couple stopped by the family’s church. They, along with their three sons, were on their way to join the Jesus Fellowship, a Christian community in Northamptonshire led by Noel Stanton, a charismatic, white-haired pastor. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and Philippa’s family started visiting the fellowship a few times a year. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

North Korea’s military is being transformed on the battlefields of Ukraine – so why is Seoul silent? (Thu, 24 Jul 2025)
Observers question whether South Korea grasps the threat it faces from Pyongyang’s partnership with Moscow When North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles from its eastern coast in May, South Korea’s response was swift. Within hours, Seoul joined Washington and Tokyo in condemning the launch as a “serious threat” to regional peace and security. But just weeks earlier, when a North Korean KN-23 missile – designed to strike South Korean targets – hit a residential building in Kyiv, killing 12 civilians, Seoul said nothing. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

‘We faced hunger before, but never like this’: skeletal children fill hospital wards as starvation grips Gaza (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
For months Israel kept food shipments to Gaza far below starvation rations. Now the death toll is rising rapidly Starvation in Gaza is destroying communities – and will leave generational scars Mohammed’s skeletal arms stick out of a romper with a grinning emoji-face and the slogan “smiley boy”, which in a Gaza hospital reads as a cruel joke. He spends much of the day crying from hunger, or gnawing at his own emaciated fingers. At seven months old, he weighs barely 4kg (9lbs) and this is the second time he has been admitted for treatment. His face is gaunt, his limbs little more than bones covered in baggy skin and his ribs protrude painfully from his chest. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

People in the UK: share your experience of trying to find a job in hospitality (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
We would like to hear from people trying to find employment in the hospitality industry recently With unemployment in the UK rising up to 4.7% in May and the jobs market weakening, we are interested in finding out more about people’s experiences trying to find a job in the hospitality industry. What has it been like looking for employment? Have you been able to find a job this summer? Do you have any concerns? We would also like to hear from business owners and their experiences of hiring people – have you cut back? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Guardian Weekly readers: share your best recent pictures with us (Tue, 23 Jan 2024)
Share your recent photos and tell us where you were and why that scene resonated with you The Guardian Weekly is our international news magazine, featuring the best of the Guardian, the Observer and our digital journalism in one beautifully designed and illustrated package. We’re now on the lookout for our readers’ best photographs of the world around us. For a chance to feature in the magazine, send us a picture you took recently, telling us where it is in the world, when you took it and why the scene resonated with you at that particular moment. Try to upload the highest resolution possible. The limit for photo uploads is 5MB. Landscape images are preferable due to the page design Tell us as much as you can about when and where the photo was taken as well as what was happening When we publish an image we want to credit you so please ensure that we have contact information and your full name Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Tell us about your tree of the year (Fri, 11 Jul 2025)
We would like to hear about – and see pictures of – the tree that means the most to you and why The Woodland Trust has announced its 10 nominees for the UK tree of the year. The shortlist includes The Knole Park Oak in Kent – believed to have inspired an epic poem in Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando – and a cedar tree climbed by the Beatles in Chiswick, west London. Now we would like to hear about the tree that means the most to you and why. You can share your reasons – and pictures – below. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Patients in England: have you had treatment cancelled or postponed due to the planned resident doctors strike? (Wed, 23 Jul 2025)
We would like to hear from patients whose appointments have been cancelled due to the upcoming strike Resident doctors in England are set to go on strike on Friday demanding a 29% pay rise that they say would restore salaries that have been eroded over the past decade. The industrial action is due to take place from 7am on 25 July to 7am on 30 July. We would like to hear how patients are being affected by the planned strike. Have you had medical treatment such as appointment or surgery cancelled or postponed? How do you feel about the strike? Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sign up for the First Edition newsletter: our free daily news email (Tue, 20 Sep 2022)
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean Scroll less, understand more: sign up to receive our news email each weekday for clarity on the top stories in the UK and across the world. Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sign up for the Feast newsletter: our free Guardian food email (Tue, 09 Jul 2019)
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideas Each week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner. Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email. Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sign up for the Football Daily newsletter: our free football email (Mon, 14 Nov 2022)
Kick off your afternoon with the Guardian’s take on the world of football Every weekday, we’ll deliver a roundup the football news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and – very occasionally – funny way. Still not convinced? Find out what you’re missing here. Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap. Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

Sign up for the Guide newsletter: our free pop-culture email (Tue, 20 Sep 2022)
The best new music, film, TV, podcasts and more direct to your inbox, plus hidden gems and reader recommendations From Billie Eilish to Billie Piper, Succession to Spiderman and everything in between, subscribe and get exclusive arts journalism direct to your inbox. Gwilym Mumford provides an irreverent look at the goings on in pop culture every Friday, pointing you in the direction of the hot new releases and the best journalism from around the world. Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite

An octagonal city and the closed Acropolis: photos of the day – Friday (Fri, 25 Jul 2025)
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
>> Lire la suite