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Cop29 agrees $1.3tn climate finance deal but campaigners brand it a ‘betrayal’
Deep divisions remain after high-stakes talks end with agreement to help developing world shift to low-carbon economyRich and poor countries concluded a trillion-dollar deal on the climate crisis in the early hours of Sunday morning, after marathon talks and days of bitter recriminations ended in what campaigners said was a “betrayal”.The developing world will receive at least $1.3tn (£1tn) a year in funds to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and cope with the impacts of extreme weather, by 2035. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 23:47:59
UK justice secretary attacks assisted dying bill as ‘state death service’
Shabana Mahmood has written to her constituents saying she is ‘profoundly concerned’ about Friday’s Commons voteMPs will be placing the country on a “slippery slope towards death on demand” if they back legislation on assisted dying in England and Wales this week, the lord chancellor and justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said in a letter to constituents before a historic Commons vote on Friday.Mahmood has received numerous letters about the bill from people in her Birmingham Ladywood seat, which has a big Muslim population, and sent out replies saying that she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation, not only for religious reasons but also because of what it would mean for the role of the state if one of its functions became helping people to die. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:46:10
Revealed: Home Office ‘completely lost grip’ at notorious Manston asylum centre
Court documents contain admissions by officials that they were unable to control the situation at the Kent facility where 18,000 asylum seekers were illegally detainedRacial abuse, physical assaults and no beds: life at Manston migrant centreHome Office officials have admitted that “we completely lost our grip” on the situation at a notorious asylum processing centre that led to 18,000 people being unlawfully detained in horrific conditions.Overcrowding at Manston, a former RAF base in Kent, in autumn 2022 led to an outbreak of diphtheria and scabies. Asylum seekers who had crossed the Channel in small boats were forced to sleep on filthy floors or on flattened cardboard boxes, while toilets were overflowing with faeces. Women and children were forced to sleep close to unrelated men and there were claims of assaults by guards. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:10:11
Teachers at top academy in Hackney ‘screamed at’ and humiliated pupils, say angry parents
Mossbourne academy accused of bullying and damaging children’s mental health as local authority asked to step inParents have accused an academy school in east London of causing serious harm to children’s mental health, with teachers humiliating and “screaming” at pupils, and have urged the local authority to exercise extraordinary powers to intervene.A group of nearly 30 parents and former teachers has spoken out about treatment of children at Mossbourne Victoria Park academy (MVPA) in Hackney. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 16:00:02
Unidentified drones spotted over three UK airbases, US air force confirms
Unmanned aerial systems seen over RAF bases in Suffolk and Norfolk but US air force does not know if they were hostileA number of unidentified drones have been spotted over three airbases in Britain, the US air force has confirmed.“Small unmanned aerial systems” were seen between 20 and 22 November over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 21:09:01
Tottenham rout Manchester City to leave Pep Guardiola reeling
“Sacked in the morning” was the ecstatic taunt from Tottenham fans aimed at Pep Guardiola when Pedro Porro’s third was rammed in under a classic Mancunian downpour that had abated by the end of Manchester City’s fifth consecutive defeat.The right-back prospered as Ange Postecoglou’s men did all evening: by ransacking the champions who, despite Guardiola’s defiance that he is up for arresting the slide, were clueless, as illustrated by Brennan Johnson’s added-time fourth, when, for a countless time, City fell to the quick break. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:42:17
Storm Bert: thousands without power as UK is lashed with 70mph gusts
Rising temperatures now likely to cause widespread flooding due to melting ice and heavy rain, say forecastersThousands of homes were left without power on Saturday as Storm Bert continued to lash the country with winds of up to 70mph battering many areas.Forecasters said that as temperatures start to rise over the weekend, melting snow and heavy rain would also cause serious flooding across the country. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:31:15
Police carry out controlled explosion at London Euston station
Cordons lifted after passengers were evacuated when a suspicious package was reportedPolice have carried out a controlled explosion on a suspicious package at Euston railway station, the Metropolitan police have confirmed.Cordons were in place around the main line station in north London at lunchtime on Saturday and passengers due to travel were evacuated from the station. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:46:11
KFC drops pledge to stop using ‘Frankenchickens’ in the UK
Chain says it won’t be able to stop buying fast-growing breeds by 2026 because poultry industry cannot supply enough higher-welfare animalsThe fast food chain KFC has ditched its pledge in the UK to improve animal welfare by sourcing its chicken from slower-growing breeds by 2026.Fast-growing meat chickens have been called “Frankenchickens” because of welfare concerns, including higher mortality rates, lameness and muscle disease. More than 1 billion chickens are slaughtered in the UK each year for meat. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:18:31
Minister confirms talks under way to return surviving Bali Nine members to Australia
Five remaining members would continue to serve sentences upon returning under proposal, trade minister Don Farrell saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe parents of the surviving Bali Nine members are “quietly hopeful” their children will be repatriated to Australia in a deal with the Indonesian government, according to a pastor who has been in close contact with them for 20 years.The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, raised their repatriation during a meeting with the Indonesian president, Prabowo Subianto, on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Peru last week. Senior Australian ministers have confirmed negotiations between the two nations are ongoing.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 01:34:37
‘We live in a climate of fear’: graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher
Darryl Cunningham blames fear of ‘legal consequences’ for reluctance to take on book, now only available in FrenchA biography by a British graphic novelist of Elon Musk is struggling to find an English-language publisher due to feared “legal consequences”.Elon Musk: Investigation into a New Master of the World is the latest graphic novel by Darryl Cunningham, from West Yorkshire. Cunningham, 64, has written and illustrated seven nonfiction books on topics ranging from the 2008 global economic meltdown (Supercrash), to Russian leader Vladimir Putin (subtitled The Rise of a Dictator). Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 16:00:01
Fires, first aid and guns: meet the Finnish women training for war with Russia
Anxious Finns are learning how to survive in the wild in preparation for an invasion by their hostile neighbour It is Friday night on a forested military base in western Finland. A group of women dressed in camouflage with matching purple beanie hats are sat in a dark tent discussing how their perspectives have changed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.“I didn’t think it was a real threat that Russia would attack us,” says Sari, 42, who works in sales and lives in a nearby town. But then, she adds: “They attacked Ukraine. I saw that it is possible that we are next.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 20:13:22
Ukraine war briefing: No ‘red lines’ when it comes to support for Ukraine, says French foreign minister
Jean-Noël Barrot tells the BBC Ukraine could fire French long-range missiles into Russia ‘in the logics of self defence’, but does not confirm if French weapons have already been used. What we know on day 1,005See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 01:58:51
‘One conversation really changed my mind’: the personal stories driving MPs’ decisions on assisted dying
Traditional allies such as Diane Abbott and John McDonnell are split over Friday’s vote as politicians grapple with the issueDuring a Labour away day ahead of the last election, the party’s candidates were put through their paces as parliamentary debaters. The topic chosen, assisted dying, was a deliberately intractable issue designed to test their analytical skills. Yet just months later, scores of new MPs find themselves having to make a very real decision over changing the law.“I’m genuinely the most back and forth on this that I’ve been on anything,” said one new MP who has found themselves on either side of the debate over recent months. Like so many, with the issues so finely balanced in their mind, a single conversation can sway their thinking. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:47:17
‘Disaster is about caring. I’m not selfish any more’ – This is climate breakdown
We are used to seasonal droughts in the Karoo. But this did not stop. This is Sybil’s storyLocation Sutherland, South AfricaDisaster Southern Africa drought, 2015-2023Isabella Visagie, known to everyone in her life as Sybil, is a 57-year-old sheep farmer, wife and mother from the Karoo, in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. In 2015 a drought began that would bring the community in which she lived to its knees. The province has been locked in a drought since then. The climate crisis intensified flash droughts across southern Africa in 2015-16, increased the probability of the 2015-17 drought in the south-west of neighbouring Western Cape, and is increasing temperatures in the Northern Cape, as well as decreasing rainfall in parts of that province. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 12:00:42
Huge election year worldwide sees weakening commitment to act on climate crisis
Among sweeping rightwing electoral victories across the globe, the ‘big loser of the elections has been climate’An unprecedented year of elections around the world has underscored a sobering trend – in many countries the commitment to act on the climate crisis has either stalled or is eroding, even as disasters and record temperatures continue to mount.So far 2024, called the “biggest election year in human history” by the United Nations with around half the world’s population heading to the polls, there have been major wins for Donald Trump, the US president-elect who calls the climate crisis “a big hoax”; the climate-skeptic right in European Union elections; and Vladimir Putin, who won another term and has endured sanctions to maintain Russia’s robust oil and gas exports. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:00:40
‘Catastrophic’ marine heatwaves are killing sealife and causing mass disruption to UK fisheries
Targeted research must be launched urgently to save sea creatures and plant life, oceanography centre warnsBritain is facing a future of increasingly catastrophic marine heatwaves that could destroy shellfish colonies and fisheries and have devastating impacts on communities around the coast of the UK.That is the stark conclusion of a new report by the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), based in Southampton, which is pressing for the launch of a targeted research programme as a matter of urgency to investigate how sudden temperature rises in coastal seawater could affect marine habitats and seafood production in the UK. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 12:00:41
‘Protect the climate for whom?’: Palestinians highlight Gaza at Cop29
Advocates and officials argue that consequences of Israeli siege are inextricably linked to tackling the climate crisisAs countries negotiate over climate finance, Palestinian officials and advocates have come to Cop29 in Baku to highlight global heating’s intersection with another crisis: Israel’s siege on Gaza.“The Cop [meetings] are very keen to protect the environment, but for whom?” said Ahmed Abu Thaher, director of projects and international relations at Palestine’s Environment Quality Authority, who had travelled to Cop29 from Ramallah. “If you are killing the people there, for whom are you keen to protect the environment and to minimise the effects of climate change?” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 05:00:33
David Nicholls: ‘I’m genuinely deathly at a dinner party’
The bestselling author on why he finds it easier to be funny on the page, being inspired by Sue Townsend and Victoria Wood, and his struggle with the ending of You Are HereDavid Nicholls, 57, is a screenwriter and author whose six novels include Us, longlisted for the Booker prize in 2014, and the multimillion bestseller One Day (2009). His latest novel, You Are Here, is currently on the shortlist of the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for comic fiction, the winner of which is announced on 2 December. The story of a divorced copy editor who meets a depressed geography teacher while on a hike across the north of England, it’s been praised by the New York Times as “an affectingly hard-won romance… sharp-tongued and irresistible, the most intelligent treat”.How did this book come together? I was going to write a big London novel, then lockdown happened and suddenly I didn’t know what a London novel would look like. Everyone was at home, anxious and distracted. I guess that planted the seed. I was aware of how much I missed the countryside, even though I’m a Londoner who’s never really lived in the countryside. I was aware how difficult it was for friends living alone, and I was aware how difficult communication was becoming. After lockdown, I found myself tongue-tied and awkward. So those were the strands: I wanted to dig into my craving for the countryside, I wanted to write about the benefits and demands of conversation, and I wanted to write about loneliness.Not to mention the enduring psychological impact of random street violence… That, again, seemed a tough subject to include in what is essentially a romantic comedy. I love London and I fight against its portrayal as somehow a place of no-go zones and constant threat – it really isn’t that. At the same time I’m aware of how a moment on the tube – a look, a remark – can flare up into something that can change the course of a life. It’s something I feel all the time in the city.Let’s make clear you’re up for a comic fiction award here. I know [laughs]. I’ve tried to write six comic novels now and this is the first time I’ve been nominated. There’s no contradiction between writing a comedy and writing something that’s about melancholy or depression or alcoholism. I guess this is just the first one where I’ve really tried very precisely on a line by line basis to make it funny.What’s involved in that? Chiselling away at the sentences and dialogue until they take it off me. I’d always love to do another draft post-publication. I don’t open the document that will be the novel until quite late; for a year I just scribble jokes and observations and character sketches and ideas for scenes in a big sketchbook. The first draft is always straining too much to be funny, a bit like someone trying too hard at a party. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:00:03
Who are the shellsuit boys in image that captures the 1980s? New Tate Britain show solves mystery
Friends who posed for celebrated photographer Ingrid Pollard in 1989 are reunited for new picture 35 years laterIn 1989, three 15-year-olds, dressed in identical shellsuits and trainers, posed for a photo to commemorate the imminent closure of their south London school. It was one of 24 photos taken that day by Ingrid Pollard, an up-and-coming photographer in her mid-30s, who simply stored the contact prints away in a box at home.“From time to time, I would wonder what happened to those boys, particularly the ones in their shellsuits, because it was a very special photo,” said Pollard, who last month received the prestigious Hasselblad award, the top international photography prize. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:47:53
On my radar: Mathew Baynton’s cultural highlights
The Horrible Histories and Ghosts star on the joy of dissecting popular songs, class-driven comic novels and the scarcity of vegan treatsBorn in Southend, Essex, in 1980, Mathew Baynton is the co-creator and star of award-winning television shows including Horrible Histories and Ghosts, in which he played lovestruck Regency poet Thomas Thorne. His television roles include Gavin & Stacey, Peep Show and Vanity Fair, and he has starred in films such as The Falling and Wonka. He lives in north London with his partner, film historian Kelly Robinson, and their two children. Earlier this year, Baynton made his Royal Shakespeare Company debut as Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will be at the Barbican, London, from 3 December to 18 January 2025. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:00:45
This is how we do it: ‘We did wonder whether sex at our advanced age would be difficult – but it’s been amazing’
Ella and Richard almost gave up on sex after she had health problems – but a clever solution helped them rediscover their intimacyHow do you do it? Share the story of your sex life, anonymouslyRichard was interested in having a sex life, so I decided to try it – and it turned out to be really amazing Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 12:00:43
The moment I knew: a huge water balloon hurtled towards me – and he jumped in front of it
In her first year of university Chantelle Van Niekerk didn’t want a relationship. But then she met Rico, her intellectual and emotional equalFind more stories from The moment I knew series hereIt was January 2003 and I was about to start my studies at the University of Johannesburg – and had officially sworn off relationships. I’d had two serious relationships in high school, both with older boys, where I felt I needed to change who I was in order to be with them. I was done trying to please others and saw university as my fresh start to be truly me.The university had a start-of-the-year tradition – the campus residences would create and parade their floats for charity. My group was tasked with folding blommetjies vou (polystyrene-filled cellophane flowers) for our float, which was based on the Lord of the Rings movie. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:00:02
Rufus Wainwright: ‘I had a great party trick, but it once blew up in my face’
The singer-songwriter on his most memorable fan, his love of Chappell Roan, and his close friend and nemesis Jake ShearsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailIf you could have a sandwich named after you, what would be on it?I would have a really gross sandwich named after me that nobody would want to eat. The one time I tried to cook – many, many years ago, when I was in college – I decided to make all the things that I love and put them in one dish. And so it was brussels sprouts, macaroni and cheese, merguez sausages, extra blue cheese and broccoli. And it was literally grey. So yeah, it would be something revolting like that, between two pieces of cardboard. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:00:01
Tim Robbins: ‘You’re telling me Netflix is the future of cinema? We’re in big trouble’
With Silo, the actor – known for his strong political stances – is still choosing roles he truly believes in that echo real life. But he’s now concerned about the wider future of his own industry, tooBefore I speak to Tim Robbins, the publicist for the series that he’s promoting, Apple TV+’s dystopian drama Silo, politely requests that our conversation sticks to the show and his wider career. No politics please. It’s a brave attempt at reputation management, and also a completely doomed one. Because, well … this is Tim Robbins! Has there ever been a Hollywood star more associated with the free mixing of performance and politics?This is the man, after all, who was banned, along with his then partner Susan Sarandon, from presenting at the Oscars after using their hosting stint at the 1993 ceremony to draw attention to the plight of Haitians being held in Guantánamo Bay; who, again along with Sarandon, became a hate figure after forcefully opposing the war in Iraq; and who – in marionette form, at least – came to a fiery end as a liberal do-gooder taking on the Team America: World Police puppets. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:55:41
242 best Christmas gifts for 2024: perfect present ideas chosen by the experts
From Monty Don’s top garden tool to Sali Hughes’s perfect lipstick and Yotam Ottolenghi’s favourite ever present, we asked everyone what they wanted – so you don’t have toStuck for what to buy everyone for Christmas? You won’t be for long … From gifts for fitness fans and gardeners to presents for pets (and their adorable owners), teens and beauty lovers, we’ve got all bases covered.Best of all, they’re hand-picked from the experts themselves: we’ve taken out the guesswork and asked the kids, chefs, cyclists and more to tell us what they actually want this year. Merry Christmas! Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 08:11:16
‘We are fragile defensively’: Pep Guardiola admits title hopes are fading
City manager says players are ‘angry’ about loss to SpursAnge Postecoglou ‘so pleased’ after his team’s away winPep Guardiola has conceded that defeat at Anfield next Sunday could end Manchester City’s hopes of retaining their title.If Liverpool win at Southampton this Sunday they will pull eight points ahead of the champions, which will create the chance to lead City by 11 with victory at home a week later. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 21:35:45
RFU accused of betraying game over Premiership promotion criteria
Former England back hits out at governing bodySimon Halliday: ‘Clubs have been stalled and misled’Top officials at the Rugby Football Union have been accused of betraying and misleading the game by the former England international who has been helping to negotiate the sport’s future below the Premiership. Simon Halliday, part of England’s 1992 Five Nations grand slam-winning side, has also called for a review into the “significant” failings of some RFU executive directors.Halliday, who was chair of European Professional Club Rugby for seven years until 2021, has latterly been representing Championship clubs seeking greater funding and firm guarantees from the RFU over promotion and relegation. In an excoriating letter sent to the RFU’s chair, Tom Ilube, seen by the Observer, he alleges the existing tier 2 clubs “have been stalled, misled and misinformed” and warns recent poor governance “threatens the game” in England. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 22:00:03
Stokes and McCullum need strong start to year that could define Bazball
Series against familiar foes New Zealand, where they haven’t won 16 years, is taster for even bigger challenges ahead for EnglandThe way the cricket calendar is carved up sounds a bit absurd; a kind of speed-dating event for the chief executives and chairs of the full-member nations that is hosted every four years by the International Cricket Council. Not that the ICC – more events company than governing body – gets involved. Its officials apparently have to leave the room before the bigwigs start schmoozing at the tables and operations types plumb the fixtures into their spreadsheets.The men’s future tours programme emerged from one of these opaque lock-ins in 2022 and even at the time England’s winter of 2024-25 stuck out as slightly unimaginative. Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand were scheduled for the second winter in two years, the latter for the third time in five. This despite England’s entire four-year block featuring no Tests in Sri Lanka or the West Indies and the gap between Tests in South Africa – a third favourite of their travelling supporters – set to be seven years when they return in late 2026. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 22:00:04
F1’s high-stakes gamble on Las Vegas GP is already paying out
The Strip is sprinkling its stardust on F1’s ambition to break America, with drivers, fans and locals buying into a project that already has a special feelWhen Formula One threw its weight behind promoting a grand prix in Las Vegas, the sport was taking no little gamble on success and on the bigger picture of finally breaking America. With the race in its second year, hosting a potential championship decider and the streets full of enthusiastic fans, every indication is that they have backed a winner.There was an enormous risk in hosting a grand prix, especially one that required a $700m investment and involved agreements between casinos, businesses and local government to allow it to run through the heart of the Nevada city. They pulled it off last year, albeit once past the initial PR disaster of a loose water valve cover smashing into Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, prematurely ending first practice. The race that followed was one of the best of 2023, praised by drivers and fans. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:00:45
Schooled like Mourinho: Amorim’s path from pioneering Lisbon university
Portugal’s coaches and players are all the rage in part thanks to links forged between academia and the gameThey always knew Ruben Amorim was a special one at the faculty of human kinetics. “I interviewed him for the course and from the start it was obvious,” says Prof António Veloso, José Mourinho’s former classmate, who runs the high-performance football coaching course at the faculty, which is affiliated to the University of Lisbon.“The students needed to do an essay on specialist topics and Ruben’s results were fantastic. He had a leadership role in the group. When we were doing tactical drills on the pitch all the other students were looking at Ruben’s and asking for his opinion. But he was very humble.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 22:00:04
Southampton are doomed but it’s clear why Russell Martin will not change | Jonathan Wilson
Few managers are idealists but the truth for the man in charge at St Mary’s is that his players aren’t good enough to stay upThere has, at least, been a win to break the pattern. But Southampton’s victory over Everton was followed immediately by defeat by Wolves and so they spent the international break bottom of the table. They have taken four points from 11 games. In only two games this season have Southampton had the better xG – on the opening day, when they lost 1-0 at 10-man Newcastle, and in the 1-1 draw at Ipswich. They are, barring something miraculous, doomed.The routine has become familiar. Southampton play their goal-kicks short. They pass the ball neatly. They have a lot of possession; 56.6% – only three teams in the Premier League are averaging more. They don’t take their chances – no side have hit a lower percentage of shots on target this season. Somebody makes a mistake – perhaps one of their players, perhaps the referee – they concede and the game is lost. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 20:00:01
‘Proud is an understatement’: Mancunian Unity chase Women’s FA Cup glory
The club was formed five years ago as a volunteer-run women’s team and love being seen as the underdogsMolly Etchells will finish her latest night shift as a response police officer at 7am on Sunday. She will try to nap for a couple of hours and then, at 1.45pm, her team’s Women’s FA Cup second-round fixture will kick off as they try to earn a place in Monday’s third‑round draw alongside Championship clubs.Football is Etchells’ distraction from her day job and, on a sub-zero evening in Greater Manchester, neither she nor any of her teammates are deterred by the snow falling as they prepare. “I need it,” Etchells says as she and the rest of the players at fifth-tier Mancunian Unity get ready to host sixth-tier Handsworth. “I don’t feel like I’m a police officer when I’m here. It’s great.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:19:07
Royale Pagaille makes hay in the Haydock mud to win Betfair Chase
10-year-old wins for second year runningCharlie Deutsch’s mount edges out Grey DawningTime may show that Grey Dawning, the two-length runner-up, was the most talented horse in the Betfair Chase, but the grittiest and most indefatigable runner was undoubtedly Royale Pagaille, who simply refused to concede defeat after an extended three-mile trip on stamina-sapping ground. Little wonder then that behind his trademark Ray-Bans, Rich Ricci, Royale Pagaille’s owner, was more than a little emotional as he celebrated his 100th Grade One winner.A staying chase on deep ground at Haydock is one of the toughest tests that jumping can offer, and one that Venetia Williams’ 10-year-old has now passed five times in six attempts. It was a slow motion finish as Royale Pagaille responded to Charlie Deutsch’s final call to arms and hauled himself past Grey Dawning after jumping the last fence with a length to find, but all the more dramatic as a result, as the winner, who had led until after the second-last, clawed his way back. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:48:55
Why it was such a joy to interview John Prescott and discover his sweet, sad soul | Rachel Cooke
The former deputy prime minister, who died this week, spoke freely and didn’t care what journalists thought of him – he was everything today’s guarded politicians are notOne of the bad things that comes with being a middle-aged interviewer, as opposed to a younger one, is the tendency to complain loudly that people in public life used to be so much less controlled, so much more wild and free and apt to say the wrong (the interesting) thing.No one likes a nostalgist, after all. But in the case of politicians, I’m afraid there’s no getting away from it. In 2024, unbridled they aren’t. Every word is rehearsed. Even their sandwich fillings have been focus-grouped. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 13:27:51
A caring Thomas Cromwell makes good TV, but beware the ‘yes’ men who enable tyrants| Kate Maltby
Mark Rylance’s sensitive portrayal blinds us to the lessons Henry VIII’s righthand man could offer for Donald Trump 2.0 Thomas Cromwell is back, and this time he’s a romantic. In Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, the latest BBC TV adaptation of Hilary Mantel’s Tudor novels, we see Henry VIII’s chief facilitator turn 21st-century empath, offering a listening ear to half the young women of the Henrician court.Mark Rylance, former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, is an actor with an extraordinary capacity for vulnerability. Here he is at his best and most sympathetic. As Cromwell, we watch him safeguard the victimised adolescent Mary Tudor, coaching her to negotiate her way out of looming execution at the hands of her axe-happy father, Henry. (Cromwell made a promise to Mary’s dying mother, you see, and he’s a sweetie like that.) Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:00:04
Keir Starmer played the China card in Rio – and sent a message to a hawkish Donald Trump | Simon Tisdall
The PM and other western leaders are cosying up to Beijing. If the president-elect imposes punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, he will give Xi the upper handBoth were lawyers before they became politicians, but that’s where the similarities between Keir Starmer and Richard Nixon end. The former US president resigned in disgrace at the height of the Watergate corruption scandal exactly 50 years ago. Britain’s prime minister may have been unwise to accept free tickets from Arsenal FC – but he’s not in Nixon’s league.Except, perhaps, was there just a touch of Tricky Dicky about Starmer’s meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping, at last week’s G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro? Watergate aside, Nixon is famous for his groundbreaking 1972 visit to Beijing, which opened the way to normalised relations between the US and Red China. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:00:03
Chris Riddell on Keir Starmer clinging to growth while the stuff of nightmares gather round – cartoon
The prime minister is assailed by unhappy farmers, angry pensioners and the spectre of Donald Trump’s second term• You can order your own copy of this cartoon Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:00:03
I’ve joined Bluesky and it feels like a breath of fresh air – in some ways… | John Naughton
The flourishing new platform may be like Twitter once was. The problem is the limited algorithmic scope of all social mediaAs I write, there’s a window on my laptop screen that is providing a live view of a stampede. It’s logging the numbers of people joining the social network Bluesky. At the moment, the number of registered users is 20.5 million. By the time you read this there will be more than 30 million of them, judging by the rate that people are currently joining.The proximate cause of it is the role that Elon Musk, owner of X (née Twitter), played in the election of Donald Trump, when a significant proportion of the platform’s 200 million-plus users realised that they’d been had – that they had, in effect, been useful idiots for Musk on his path to the centre of political power. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 16:00:01
Kim Kardashian cozying up to a robot is another example of AI entering our lives | Arwa Mahdawi
The next time you see dystopian thirst traps, we should be thinking about how these robots are going to be used by the self-proclaimed ‘warrior class’On a scale of one to 10, just how desperate do you think Kim Kardashian is for attention? Judging by the billionaire’s weirdly sexual photoshoot with a robot, the answer may be an 11. The entrepreneur and influencer, who is a big Tesla fan, recently posed with the company’s Optimus bot in a Tesla Cybercab (a self-driving taxi) for a series of photos which might be described as avant-garde if you’re being polite, and dystopian thirst traps if you’re not. She also posted some rather less sultry videos of her interacting with the humanoid robot. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:00:44
Hats off to Jaguar’s ‘inclusive’ new branding: now people of all backgrounds won’t buy its cars | Marina Hyde
In the aftermath of Trump’s victory, the ad already looks like a period piece. But aside from that – I mean, seriously?There are many eve-of-the-offensive conversations I would love to have been a fly on the wall for. Inside the Trojan horse, say, with that Ancient Greek SAS unit bantering the day away, before busting out for their daring small-hours raid. Or inside the Jaguar marketing department, on the night before their new rebrand, as these crack experiential troops prepared to release this week’s new ad on an unsuspecting luxury car market. Picture the champagne corks popping as the socials are timed to post the video at the appointed hour. “I hope the pre-order guys are ready for an onslaught – because we’ve got eight capital-D diverse models in category-five tulle busting out of a pink-planet lift wielding a hammer – and precisely NO cars! Let’s make some sales history!”Anyhow. Arguably it’s gone slightly worse than the wooden horse, which, when you think about it, was one of the most successful high performance vehicles in history/mythology. Sure, it was oversized, over-reliant on heritage materials, and probably took corners like a supertanker – and yet, I defy you not to take your hat off. No one said urban warfare couldn’t be quirky and design-led.Marina Hyde is a Guardian columnistA Year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar. On Tuesday 3 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back at a political year like no other, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at guardian.liveDo 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...
Published: 2024-11-22 12:59:03
Benjamin Netanyahu is a wanted man – and he has only himself to blame | Jonathan Freedland
A strategy of starvation would always be indefensible. After this week’s ICC decision, he risks turning Israel into a pariah stateThanks to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, which once dreamed of being a light unto the nations, has taken a step closer to becoming a leper among the nations. The Israeli prime minister and the defence minister he sacked a fortnight ago, Yoav Gallant, are now wanted men, the subject of arrest warrants issued on Thursday by the international criminal court (ICC), accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. From now on, some 124 countries are effectively closed to them: if Netanyahu or Gallant set foot in any member state of the ICC – which includes Britain and most of Europe – they face the risk of arrest. The UK government has already said it will follow the law, which sounds like a commitment to detain the two men if they come here. They are to be shunned, as a matter of international law.Israeli ministers and their allies are raging against the ICC, accusing it of bias and double standards in levelling against Israel charges that it has never made against the leaders of any other western democracy. But the blame lies squarely with Netanyahu himself. Because this move, which signals a new isolation of Israel, was entirely avoidable.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo 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...
Published: 2024-11-22 17:00:18
The Observer view: Selling a piece of fruit for £4m isn’t bananas, it’s decadent. Art is better than this
The sale of Maurizio Cattelan’s work, Comedian, to a crypto entrepreneur is a grim concept that has little to do with disruptionPaulina Brandberg, the Swedish minister for gender equality and work life, has a phobia of bananas so severe, her aides check rooms for the fruit before she’s due to enter them. Like other sufferers of this most unlikely of conditions, she is triggered by the merest traces of banana: a skin mouldering in a far-off wastepaper basket; a lingering smell; the sense that until recently something bendy and yellow lurked next to the perfectly innocent apples and oranges in the bowl on that coffee table.We can only hope, then, that the minister was – trigger warning – nowhere near the big auction house news of last week, in which a banana sold for $5.2m (£4.1m) at Sotheby’s New York. This wasn’t, of course, any old banana. It was a banana called Comedian, the work of Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian visual artist. Cattelan describes it as a “sincere commentary on what we value”, which must have sounded a touch desperate until the moment when everyone started comparing its auction price with the cost of a banana down at their local Tesco. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:30:00
The Observer view: ICC’s Israel arrest warrants are a test the world must not fail
International criminal court’s intervention must be supported if global rules-based order is to have a meaningful futureThe decision by the international criminal court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s former defence minister, for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza has huge implications for Israel and Palestine, for international justice and the rules-based global order that the UK and its allies are pledged to uphold. This unprecedented, necessary and impartial supranational attempt to prosecute democratically elected western politicians accused of grievous wrongdoing is a test the international community dare not fail.Netanyahu’s reaction to the charges was to dismiss them as “absurd” and “antisemitic” and the ICC as a biased, politicised body. “No outrageous anti-Israel decision will prevent us – and it will not prevent me – from continuing to defend our country in every way,” he said. Netanyahu will have to do better than that. This case is not remotely about antisemitism. It’s not about Israel’s right to defend itself, which nobody disputes. It’s a matter of how it goes about it. It’s a question of impunity and justice. Netanyahu and Gallant should voluntarily surrender to the court and fight their case.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 250 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at [email protected] Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:00:04
Separating wheat from chaff in the farm tax debate | Letters
Readers respond to an editorial about farmers having to pay inheritance tax when selling agricultural property priced at more than £1mWhile largely in agreement with the sentiments expressed in your editorial (The Guardian view on taxing farmers: big landowners must pay their share, 19 November), I believe there are some issues that need to be understood and addressed. I run a small-scale dairy farm in partnership with my son. We own just over 80 acres and rent another 40 acres annually. This allows us to have a herd of up to 80 milking cows but, despite misguided government assurances, leaves us now vulnerable to the new inheritance tax (IHT) proposals and will make our farm non-viable for the next generation.The average price of land in Northern Ireland is around £15,000 an acre and to maintain a dairy herd it is essential to upgrade facilities, machinery and the quality of livestock. This necessitates frequently borrowing money and results in very poor cashflow. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 17:46:05
Palliative care and pain management are key to assisted dying debate | Letter
There is a significant gap between what is currently provided and what should be provided in end-of-life care, write Dr Barry Miller, Dr Arif Ghazi, Dr Patrick McGowan and Dr Andrew SevernAs pain medicine specialists who have worked with palliative medicine specialists, we believe the debate on assisted suicide (How are cabinet ministers likely to vote on assisted dying?, 18 November) must recognise the significant gap between what is currently provided and what should be provided in end-of-life care. In Oregon, poorly controlled pain is an important symptom in one in three patients who request medical assistance to die, and a factor in determining the requests of 59% of Canadian patients.The Health and Care Act of 2022 mandates the provision of palliative care in England by specialists. It is as yet inadequately commissioned. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 17:41:57
Daily Mirror and OK! magazine to merge staff
Merging of daily newspaper and celebrity magazine employees is latest move by owner, Reach, to cut costsThe Daily Mirror is to merge its staff with those on the celebrity title OK! magazine in the latest move by the UK’s largest commercial news publisher to further cut costs.The plan to combine staff across the newspaper, magazines and supplements, which are owned by Reach, was announced on Friday in an internal email to staff from the Mirror’s editor-in-chief, Caroline Waterston. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:06:40
British Olympic sailors threaten to quit Dorset base over plans for waste incinerator
Paris medallists join people on Isle of Portland in opposing proposals that could damage air quality and environmentBritish Olympic athletes who train at an internationally renowned sailing academy on the south coast are threatening to quit the site over plans to build a £150m waste incinerator next to their base.Ellie Aldridge, an Olympic gold medallist, is among the competitors at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy opposing the construction of the new incinerator for burning household rubbish on the Isle of Portland, on the Jurassic coast. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:00:46
Jaguar boss defends new ad and rebrand amid ‘vile hatred’ online
Social media clip features models in colourful clothing but no car in what Rawdon Glover describes as a ‘reimagining’The boss of Jaguar has defended the company’s move away from “traditional automotive stereotypes” after a clip of its new advert was met with a barrage of “vile hatred and intolerance” online.This week, Jaguar Land Rover, the luxury UK carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors, posted a 30-second clip on X featuring models in brightly coloured clothing set against equally vibrant backdrops, without a car or the company’s traditional cat logo. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:27:08
Mishal Husain believed to be stepping down from Radio 4 Today programme
BBC presenter expected to take extended break in new year then move on to different roleHot on the heels of the news that Zoe Ball is to stand down as the host of the high profile Radio 2 Breakfast Show, another top female BBC presenter, Mishal Husain, is believed to be stepping down from her regular role on Today, Radio 4’s flagship daily morning news programme.It is thought the presenter will stay on the show until the new year when she is due to take an extended break, a perk offered after serving for more than 25 years with the corporation. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:03:14
Candidate for first female chancellor of Oxford focuses on student gender gap
Jan Royall wants university to address male-female inequality in attainment and widen postgraduate accessA candidate bidding to become the University of Oxford’s first female chancellor has said she would focus her efforts on narrowing the attainment gap between higher-performing male students and their female peers.Jan Royall, the outgoing principal of the university’s Somerville College and a Labour peer, is one of five candidates to become Oxford’s new chancellor. If she wins, she would be the first in its history since the position was first recorded in 1214. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 10:00:38
UK bank fraud victims could face £100 excess on refund claims
Despite new rules, many lenders have decided to implement the optional exemptionSome victims of bank transfer scams will not get a penny back despite beefed-up rules designed to better protect consumers from fraudsters, because several big banks have introduced an excess on refund claims.New rules requiring banks and other payment companies to reimburse fraud victims who have been tricked into sending money to scammers took effect last month, and included an optional £100 excess that firms can apply to a claim. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 07:00:36
Man arrested on suspicion of murder after double shooting in Birmingham
One man found dead in car and another is in hospital with critical injuries after shooting in EdgbastonA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after one man died and another was critically injured in a shooting in Birmingham.Police were called to Rotton Park Road, near the junction with City Road, in Edgbaston, just before 11pm on Friday to reports that two people had been shot. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 13:33:37
Slovenian girl, 12, saves project aiming to reintroduce cicadas to New Forest
Conservationists failed to capture elusive insects this summer, so Kristina Kenda offered to step inWhen British conservationists flew to Slovenia this summer hoping to catch enough singing cicadas to reintroduce the species to the New Forest, the grasshopper-sized insects proved impossible to locate, flying elusively at great height between trees.Now a 12-year-old girl has offered to save the Species Recovery Trust’s reintroduction project. Kristina Kenda, the daughter of the Airbnb hosts who accommodated the trust’s director, Dom Price, and conservation officer Holly Stanworth in the summer, will put out special nets to hopefully catch enough cicadas to re-establish a British population. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 06:00:35
Anti-racism campaigner’s London book events cancelled amid threat of far-right violence
Freedom of speech groups alarmed after events to promote book by Hope Not Hate employee are called offHanif Kureishi, Billy Bragg and freedom of speech groups have voiced alarm after a number of venues cancelled events to promote a book by an anti-racism campaigner amid threats and fears that the recent riots have emboldened the far right.An east London bookshop this week became the latest venue to pull plans to promote Rebel Sounds, a book about the role music plays in the fight against racism and other struggles. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 06:00:35
Energy bills, mortgages, food: will cost of living surge again under Labour?
The government claims to be fixing the economy but households may face more pressure in the months ahead Labour swept to power in the wake of a cost of living crisis that hit households hard, with the price of food and energy rocketing alongside the impact of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget on mortgage rates.At 2.3%, inflation is nowhere the 10% peak after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is creeping up, and could hit 3% in 2025, say forecasters. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 07:00:36
Masked gang broke into home of Conor McGregor accuser, Dublin court was told
Incident revealed after civil court found MMA fighter had assaulted Nikita Hand in December 2018A gang of masked men broke into the home of a woman who had taken a civil case against the mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor that accused him of raping her, it can now be revealed.The incident was referred to at the start of the court case in Dublin but could not be reported until now as it emerged during legal discussion while the jury were not present. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 13:08:04
Andy Murray to coach Novak Djokovic for Australian Open
Djokovic ‘excited to have a great rival on same side’Murray retired as a player at Paris OlympicsDuring Andy Murray’s emotional retirement ceremony this summer at Wimbledon, his interviewer, Sue Barker, wondered whether Murray would be keen to return purely as a spectator. She noted he had many options; a spot among the club members, an invitation into the royal box or even the commentary booth.Murray, however, had other thoughts: “I’d probably be more comfortable sitting up there in a coaching box than somewhere else,” he said, pointing to the seats his own coaching team occupied. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 16:11:30
Trump picks Brooke Rollins to lead Department of Agriculture
Choice of president of America First Policy Institute completes top cabinet picks for president-electDonald Trump has chosen Brooke Rollins, president of the America First Policy Institute, to be agriculture secretary.“As our next Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke will spearhead the effort to protect American Farmers, who are truly the backbone of our Country,” the US president-elect said in a statement. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 21:57:13
Couple accused of stealing nearly $1m of Lululemon products from stores
Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on 14 November in Minneapolis-St Paul A couple has been accused of stealing nearly $1m worth of Lululemon products from its stores across the US.Jadion Richards, 44, and Akwele Lawes-Richards, 45, were arrested on 14 November in Minneapolis-St Paul and have each been charged with one count of organized retail theft, according to a criminal complaint filed in Minnesota and reviewed by multiple outlets. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:23:06
Hamas says Israeli female hostage killed in north Gaza combat zone
Group’s armed wing says unnamed woman’s death established after long break in contact with her captorsHamas’s armed wing said on Saturday that an Israeli woman taken hostage during the October 2023 attack had been killed in a combat zone in northern Gaza, as the Israeli military said it was investigating.The spokesperson for Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, said contact had been restored with the woman’s captors after a break of several weeks and it was established that the hostage had been killed in an area of north Gaza where the Israeli army has been operating. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 18:46:50
Meta is ‘reckless’ in ‘need-to-know situations’, Canada warns Australia as it braces for early bushfire season
Heritage minister says Facebook made ‘room for misinformation’ after turning news off in 2023 as Australia mulls actions that could lead to Meta doing the sameFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwelve months on from Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season unfolding during a news blackout on Facebook, the nation has warned Australia about Meta’s “reckless” behaviour during “need-to-know situations”.An early start to Australia’s bushfire season is looming for swaths of the country, with large parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, the south-west of Victoria and south-east corner of South Australia facing higher risk, according to an official assessment in September.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:00:02
Dartmouth sorority and two fraternity members charged over death of student
Won Jang drowned in Connecticut River in July after party where alcohol was supplied by his fraternityA sorority at Dartmouth College and two members of a fraternity are facing charges related to the death of a student who drowned after attending an off-campus party this summer.Won Jang, 20, of Middletown, Delaware, had been reported missing in July after the party. State and local emergency responders searched the Connecticut River and found his body. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:46:43
Laos government ‘profoundly saddened’ by deaths of tourists in Vang Vieng
Six foreign visitors died earlier this month after suspected methanol poisoning during night out in backpacker hotspotWhat went wrong in Laos?The Lao government has said it is “profoundly saddened” by the deaths of foreign tourists in Vang Vieng and has promised justice, as tributes were paid to victims of a suspected mass methanol poisoning which has claimed six lives.Two Danish citizens, two Australians, an American, and a Briton died after becoming ill following a night out in the small riverside town, a popular destination for backpackers. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:59:45
Makeup, floss and hair dye use in pregnancy leads to more PFAS in breast milk – study
‘Forever chemicals’ pose health threat to developing children and linked with preterm birth, shorter lactationHigher usage of personal care products among pregnant or nursing women leads to higher levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” in their blood and breast milk, new research shows, presenting a serious health threat to developing children.The new study helps connect the dots among previous papers that have found concerning levels of PFAS in personal care products, umbilical cord blood, breast milk and shown health risks for developing children. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:00:45
Arrest warrants for Israeli leaders marks pivotal moment in international law | Beth McKernan
Charges against Israeli prime minister and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant mark first time western-affiliated leaders have been targeted for war crimesThe international criminal court’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders over the war in Gaza has been welcomed by Palestinians as a landmark moment in their decade-long fight to challenge the Israeli occupation through international institutions.Thursday’s announcement from the international criminal court’s pretrial chamber of arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has sent shockwaves through the international legal system. As the first time that officials from a democratic, western-allied state have been charged with war crimes, it is widely seen as the most significant action taken by the court since it was set up at the turn of the century. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 16:12:05
Air fryers, heated throws and the world’s best jeans: Black Friday deals on the products we love
We recommended them in the Filter; now we’ve sifted through all the offers to find the genuinely good discounts on our favourite products Black Friday is still a few days away on 29 November, but stores are already dropping prices to compete for our attention and cash – and they’re offering some delectable discounts on products we’ve recommended in the Filter.We cautioned against getting carried away too early in our guide to not getting ripped off in the sales, because many prices continue to fall until Cyber Monday (2 December). However, some of the most popular items can sell out even before Black Friday comes around. So, if there’s something here you’ve had your eye on, this may be your best chance to grab it for significantly less than you’d normally pay. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 18:07:53
The best iPhones in 2024: Apple smartphones tested, reviewed and ranked
Looking for the latest iPhone, or a good deal on a refurbished handset? Our expert has assessed and rated the current crop of Apple smartphonesThe best iPhone may be the one you already own. There is generally no need to buy a fresh phone just because new models have been released, as hardware updates are broadly iterative, adding small bits to an already accomplished package. But if you do want a replacement handset, whether new or refurbished, here are the best devices of the current crop of Apple smartphones.Many other smartphones are available besides the iPhone, but if you’re an Apple user and don’t fancy switching to Android, you still have a couple of choices. Whether your priority is the longest battery life, the best camera, the biggest screen or simply the optimal balance of features and price, there is more to choose from in the Apple ecosystem than you may expect, especially after the iPhone 16 models were released on 9 September.Best iPhone for most people: iPhone 16£799 at AppleBest iPhone for camera: iPhone 16 Pro£999 at AppleBest iPhone for screen: iPhone 16 Pro Max£1,199 at AppleBest value iPhone: iPhone SE £429 at Apple Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 13:39:56
The best coffee machines: your morning brew made easy, according to our expert
Discover the perfect coffee maker for your home with our tried-and-tested recommendations, from simple capsule to fully manual espresso machines• How to choose the right type of coffee machine for youWhen it comes to something as earth-shatteringly important as coffee, everyone has an opinion. Some crave a single perfect shot of espresso, while others seek the milkiest latte; some love Starbucks and others, well, don’t. This is why the idea of there being a single best coffee machine is fanciful – everyone’s idea of the perfect coffee couldn’t be more different.As a selfless service to coffee drinkers everywhere, I’ve spent months researching and testing coffee machines to produce a shortlist of tried-and-tested recommendations. The list spans all the main types of coffee maker: manual espresso, filter, bean-to-cup and capsule (not sure what all of this means? Read our dedicated guide to the different types of coffee machine.Best manual machine for beginners: Sage Bambino Plus £349 at John LewisBest low-effort coffee at an affordable price: De’Longhi Magnifica Evo One Touch £375 at John LewisBest for simple filter coffee: Moccamaster KBG Select £218 at AOBest for capsules: L’or Barista Sublime £45 at AmazonBest low-effort premium coffee: Jura C8 £895 at John LewisBest capsule machine for long coffees: Nespresso Vertuo Plus £199 at Nespresso Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-21 18:00:01
Christmas gifts for swimmers: what to buy water babies, from swimming costumes to changing robes and bags
Whether it’s lengths in the pool or wild swimming, here’s what everyone from top-level coaches to year-round ocean dippers told us they’d love to unwrap on Christmas DaySwimming is among the most popular sporting hobbies in the country, with 4.7 million people enjoying a dip at least twice a month, according to Sport England. And, unless you’ve had a bad case of swimmer’s ear, you’ll have heard about the wild swimming trend. The Outdoor Swimming Society says that several million people in the UK now take to rivers, lakes, lidos and seas each year. Their main motivation? Joy, with 94% saying they felt happier and less stressed after a swim.Team GB’s five-medal haul – one gold and four silvers – at the Paris Olympic Games 2024 likely encouraged more people to take up or return to the sport, too. So, the chances of you having a swimmer in your life are pretty high. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-18 16:41:36
Trick of the light: the enduring appeal of René Magritte’s big tease
The record $121m sale of his most famous painting last week sealed the Belgian surrealist’s place in art’s hall of fame. What does it mean for his legacy?René Magritte painted brain-teasers – an air force of uniformed bureaucrats raining down on to a faceless city, a reverse mermaid with a sardine for her head and human legs, a pair of boots that sport real toes – but even he might have scratched his head if he’d known that last week, after a frenetic bidding war at a New York auction, his Empire of Light had been knocked down for $121m.“It’s an iconic image,” declared the dealer, Emmanuel Di Donna, uttering an idiotic tautology, although the painting’s subject – a suburban villa beside a canal – looks humdrum enough until you notice that it’s night in the lower half but bright daylight higher up. Rather than accounting for the contradiction, Di Donna reverted to the lucre-loving lingo of the art market and attributed the record price to “the brand recognition of Magritte”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:00:03
‘The very thought of it repelled me’: how a skiing accident left me unable to read
After suffering a head injury, I found I was unable to read without headaches, eye strain and wild mood swings – and that my condition was far from rareIn the Palazzo Pitti in Florence hangs a painting by Raphael of the Renaissance humanist, poet, scholar, orator and prelate Tommaso Inghirami. He’s pictured at his desk, garbed almost entirely in red, in a typical pose of contemplation, gazing upwards, but look closely at his right eye and you will notice something amiss: there is too much white, as if his eyeball were a shelled egg, its minute pupil dabbed as an afterthought. Inghirami lived with strabismus – a misalignment of the eyes, possibly caused by his fall from a mule – and his right eye is almost turned to look behind him, lizard-like. Were one to trace his gaze from those two eyes, extending outwards to see where he was looking, you would draw two lines into infinity, lines that would never cross. Inghirami saw two things at once.I had not heard of Inghirami and his misaligned eyes until I fell backwards – not from a mule, but in a skiing accident several years ago, cracking the back of my skull against the compact winter ice of a Vermont resort. I had played rugby until the age of 16, and knew how it felt to have a knee or elbow to the head, but this blow possessed its own character: unsettling, strange and electric. I remember thinking, as I got up from that icy slope, that this fall would exact some price, though back then I did not know its currency. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:00:41
Loaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhem review – how a drug-fuelled publishing bender went very wrong
From dropping LSD at award shows to coughing up blood on the office carpet – the rise and fall of James Brown’s oft-sexist lads magazine empire goes under the microscopeJames Brown, erstwhile founding editor of a magazine that revolutionised the marketplace back when the magazine marketplace was a force to be reckoned with, looks like a shadow of his former enfant terrible self. He moves gingerly, speaks softly, is on steroids, he tells us, and feels ill. The double hearing aids he wears are visible now that the famous mop of curls is shorn. The cockiness that helped make his name is far less apparent. As a presence, he seems much more engaging than he did in his heyday. You suspect this is no comfort.Still, he is the reason we’re watching Loaded: Lads, Mags and Mayhem, a 90-minute documentary telling the story of how he and a group of other hedonists with a gonzo gift “committed”, as Brown puts it at the start of the show, “the heinous crime of getting men to read magazines en masse”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 22:30:24
The week in audio: Cover: Stakeknife; From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin; The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show – review
Context is all in two indispensable podcasts about Northern Ireland. And Zoe Ball ensures an orderly handover for Radio 2 Breakfast listenersCover: Stakeknife (Radio 5 Live) | BBC Sounds From Bomb to Ballot: The History of Sinn Féin | Daily Mail The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show (Radio 2) | BBC SoundsTwo interesting podcasts concerning the north of Ireland this week: one from the BBC, and one, unexpectedly, from the Daily Mail. Both are led by informed, experienced, dedicated journalists and both are pretty indispensable. I’m always surprised by how little people outside Ireland know about what is sometimes called the “situation” in the north. (I’m married to a man from the outskirts of Belfast, so, you know, I’ve been told.) But that’s down to education. Only a few British schools teach anything to do with it. Everyone knows about the Tudors though! Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:00:02
MJ Lenderman review – a shooting star from the American south
The Garage, LondonShowcasing new album Manning Fireworks, the North Carolina indie rising star seals his reputation as a slacker guitar hero who knows exactly what he’s doingA pedal steel guitar is weeping in one corner of the stage, comforted by a keyboard countermelody coming from the opposite end. Centre stage is up-and-coming guitarist of the moment MJ Lenderman, a study in slackerish nonc muels freewheels by his side, flinging lots of hair around.This modern-day, if sepia-tinted tableau of southern-inflected rock is instantly familiar in that it recalls umpteen country-rock acts, not least Athens, Georgia cult heroes the Drive-By Truckers. Lenderman’s guitar work and reedy, laconic delivery, meanwhile, can lay claim to several fathers (Will Oldham, Stephen Malkmus) but ultimately sits at the feet of Neil Young. On My Knees, from Lenderman’s most recent album, Manning Fireworks, is just one of many tracks that could be bagged as evidence. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:00:45
Haruki Murakami: ‘My books have been criticised so much over the years, I don’t pay much attention’
As his new novel is published, the acclaimed author discusses complexity, writing female characters and meeting his fans• Read about the rise of Japanese fiction in BritainThe City and Its Uncertain Walls is based on a novella you wrote in 1980. Why was it important to give it a new audience now? That work is the only one I’ve ever written that I never allowed to be reprinted in book form. To put it another way, I just wasn’t satisfied with the story. I thought its theme was very important but unfortunately I lacked the writing skills at the time to convey it in the way I’d hoped to. I decided to bide my time, until I’d acquired the necessary skill set as a writer, and only then do a complete rewrite of the story.In the interim, though, I had lots of other work I wanted to undertake and just couldn’t get started on this project. The next thing I knew, 40 years had passed (in a flash, it seemed), and I reached my 70s. I thought I’d better get going if I wanted to really do this, since I might not have all that much time left. I also felt a strong need to fulfil my responsibilities as a novelist. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 09:00:38
‘Neutrality isn’t just a stance’: the Red Cross mission to provide vital aid in areas of conflict
In conflict zones across the globe, people in desperate need have long relied on the hope that humanitarian aid, delivered by organisations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, will reach them. Yet, this vital work is increasingly under threat, putting that hope in jeopardyWhen communities are devastated by conflict or disaster, humanitarian workers risk their lives to deliver critical aid. This work is safeguarded by international humanitarian law (IHL), which mandates protection for aid organisations to ensure they can operate safely. The red cross and red crescent emblems are some of the most well-known examples of the protective power of IHL in action, and respect for them is crucial to the humanitarian mission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. However, a growing disregard for IHL is making it increasingly challenging for humanitarian organisations to deliver assistance to communities that urgently need it.Adopted under the Geneva Conventions, the red cross and red crescent emblems are protective symbols under IHL, meaning those who display one or the other can expect safe passage in the world’s most hostile environments. However, numerous breaches of IHL have made headlines in recent years, with strikes on vehicles, buildings, and individuals bearing one of the emblems provoking global condemnation and risking serious legal consequences.A Ukrainian Red Cross Society emergency team responds to shelling (top); the Italian Red Cross providing support in Ukraine. Photographs: Ukraine Red Cross Society; Annalisa Ausilio/Italian Red Cross Continue reading...
Published: 2024-09-20 09:17:55
10 things you didn’t know about the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has been supporting people through conflicts, disasters and emergencies for more than 150 years. Read on to discover 10 inspiring facts about one of the world’s leading humanitarian organisationsThe Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement started with the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in 1863, in response to the terrible human toll of the revolutionary conflicts raging in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. Seven years later the British Red Cross was established. Today, the Movement is active in 191 countries and has been a constant and reassuring presence at some of the world’s most harrowing events: from being among the first to provide humanitarian support after the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in 1945, to providing vital assistance to those affected by last year’s devastating earthquakes in Morocco, Turkey and Syria. You may know some of these facts, but did you know … 1 The Red Cross’s ‘red cross’ is not a logoEven though it is one of the most recognisable pieces of graphic design in the world, the red cross emblem is not just some clever bit of branding: it is a symbol of protection in armed conflict, the use of which is restricted by international law. The Red Cross’s guiding principles of neutrality and impartiality mean that it does not take sides and is here for anyone and everyone who needs help, regardless of religion, political affiliation or nationality or anything else.2 It’s the UK’s leading refugee support organisationThe British Red Cross is the largest independent provider of refugee support in the UK. In the last 12 months, the British Red Cross supported more than 40,000 refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK. ForFrom people who fled Afghanistan in 2021, to those affected by the crisis in Ukraine, the British Red Cross offers a variety of support including providing essential clothing and baby supplies to assisting people with visa applications, casework and translation. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-08-01 14:58:03
‘Thanks to the classes, I feel better’: the vital role of psychosocial support for Ukraine’s displaced people
With the help of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, one woman who fled conflict in the region has been able to rebuild her lifeWhen the conflict in Ukraine escalated in February 2022, Valentyna’s town in the easternmost Luhansk region was shelled several times and her home was destroyed. The 64-year-old reluctantly packed the few belongings she had left into a single sports bag and fled.The Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) helped Valentyna with supplies, giving her footwear and clothing. “All my clothes are from the URCS,” she says. “It was a relief when they helped.”The UCRS provides a range of mental health and psychosocial support services. Photographs: Mykhaylo Palinchak/Panos/British Red Cross Continue reading...
Published: 2024-09-04 13:35:57
‘Without family, there is no life’: a mother reunites with her sons, having fled Sudan
Every year, millions of people across the world flee disaster, persecution and conflict and in so doing, risk losing their closest relationships. Here, one woman explains how the British Red Cross family reunion team helped put her life back together again in the UKFour years ago, 47-year-old Abier was at the lowest point in her life. She had made the heartbreaking decision to flee her home in Sudan, leaving her four children in the care of their grandmother, while she sought safety and asylum in the UK. Abier’s children had lost contact with their father years earlier, leaving her as the sole parent. She faced an impossible situation, and she had little choice.In early 2020 she faced political persecution, she was detained and held for a week. On her release, she fled to find safety in the UK, fearful of what would happen if she stayed at home. Her hope was to find safety and a future but it came at a huge cost – her family.Abier with Mazin and Khalid at home in Bristol; Abier and Lydia Cawthorne-Luff. Photographs: Nina Raingold/British Red Cross Continue reading...
Published: 2024-09-06 09:43:57
Ask Ottolenghi: what’s the secret to a perfect poached egg? | Ask Ottolenghi
Four steps to poached perfectionPlease give foolproof advice on how to cook a soft poached egg.Anne Marie, County Donegal I’m here for you, Anne Marie, so let’s do this thing!Step 1 Don’t be afraid. Remember: it’s just an egg cooked in water. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 09:30:38
Trend watch: get ready to dazzle in metallic partywear
Metallics always make a big impression during party season, choose from new or vintage, bought or hiredThe festive season is almost upon us, and bagging yourself a look before it sells out can be challenging. Metallic is always a hit during party season, and ladylike glamour reigned supreme as the silhouette of AW24 designer runways, with a resurgence of feminine shapes and chic texture clashes. Combine the two for a gold standard look. Wyse’s faux leather gold skirt looks great paired with a blouse, velvet jacket and heels, or to dress down for a night in the pub pair it with a chunky knit and flat boots. Love & Roses has a fit and flare version, £50, at next.com, available in size 8-22.The sparkly options in Sienna Miller’s second collection with M&S do not disappoint, from the sequin mini dresses to a Gucci-inspired crystal embellished white vest top, £59, that will dress up your jeans. If a whole metallic look seems a little too in the spotlight, then look for detailing: KG Label’s jewel-clustered blazer is a more subtle party-perfect outfit, as is Monsoon’s Sarah wrap dress in black with gold sequin flowers (£150, sizes 6-24). Gold accessories are a quick way to jazz up a favourite LBD. &Other Stories’s Savoir collection features excellent statement satin gold shoes with a gold and crystal-studded heel (£195) and a brocade bag encrusted in gems with a metal handle (£87). For a unique look, try vintage. Etsy has a great selection from £40. Or hire a dress for the night: Ganni’s metallic midi dress is £30 for three days at byrotation.com, or check out hurrcollective.com, who have a great selection of embellished detailed looks from Simone Rocha to Saloni. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 23:50:06
Dutch office workers ditch smart shoes for ‘versneakering’ in trainers
Difficulty of cycling in suit and leather shoes is one reason casual footwear has gone corporate in the NetherlandsWouter de Wit was polishing his six pairs of leather shoes, ready for a new job in Amsterdam’s business district, when he received a text message from his new boss.“He said: ‘Before you go any further, come in and look at the dress code’,” says De Wit. Smart shoes were out, trainers were in. “I had no sneakers, so I bought these,” the 41-year-old consultant adds, pointing at his box-fresh, white Adidas trainers. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:00:03
‘It’s a pretty obscure, strange thing to do’: five Guinness World Record holders on their moment of glory, and life thereafter
To be crowned the world’s best at something – from lowest roller skate limbo to longest under-ice free dive – is a huge achievement. What happens next?Some people train their whole lives to earn a Guinness World Record. For others, picking one up is a happy accident. After all, the more than 40,000 records currently maintained by Guinness run the gauntlet from fastest marathon (an impressive 1hr 59min) to the largest number of hotdogs eaten in one minute (six, including the bun).So what motivates someone to pursue a world record – and what happens to your life after you get one? To find out, we spoke to five record holders, past and present. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 19:00:00
Packaged UK current accounts: are the perks worth the money?
For a monthly fee, banks offer everyday banking with all kinds of enticing extras. We examine how the ‘freebies’ stack upIt might be a weekly free Greggs sausage roll, cinema tickets, insurance to replace your teenager’s smashed iPhone screen, or annual travel insurance. All of the main high street and digital banks, including Monzo and Revolut, now offer paid-for packaged current accounts where everyday banking comes with a set of enticing perks.From December, one of the most popular, Nationwide’s FlexPlus current account, is going up from £13 to £18 a month. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 12:00:45
Charlie and Lola author Lauren Child: ‘My greatest achievement is adopting my daughter’
The author on the power of having regrets, striving to adopt her daughter, why she changed her name – and why she gave up gymnastics I’ve learned about life that sometimes things go badly wrong. But these same things can bring opportunity, and suddenly you can find your life turning in a more interesting direction. It’s useful to remember.I grew up in rural Wiltshire and spent a lot of time outside, inside my own head. There’s something about being outside that allows me to think and dream. The absolute worst thing for me is to get stuck at my desk. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 14:00:43
Tell us: have you lived in UK temporary accommodation with children?
We want to hear from parents with experience in temporary accommodation about the impact on their lives, family and schoolingMore than 150,000 children are living in temporary accommodation, according to official figures.In November, the House of Commons committee on Housing, Communities and Local Government launched an inquiry into the conditions of children in temporary accommodation. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 13:24:24
Pensioners in England and Wales: how has losing the winter fuel allowance affected you?
We would like to hear from people who no longer receive the winter fuel payment and what it means for themWith the loss of the winter fuel allowance potentially forcing 100,000 pensioners in England and Wales into relative fuel poverty, we would like to find out more about how losing the payment has affected people.What impact has it had on you and what changes have you made to make up for no longer receiving the winter fuel payment? Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-20 12:08:04
Tell us your favourite podcast of 2024
We would like to hear about your favourite new podcast you’ve been listening to this year and whyWe would like to hear about your favourite new podcast you’ve been listening to this year and why. Let us know and we’ll run a selection of your recommendations in December. Tell us your favourite using the form below. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-21 12:48:34
Did you have couples therapy to break up with an ex?
We tend to see couples therapy as a way to save relationships – now we’d like to hear from people who used a mediator to help them separate from a partnerWhether you were in the process of divorcing or inspired by Gwyneth Paltrow to ‘consciously uncouple’ from a girlfriend or boyfriend, we’d love to hear from you.Did using a therapist help you avoid a protracted (and expensive) divorce? Perhaps it allowed you to stay friends with your ex for the sake of your children? Maybe using a third party mediator allowed you to get closure on a difficult relationship? We’re looking for exes of all ages, and life stages, all over the world to share their experiences (this can be anonymously). Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-19 13:33:38
From Strictly Ballroom to Sydney’s saviour: how heritage town halls are staging a comeback
Inner West council has thrown open the doors of seven town halls to arts organisations free of charge as it tries to revive its buildings and address a performing arts crisisFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt’s been more than three decades since Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom was filmed in Petersham town hall. But earlier this year, the 82-year-old building in Sydney opened its doors to the Inner West Theatre Company’s production of the classic, free of charge.Beautiful brick early 20th-century town halls were once venues for council meetings, award nights and country dances. But in recent decades many have been under-used or left entirely empty as modern buildings serve changing community needs. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 23:00:05
The Ukraine missile crisis: Putin’s shadow war against the west finally breaks cover
After Kyiv used Storm Shadow missiles, Russia’s leader asserted his ‘right’ to attack the UK and US. In truth, he has been doing exactly that for two years nowThe unprecedented firing by Ukrainian forces of British-made long-range Storm Shadow missiles at military targets inside Russia last week means the UK, along with the US, is now viewed by Moscow as a legitimate target for punitive, possibly violent retaliation.In a significant escalation in response to the missile launches, Vladimir Putin confirmed that, for the first time in the war, Russia had fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile, targeting the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Putin also said Russia now believed it had the “right” to attack “military facilities” in countries that supply Kyiv with long-range weapons. Though he did not say so specifically, he clearly meant attacks on the UK and US. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 15:18:19
‘It’s boorish’: E-scooter firms threaten to leave Italy after highway code updated
Fear for jobs after parliament votes for helmets, insurance and big fines for ‘wild’ riders and rogue parking, amid rise in traffic accidentsOn a road by Rome’s traffic-clogged Piazza Venezia, an e-scooter rider weaves through a crowd of pedestrians, who in turn are trying not to trip over a scooter dumped on the pavement. At the adjacent crossing, two e-scooter riders whiz through a red light as another glides around the curve with his passenger capturing the journey on her mobile phone.Such scenes have become common in the Italian capital and other towns and cities in recent years, amid the boom in popularity of rented e-scooters. But now the government is getting tough on wayward use of the vehicles as part of a broader overhaul of the highway code. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:00:42
Kamala Harris had a whirlwind 107-day campaign. What’s next for her?
Vice-president’s next move could involve California politics, a re-run for 2028 or a thinktank, among othersWhatever happened to Kamala Harris? For 107 days she was everywhere, filling TV screens and campaign rallies in her whirlwind bid for the White House. Then, with election defeat by Donald Trump, it all ended as abruptly as it began. The rest is silence.“The vice-president has taken time off to go spend time with her family,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Thursday, acknowledging that Harris is holidaying in Hawaii with husband Doug Emhoff. “She has worked very hard for the last four years, and her taking a couple of days to be with her family, good for her.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 12:00:46
‘It’s not drought - it’s looting’: the Spanish villages where people are forced to buy back their own drinking water
Spain is increasingly either parched or flooded – and one group is profiting from these extremes: the water-grabbing multinational companies forcing angry citizens to pay for it in bottlesAfter catastrophic floods engulfed Valencia last month, killing more than 200 people, it might seem counterintuitive to think about water shortages. But as the torrents of filthy water swept through towns and villages, people were left without electricity, food supplies – and drinking water. “It was brutal: cars, chunks of machinery, big stones, even dead bodies were swept along in the water. It gushed into the ground floor of buildings, into little shops, bakeries, hairdressers, the English school, bars: all were destroyed. This was climate change for real, climate change in capital letters,” says Josep de la Rubia of Valencia’s Ecologists in Action, describing the scene in the satellite towns south of the Valencian capital.In the aftermath, hundreds of thousands of people were reliant on emergency tankers of water or donations of bottled water from citizen volunteers. Within a fortnight, the authorities had reconnected the tap water of 90% of the 850,000 people in affected areas, but all were advised to boil it before drinking it or to use bottled water. Across the region, 100 sewage treatment plants were damaged; in some areas, human waste seeped into flood waters, dead animals were swept into rivers and sodden rubbish and debris piled up. Valencia is on the brink of a sanitation crisis. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 11:00:40
‘Sitting with their head in their hands’: farm equipment suppliers fear for impact of budget
Traders at a big machinery show say inheritance tax changes affecting the rural economy have had an immediate impact on businessA shiny new tractor is pulling a huge orange trailer, while a commentator explains how best to manoeuvre it to tip grain, watched by a group of farmers wrapped up warmly in wellies, coats and bobble hats, some holding spaniels on leads.Others are checking out the latest models of combine harvesters and crop sprayers, parked on snowy ground at the Midlands Machinery Show, but few seem to be buying, and the changes to inheritance tax for agricultural properties announced in Rachel Reeves’s October budget are never far from anyone’s lips. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 13:00:44
Six people are dead after a suspected mass methanol poisoning at a backpacker party town. What went wrong in Laos?
As authorities detain a hostel owner in Vang Vieng, expert says the recent deaths are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’Vang Vieng is an unlikely party hub.Surrounded by striking limestone mountains and caves in central Laos, it morphed from a small farming town to a hedonistic party hub in the early 2000s. Enticed by boozy tubing experiences, throngs of twentysomething backpackers cemented its spot on south-east Asia’s famed backpacker trail. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 19:00:20
‘It looked as good as new’: readers share their tips for repairing household items
From YouTube video guides to sourcing parts, here are some ways to extend the life of your appliances and sentimental itemsChange by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprintGot a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at [email protected] of the best ways we can reduce our household’s carbon footprint is to repair things instead of throwing them away. But it’s also a way of life for many people.“Seems I’ve spent most of my life fixing stuff because I was brought up that way,” observes Phil, from Bedfordshire. “I look at everything that comes my way as potentially useful and more often than not, it is,” writes Richard, a designer from Essex. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 23:00:25
Wire cutters: how the world’s vital undersea data cables are being targeted
Carrying 99% of the world’s international telecommunications, the vulnerable lines are drawing nefarious interestThe lead-clad telegraphic cable seemed to weigh tons, according to Lt Cameron Winslow of the US navy, and the weather wasn’t helping their attempts to lift it up from the seabed and sever it. “The rough water knocked the heavy boats together, breaking and almost crushing in their planking,” he wrote.Eventually, Winslow’s men managed to cut the cable with hacksaws and disrupt the enemy’s communications by slicing off a 46-metre (150ft) section. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 15:58:17
Experience: My dog went missing for nine years – then we were reunited
Finally, they brought him out to me, wrapped in a blanket. He looked at me when I said his name. He tilted his head at the familiar sound before licking my nose in recognitionI knew Gizmo was the one the moment I laid eyes on him. It was October 2013, and Gizmo was a newborn chihuahua. He was hairless, with swollen eyelids, and the runt of the litter. I fell in love. Over the next couple of years, he was the perfect companion. Whether he was watching Grey’s Anatomy with me or licking my nose, Gizmo brought light to my life. I remember staring into his eyes – they were so distinct, with amber-coloured lines around the irises.Gizmo loved spending time with our terrier mix Benji and our chihuahua Chapo in our home in Las Vegas, but his best buddy was my mom. She wasn’t a dog person, but she adored Gizmo, and would spoil him with Mexican rice. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 10:00:09
Jacob Rees-Mogg on abortion, religion and reality TV; Marina Hyde on Musk vs Trump Jr; inheritance inequity; and teenage love – podcast
Marina Hyde asks us to spare a sob for Don Jr, replaced in Daddy’s affections by Elon Musk. The Bank of Mum and Dad – the unspoken dynamic behind society’s growing inequality of ‘inheritocracy’. ‘I’ve been called worse than a Nazi’: Simon Hattenstone meets Jacob Rees-Mogg. And psychologist Lucy Foulkes on why we should take teenage love more seriously Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 05:00:33
‘You tried to tell yourself I wasn’t real’: what happens when people with acute psychosis meet the voices in their heads? – podcast
In avatar therapy, a clinician gives voice to their patients’ inner demons. For some of the participants in a new trial, the results have been astounding. By Jenny Kleeman Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 05:00:05
James Carville on where he thinks the Democrats went wrong – podcast
Everyone in US politics has an opinion on why the Democrats lost the election, and finger-pointing within the party is rife. As the debate rages, Jonathan Freedland will be speaking to various experts about what the party got wrong – and how it can bounce back.This week, he meets James Carville, the veteran political strategist who helped get Bill Clinton elected twiceArchive: Pennebaker Associates, McEttinger Films, Cyclone Films, CNN, CBS News, MSNBC, PBS Newshour, BBC News Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 05:00:03
Nigel Farage and his ‘historic mission’: on the ground with Reform UK – podcast
Today in Focus presenter Helen Pidd goes out on the road – to Birmingham, Stalybridge and Clacton – to chart Nigel Farage’s bid to transform Reform UK into a modern, professional political partyAt the Reform UK party conference in September, its leader, Nigel Farage, announced a “historic mission” for his party: to professionalise, to modernise and mobilise a “people’s army” to win support all over the country.It came off the back of unprecedented success for Reform at the general election: no populist right party in the UK had ever taken as many as its five seats in July. And they were won despite a campaign marred by racist and Islamophobic remarks from Reform members and candidates. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 03:00:00
An arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu – Today in Focus Extra
The international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, his former defence minister and a Hamas leader. Julian Borger reportsAfter 10 months of deliberation, the international criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.Julian Borger, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, explains the significance of this moment – the first time a western ally from a modern democracy has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global judicial body. He tells Hannah Moore how allies such as the US and UK are likely to react to the news, and the impact it has had in Israel. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-21 17:42:52
How having babies became so political - video
The pronatalist movement in the US is gathering pace once again, rekindled by Silicon Valley personalities and hard-right conservatives who are becoming increasingly vocal about whether or not women are having enough babies. But it's not just in the US, some governments in other countries have launched marketing campaigns encouraging people to have more children, while others have offered financial incentives. But while many of these policies claim to be about halting population decline, there are other factors at play. Josh Toussaint-Strauss interrogates efforts around the world to boost birth rates, as well as the underlying political motivations, from bodily autonomy to immigrationBirthrates are plummeting worldwide. Can governments turn the tide?When desperate measures to persuade women to have children fail, it’s time for fresh thinking Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-21 12:33:44
John Prescott: former deputy PM and New Labour stalwart – video obituary
John Prescott, who has died at 86, served as deputy prime minister for more than a decade under Tony Blair, and was seen as a custodian of the Labour party’s traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership. Blair and Gordon Brown led tributes, with Blair telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was 'one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics' John Prescott, British former deputy prime minister, dies aged 86 Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-21 11:40:20
Mistrust, anger and suspicion of Bill Gates: voices from the UK farmers protest – video
Amid a protest in central London on Tuesday against changes to inheritance tax announced by Labour, the Guardian discovered a mistrust of politicians, fear over the future of UK farming and suspicion of Bill Gates Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-20 14:00:22
Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for the first time?
American and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.In response, Russia has announced it is adjusting its nuclear doctrine. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would interpret any attack against it carried out by a non-nuclear state using weapons supplied by a nuclear state as a joint assault. But what exactly are Atacms, and why has their deployment unsettled Russia so deeply?Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for first time?Russia-Ukraine war live Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-20 16:44:49
Sign up for the Fashion Statement newsletter: our free fashion email
Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every ThursdayStyle, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every ThursdayExplore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
Published: 2022-09-20 11:06:20
Sign up for the Guardian Documentaries newsletter: our free short film email
Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the worldDiscover the stories behind our latest short films, learn more about our international film-makers, and join us for exclusive documentary events. We’ll also share a selection of our favourite films, from our archives and from further afield, for you to enjoy. Sign up below.Can’t wait for the next newsletter? Start exploring our archive now. Continue reading...
Published: 2016-09-02 09:27:20
Guardian Traveller newsletter: Sign up for our free holidays email
From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. Continue reading...
Published: 2022-10-12 14:21:58
Sign up for the Feast newsletter: our free Guardian food email
A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideasEach 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...
Published: 2019-07-09 08:19:21
A nostalgic photographic road trip across Australia – in pictures
When photographer Trent Mitchell was on the road looking for surf all over Australia he’d throw a couple of rolls of film in the bag and snap pictures here and there. He focused on scenes that reminded him of childhood road trips, ones he couldn’t get at home or had a surreal feeling to them.After collating the images into a fun zine-like exhibition catalogue, he realised there was a strong base to work from and the idea to publish a book was born.Maurizio Cattelan’s duct-taped banana artwork fetches US$5.2m at New York auction Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 23:00:06
We love: fashion fixes for the week ahead – in pictures
Upcycled tea towel ties, Helmut Newton’s Berlin and cosy knits Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 23:55:06
We shall satirise him on the beaches… Churchill through the eyes of cartoonists – in pictures
In one wartime image, Winston Churchill is portrayed as a dragonslayer; in another, a gun-toting gangster. Later, he appears old and dejected, overdue for retirement. The cartoons, on show in a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London, show a multitude of Churchills, reflecting how he was seen in different countries and at different times, from 1909 onwards. “There was never a consensus view of him,” says curator Kate Clements. “Some of the depictions were heavily critical and even grotesque”, while others “depict his determined nature and portray him as a British figurehead”. Clements hopes the exhibition will “add another layer to our visitors’ understanding of this complex individual” and show “how satirical cartoons played a part in shaping perceptions of Churchill during his lifetime and beyond”.Churchill in Cartoons: Satirising a Statesman is at the Imperial War Museum, London from Friday to 23 February 2025 Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 17:00:02
‘The rising smoke and setting sun made a magical backdrop’: Jurica Galić’s best phone shot
On assignment in South Sudan, the Croatian photographer used a natural framing device for this award-winning imageBefore he arrived for his three-day stay, Jurica Galić knew that the South Sudanese Mundari people set fire to dried cow dung before sunset to repel mosquitoes. What the Croatian photographer and travel journalist didn’t know was the depth of harmony between the tribe and their cattle, nor how he would capture it.“Ankole are breeds of domestic cattle originating from east and central Africa, characterised by their huge horns,” Galić says. “My goal was to capture the relationship between man and nature, and while staying in the camp I came up with the idea of taking some photos through the horns of one of the animals. They became the frame, leading the viewer to the scene. Meanwhile, the smoke rising, in combination with the setting sun and the remaining rays, created the most magical backdrop.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-23 10:00:39
The week around the world in 20 pictures
The war in Ukraine, the aftermath of the floods in Valencia, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and Rafael Nadal’s final match: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 19:44:22
Molten lava and piles of cuddly toys: photos of the day – Friday
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-22 12:55:39
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