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Storm Bert: forecasterse and politicians criticised after devastating floods
Critics claim warnings and defences were inadequate but Met Office says storm was ‘well forecast’Storm Bert – live updatesWeather forecasters and politicians have come in for strong criticism after hundreds of homes and businesses across the UK suffered devastating flooding in Storm Bert but the Met Office has said it issued sufficient warning.There were growing complaints in south Wales, one of the areas most heavily hit, that the Met Office issued only a yellow warning, rather than an amber or red, and that not enough new defences had been put in place by the Welsh government since storms last wreaked havoc in the area four years ago. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:28:04
Girl, 8, seriously hurt in west London shooting
Child and man, 34, taken to hospital after they were shot in Ladbroke Grove, just after 5.30pm on SundayAn eight-year-old girl has been seriously hurt in a shooting in west London.The child and a man aged 34 were taken to hospital after they were shot in Ladbroke Grove, just after 5.30pm on Sunday, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:14:23
UK politics live: safeguarding minister Jess Phillips urges people to intervene if women are being harassed in public
Phillips says people have to be mindful of their own safety but ‘you can definitely ask if someone is alright’Q: Are you feeling the pressure? There is a petition signed by 2 million people calling for another election.Starmer says he is not surprised that people who did not support Labour in the first place want the election to be re-run. But that is not how the system worked.I’m not surprised, quite frankly, that as we’re doing the tough stuff, there are plenty of people who say, ‘Well, I’m impacted.’I think anybody who’s turned around an organisation or a business will tell you, and they’re right, if you’re really going to turn something around, you have to do the hard yards upfront. Don’t look at a tough decision and then leave it for a year or two.So we’re doing the tough stuff. But in the budget, which is probably the toughest, I’m really pleased that we were able to put so much money into the National Health Service … Anybody watching this who uses the NHS will know we absolutely had to make that a priority. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:35:47
Novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies aged 91
Author described as ‘the grande dame of blockbusters’ wrote 40 novels, selling more than 91m copiesBarbara Taylor Bradford, the bestselling author of novels including A Woman of Substance, has died aged 91, her publisher has confirmed.The novelist died peacefully at her home on Sunday after a short illness, “surrounded by loved ones to the very end”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:09
Briton reportedly captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine
Man in video identifies himself as James Scott Rhys Anderson, 22, and says he joined the International LegionA British national has reportedly been captured by Russia’s forces in the Kursk region while fighting for Ukraine.In a video posted on pro-war Russian Telegram channels on Sunday, a man wearing combat fatigues identifies himself as 22-year-old James Scott Rhys Anderson from the UK. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 21:41:35
DHL cargo plane crashes near Lithuania airport
Officials say one person dead and three injured after plane crashed into house on approach to landing at VilniusA DHL cargo plane has crashed into a house as it made its approach to land at Lithuania’s Vilnius airport, killing one person and injuring three others on the aircraft, officials said.The flight was operated by Swiftair on behalf of DHL and had taken off from Leipzig, Germany, before the plane crashed at about 03.30 GMT, a spokesperson for the national crisis management centre said. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:36:04
Trump Pentagon pick attacks UN and Nato and urges US to ignore Geneva conventions
Revealed: Pete Hegseth writes scathingly of key institutions and says ‘If you love America, you should love Israel’Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has attacked several key US alliances such as Nato, allied countries such as Turkey and international institutions such as the United Nations in two recent books, as well as saying US troops should not be bound by the Geneva conventions.At the same time, the man who would head America’s gigantic military has tied US foreign policy almost entirely to the priority of Israel, a country of which he says: “If you love America, you should love Israel.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:41
Revealed: Israel used US weapons in strike that killed journalists
Killing of journalists in Israeli strike could be war crime, legal experts say after Guardian investigationA Guardian investigation has found that Israel used a US munition to target and kill three journalists and wound three more in a 25 October attack in south Lebanon which legal experts have called a potential war crime.On 25 October at 3.19am, an Israeli jet shot two bombs at a chalet hosting three journalists – cameraman Ghassan Najjar and technician Mohammad Reda from pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen, as well as cameraman Wissam Qassem from the Hezbollah-affiliated outlet al-Manar. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:30:31
Turkish woman convicted under anti-terror laws for sharing Guardian article
Peri Pamir given suspended sentence after posting article about UK woman killed fighting with Kurdish forces in SyriaA Turkish woman who shared a Guardian article on social media about a British woman killed fighting with Kurdish forces in Syria has described how she was twice convicted of “sharing terrorist propaganda” in an Istanbul court.“I am basically just an ordinary citizen, there is no reason why I should attract any special attention. This is the disturbing part,” said Peri Pamir, a 71-year-old retired researcher. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:34
Wales may introduce visitor levy for people staying overnight
Proposal would give councils option to charge 75p-£1.25 a night to help alleviate pressure on local servicesPeople who stay in Wales overnight, including children, are set to be charged a visitor levy under a scheme that could raise up to £33m a year to be ploughed back into tourism and culture.All visitors would be charged 75p a night to stay in campsites and hostels and £1.25 for all other accommodation including hotels, B&Bs and holiday lets. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:30:38
‘Best in the class’: Greek man in his 80s starts night school after life of toil
Vasillis Panayiotaropoulos always had a thirst for knowledge – but had to leave education behind aged 12 to help his father in the fields“Everything I learn is interesting,” says Vasillis Panayiotaropoulos. “Being here opens the mind.”It’s 7.45pm. The bell has rung in another class and the world of classical Greece beckons for the pensioner who has neatly laid out his pencil case and textbooks on a tiny wooden desk. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:38
Drugs, hormones and excrement: the polluting pig mega-farms supplying pork to the world
Mexico is a leading international pork producer, but Yucatán residents say the waste oozing from hundreds of enormous hog farms is destroying the environmentThe stink of excrement was the first thing the residents of Sitilpech noticed when the farm opened in 2017. It hung over the colourful one-storey homes and kitchen gardens in the Maya town in Yucatán, and has never left. Next, the trees stopped bearing fruit, their leaves instead covered with black spots. Then, the water from the vast, porous aquifer emerged from the well with a horrible, overwhelming stench.“Before, we used that water for everything: for cooking, for drinking, for bathing. Now we can’t even give it to animals. Today, we have to give the chickens purified water because otherwise they get diarrhoea,” says one resident. “The radishes grow thin and the coriander often turns yellow. This has always been a quiet town, where life was very good until that farm started,” they say. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:39
Gina Miller’s call to women: invest, and fight back against financial abuse
The activist and businesswomen is campaigning to raise awareness of the ‘gender pension gap’ and the importance of having one’s own moneyGina Miller became a household name for challenging the UK government over Brexit, but now the entrepreneur and activist has another big fight on her hands: to push women to invest so they can prosper and avoid being a victim of financial abuse.Financial independence is vital for women’s safety, security and freedom, she says, as research from the wealth management company she founded, MoneyShe, shows more than 75% of women are not confident that they can afford a comfortable retirement. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:00:37
Kaya Scodelario on Skins, scares and sex scenes: ‘I was called an English rose – it really pissed me off’
She became famous in the late 00s as Effy in Skins, and now she’s back in Netflix drama Senna. She talks about growing up poor in London, why she loves doing action films – and the pitfalls of taking her kids to workAs well as an eight-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter, Kaya Scodelario is the dedicated parent of a 10-year-old French bulldog called Arnie. She is hiding from at least one of them during our video call, and says it’s the dog.She is in the cosy and, crucially, locked spare bedroom of her home in north London, where she sits cross-legged on the floor. The mood is decidedly wholesome, and spiritually a million miles away from the place where audiences first encountered her, on Channel 4’s landmark teen drama Skins. Her character, Effy Stonem – sister to Nicholas Hoult’s Tony – uttered barely a word in series one and two; by series three she was the lead, captivating the boys of Bristol’s Roundview sixth form, not least by challenging them to sniff glue and start fires in return for sex with her. All the while, she was slipping deeper into trauma and depression. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:33
The nut of the future! 17 delicious ways with pistachios, from cakes to salads to cocktails
Pistachio farmers are having a bumper year – and looking forward to many more. These recipes will help you make the most of the glutPistachios are booming. In California, which has overtaken Iran as the top exporter in recent decades, growers are expected to harvest 1bn lb (about 450m kg) of them this year, a figure that is projected to double by 2031.At a time when all forms of agriculture face stark choices because of climate breakdown, pistachio orchards are expanding: the trees are more drought-tolerant than many crops, including other nuts such as almonds. But if pistachios end up becoming the nut of the future, how will we cope with record-breaking harvests? For now, here are 17 delicious ways to use up your personal allotment of this year’s yield. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:00:36
The pet I’ll never forget: Mr Wags, the bolshy, beautiful dog we rescued when he was 12
Our skittish papillon cross was as affectionate as he was furious. I loved falling asleep to the sound of him snoringIt was not an auspicious start. As my daughter and I stood chatting to the woman who had been fostering Mr Wags, he bit her cat. Half an hour later, he went for her dog. But by then I was in love with him.Mr Wags was 12 years old, a papillon cross, and very cross. He turned away if you got too affectionate and he lost it completely if you sat close enough to touch his tail. His first visit to our vet featured a muzzle and $3,000 of tooth extractions. We often rued the day that they had left him with three teeth. One was a canine that sank numerous times into the fleshy pad on my right hand. My daughter suggested we offer them extra to take it out, but I wouldn’t hear of it. We were sort of co-dependent, both of us having had a hard life. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:39
‘Cosmetic surgery is screwing up the industry’: Peter Mullan and Robyn Malcolm on their stunning midlife drama
In After the Party, real-life couple Peter Mullan and Robyn Malcolm play two bitterly estranged exes. They talk middle-aged baggage, Scottish independence and ‘aspirational casting’‘We’re both yappers,” says Peter Mullan, the Glaswegian actor and firebrand. “So we yapped a lot. Actors we admire. Art we admire. Politics, life, love, death, all the usual stuff.” Mullan is telling me how he and Robyn Malcolm, the New Zealand actor and firebrand, first got together. “So we did a lot of yap,” he goes on. “And we’re nice enough to give the other one time to yap.” Malcolm, seated by his side, sweetly interjects: “And we still do.”We’re here to talk about After the Party, which Malcolm co-wrote with screenwriter Dianne Taylor. Malcolm co-stars with Mullan – although absolutely not in a “lovey-dovey way”. They play exes whose mutual distrust is fathomless. They actually have some previous in this. “We met during Top of the Lake,” says Malcolm, referring to the 2013 mystery drama. “His character was an arsehole to mine. You can do smoochy scenes with an actor you just abhor. And you can do brutal stuff with an actor you adore. We had a ball.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:32
Downfall by Nadine Dorries review – a grubby business
The former Tory MP’s sequel to The Plot – her story of the ousting of Boris Johnson – is absurd and, for all the talk of Tory members, pretty dullNadine Dorries’s last book, The Plot, was about the ousting of Boris Johnson less than three years after the landslide that saw him become prime minister, and in it she made various strange allegations, chief among them the fact that his fall was primarily the work of a secretive cabal of Tory fixers. Known as “the Movement”, its members include Johnson’s former adviser, Dominic Cummings, the ex-MP Michael Gove, and a shadowy Conservative prime ministerial aide called Dougie Smith, of whom only one photograph exists and about whom details are scarce. Why did these men commit this act of what she calls regicide? Was it because Johnson was a liability? No, and you should put all those lockdown parties from your mind. According to Dorries, they were working, for reasons that remain foggy, at the behest of a mysterious character she referred to only as Dr No, after the Bond villain.Dorries’s new book is styled as a sequel to The Plot, and thus promises quite a lot to anyone who was even vaguely interested in the above. “I have to finish the story!” she writes, as she prepares once again to Zoom with some excitable Westminster snouts (this time, her subject is the disastrous occupation of Number 10 by Rishi Sunak). Will Nadine track Dr No to his private island, and attempt to do something awful to him using a drug-laced cigarette and a tarantula? Or will she just tell us his real name at last? Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:35
A new start after 60: I became a ‘hummingbird’ for people with dementia
When Ann Thomas-Carter retired, she lost her sense of purpose. Then she began volunteering in a care home and found six hours could fly past in six minutes At 63, Ann Thomas-Carter stepped into Framland care home for the first time and was immediately taken aback. “It wasn’t like a care home at all; it was this beautiful old manor house overlooking the Oxfordshire countryside and there were only 21 residents,” she says. “It felt like a big family, especially since everyone calls the residents ‘family members’. I fitted in right away.”Thomas-Carter used to work as a pharmacy dispenser at Boots in Oxford town centre. “I had worked most of my life at Boots and it was a safe place for me, somewhere I could be face to face with customers and help them,” she says. But when it emerged that the job was about to change, Thomas-Carter decided to retire. “I thought I would start to spend time pottering around the garden, but after a few weeks without work I began to feel like I never should have left.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 06:55:33
‘Activates my lizard brain’: why Alita: Battle Angel is my feelgood movie
In a new series of writers revealing their go-to comfort film, an unlikely action flop gets a stirring recommendationWhen I’m in a truly bad mood, about the state of the world or just the state of myself, traditionally uplifting movies (or music, or TV) don’t cut it for me. It’s not the movies’ fault, necessarily; it’s the act of pressing play on even a feel-great movie like His Girl Friday or Toy Story 2 that nags at me as overly self-conscious. It’s hard for the movie to have its desired effect when I’m giving it such a personal, specific mandate to make me feel better – a truly impossible form of video on demand. Instead, I need something that activates my lizard brain, something that goes straight to the pleasure center of my imagination, rather than engaging directly with my emotions. In recent years, that movie is Alita: Battle Angel.Part of it is probably a form of penance for slightly underrating Alita when it came out. I gave this Robert Rodriguez-directed, James Cameron-produced (and co-written!) manga adaptation a measuredly positive review back in early 2019, clearly still processing my surprise, even confusion, that it was so much better than most were expecting. Another half-dozen viewings later, many on sick days, have worn away my initial resistance to the movie’s slightly distended shape, corny dialogue and jostled-together plot. The movie follows the reawakening of Alita (a digitally augmented Rosa Salazar), a cyborg whose body has been trashed and whose memory has been erased. Partially repaired by the kindly but overprotective Dr Ido (Christoph Waltz), Alita eventually explores the dystopian Iron City, takes up a violent cyborg sport called Motorball, becomes a well-paid bounty hunter, falls in love with a human who yearns to escape for a better life, and rediscovers her past as a powerful warrior. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:00:37
The surreal deal: the exhibitions celebrating the revolutionary, illogical art of the absurd
Rising as a rebuttal to fascism, sexism and war in the 1920s and 30s, surrealism was a response to ‘a world gone mad’. As the movement marks its centenary, two new shows are celebrating its past and futureOne hundred years ago last month, the 28-year-old poet André Breton penned the Surrealist Manifesto, shucking off “the reign of logic”, calling out “the pretence of civilisation and progress” and heralding “the omnipotence of dream”. Breton wanted nothing less than a new reality – one that might overturn a world shaped by religion, schools and governments – by seeking truths within the self: “The future resolution of these two states, dream and reality […] into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality.” To create it, he and his evolving gang of Parisian writers and artists turned to the unconscious, spontaneity, automatic creation and collagist games.Two exhibitions mark the manifesto’s centenary in Britain this month, giving some sense of just how playful and diffuse the fruits of Breton’s rallying cry have been. At Forbidden Territories: 100 Years of Surreal Landscapes at the Hepworth Wakefield, you can encounter young artists still flying the flag for the movement alongside some of its signature historical works. These include the eerie wastelands Salvador Dalí filled with random phones, shape-shifting rocks and melting clocks, and the classic philosophical game by René “bowler hat” Magritte, where a painted landscape within a painted landscape riffs on Plato’s allegory of the cave. There’s also Max Ernst’s painting using floorboard rubbings to suggest tangled woods haunted by his childhood fears and fantasies, and his one-time partner Leonora Carrington’s fairytale-esque animal-human fusions. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:00:34
‘Woke’ didn’t lose the US election: the patrician class who hijacked identity politics did | Nesrine Malik
Why is this simple explanation being so widely embraced? Because it does not require a commitment to real, structural changeThe day that wokeness died. That has been one of the primary analyses of Donald Trump’s resounding election victory: that it was a resounding rejection of the “woke” left and the casting off of the shackles of political correctness. According to sections of the media and political establishment, people are tired of being harangued and scolded for not using the right language, annoyed by a constant focus on race and identity, and alarmed by a new orthodoxy of radical politics eager to please individual groups at the expense of common sense. “The era,” summarised one British journalist, “of Black Lives Matter, Latinx, critical race theory, pronouns and defunding the police is over.” It’s a neat conclusion – it’s hard not to see this result as a rejection of something. But was that something “woke” values in particular?As a starting point, it is worth looking at Kamala Harris’s campaign rather than the assumptions about it. In reality, she seemed to avoid any focus on identity and “wokeness”. She didn’t make much of her race, or even her gender, choosing instead to ground her identity in her background as a middle-class person raised in a rental household by a hardworking mother. Her position on race softened from when she was running in 2019: she previously backed “some form” of reparations but did not stake out a position as part of her bid. Trump wanted Harris “to say something to turn off white voters. She was wise not to take the bait,” wrote the author Keith Boykin. She was hardline on immigration, keen to show that she is a gun owner (memorably telling Oprah Winfrey: “If someone breaks into my house they’re getting shot”). And she was evasive on gender-affirming care for transgender Americans.Nesrine Malik 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: 2024-11-25 06:00:33
Who is really escalating the war in Ukraine? It certainly isn’t the west | James Nixey
The policy of the US and Europe remains the same: drip-feeding resources while never giving Ukraine the chance to push Russia outJames Nixey leads the Russia-Eurasia programme at Chatham HouseEven for a country that has been at war for more than 1,000 days, the past month has been rough for Ukraine: its nemesis, Russia, has acquired 11,000 troops from North Korea and mercenaries from Yemen to assist in its project to delete Ukraine. Russia has also pulverised Ukraine’s energy grid with renewed ferocity as temperatures fall below freezing and fired off experimental intermediate-range weaponry, and it continues to make gains in the east. As if that weren’t enough, Russia’s preferred candidate has been elected as the American president, promising to end the war in “24 hours” – and not in Ukraine’s favour.And yet after all this, the question I have been asked continuously over the past week is: “Is the west escalating the war?” The question refers to the rescinding of some of the limitations imposed on Ukraine which forbade it from using western missiles to strike inside Russian territory. Far from being escalatory, western policy on the war is in fact best described as incrementalism – a drip-feed release of weaponry, which keeps Ukraine on a lifeline but certainly doesn’t allow it the possibility of pushing Russia out. The reason it has not been given this opportunity is twofold.James Nixey leads the Russia-Eurasia programme at Chatham HouseDo 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: 2024-11-25 08:00:35
I’m still running at seven months pregnant. But it’s transformed how I think about exercise | Nell Frizzell
All too often, staying fit is about vanity and status. The slower and wheezier I become, the more I realise it’s also about survivalHave you recently seen a sweating woman with a watermelon stuffed up her fleece, wheezing her way behind a bush mere metres from a towpath to have a pee? If you have, please say hello next time – for that woman, I suspect, is me.At seven months pregnant, I am still running three times a week. By “running”, I mean hurling my lumpen body through various woods, fields and city parks at a speed slower than walking, while wearing a pair of gently disintegrating trainers. Do I have to stop every 10 minutes to empty my bladder? You bet I do. Am I running half my usual distance in twice the usual time? Yes, ma’am. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:40
I worked in charities for years – here’s how I make sure my money is going to a good cause, not Captain Tom’s family | Gary Nunn
Even when huge sums are raised, pooling donations towards one celebrity and one cause can cause problemsThis year hasn’t been great for charity foundations fronted by British celebrities. As we head into the Christmas season and think about supporting others with donations to nonprofit organisations, it might be worth reflecting on the lessons we’ve learned along the way.In 2024 the charities of two very different household names, Captain Sir Tom Moore and the model Naomi Campbell, fell into disrepute. In both cases, the organisations’ founders – members of Moore’s family, and Campbell herself – allegedly used charitable capital for personal gain.Gary Nunn is an author and journalistDo 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: 2024-11-25 10:00:38
We must defend elective abortions, not just the most politically palatable cases | Moira Donegan
After Dobbs, pro-choice advocates have emphasized women in medical crises. But those tragic cases are a limited pictureA Kentucky woman known by the pseudonym Mary Poe recently filed a lawsuit against her state, seeking an abortion for what was once a banal reason: because she wanted one.Poe, who was about seven weeks pregnant at the time of the lawsuit’s filing, has since had an abortion out of state. But her attorneys argue that she still has standing to sue to overturn Kentucky’s two abortion bans – a six-week ban and a separate total ban – arguing that the laws violate the state constitution. This much, at least, is typical: lawsuits challenging abortion bans have sprung up across the country since Dobbs, with women and their families seeking to overturn bans, expand exceptions, or get some compensation from the state for the graphic, distressing, disabling or deadly outcomes that the bans have made them suffer.Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:40
In Sweden, we’ve been told to prepare for war. But will 21st-century citizens still rally for the common good? | Martin Gelin
For decades, Swedish politics has promoted individual success. Now an official booklet urges us to unite ‘in case of crisis or war’ Swedes are generally not known to panic or overreact. But many of us are feeling a little shaken after a booklet with a soldier in camouflage holding a machine gun, with a fighter jet tearing through the sky in the background, landed on our door mats recently.The government booklet, titled “In case of crisis or war”, was sent to every Swedish household as the threat of attack from Russia escalates. It signals the beginning of a new era in our country, with a bleak message about threats from war, natural disasters and pandemics. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:33
Multilateralism faces a toxic brew of debt, climate crisis and war. It’s time for a reboot | Mo Ibrahim
The stakes are high for donors at next month’s IDA summit in Seoul, but not investing in development means more instability globallyMultilateralism is under attack. A toxic brew of multiplying conflicts, worsening climate impact, new pandemics and spiralling debt has brought the system to its knees, appearing almost incapable of properly addressing these converging crises. Adding the unknowns of a Trump administration into the mix will do little to allay concerns.My own critiques of the current multilateral system are well documented, but I do not subscribe to the view that it has no future. What’s needed is a total reboot. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:34
The UN has failed us on Gaza. We need to decolonize and radically reform it | Omar Barghouti
By decolonizing, I mean a transformative process that embeds the views of marginalized and most affected communitiesWell before US president-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated in January 2025, the UN has been atrophying in power, credibility, and even relevance. The international organization has faced many challenges since its establishment in 1945 in the shadow of the most horrific chapter in modern human history. Yet few chapters of the UN have been darker than its meek looking on as Israel livestreams the genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza with “total impunity”.The fact that Israel’s ongoing genocide is armed, funded and shielded from accountability by powerful western states, led by the US, has made this impunity more blatant than ever. Western hypocrisy in slapping Russia with the most severe regime of sanctions ever following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, while fully enabling Israel’s genocide and underlying, decades-old system of settler-colonialism, apartheid and illegal military occupation has also reached unprecedented levels, making a mockery of the west’s claim of even caring about universal human rights. Indonesia’s foreign minister at a recent UN debate on Gaza called on states to not “bury the Principles of the UN Charter and international law under the rubble of double standards, trust deficit and zero-sum game”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 09:01:35
The Guardian view on Cop29: poor-world discontent over a failure of rich countries to deliver | Editorial
A rushed final text in Baku strains trust between nations, as inadequate climate finance commitments leave vulnerable countries calling for justiceThe hasty imposition of a deal at the UN climate conference, Cop29, in Azerbaijan, over the objections of poorer nations has fractured global trust and undermined recent progress. This was supposed to be the “finance Cop” when two dozen industrialised countries – including the US, Europe and Canada – promised to pay developing nations for the damage caused by their rise. Instead, developing nations – led by a group including India, Nigeria and Bolivia – say this weekend’s agreement for $300bn a year in 2035 is too little, too late. Worse, rich-world governments will be able to escape their obligations by being able to rely on cash from private companies and international lenders.Independent experts say the developing world, excluding China, would need $1.3tn a year by 2035 to fund its green transition and keep temperature rises in line with the Paris agreement. The climate finance target, pushed through by the Azerbaijani chair, is described by poor nations as a death sentence for those already drowning under rising seas and facing devastating costs.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 17:42:52
The Guardian view on Europe’s duty to Ukraine: solidarity must not waver in the age of Trump | Editorial
Kyiv must be given the military and financial means to resist any attempt to force an unjust peaceIn the aftermath of 9/11, the neoconservative thinker Robert Kagan published an influential book titled Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order. The gist of the argument was that though peace-loving Europeans prided themselves on upholding the values of a rules-based international system, they largely relied on US military might to deal with the rogue states intent on undermining it.As the catastrophic consequences of George W Bush’s illegal war in Iraq subsequently illustrated, the thesis was flawed. Costing hundreds of thousands of lives, the US “war on terror” delivered only bloody mayhem in the Middle East. But Mr Kagan’s analysis captured something true about a de facto hard power/soft power division of responsibilities in the west. Two decades on, the future of Ukraine may depend on how a reconfiguration of that relationship plays out in a new “new world order”.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 17:45:50
There’s no point building homes that people can’t afford | Letters
Readers respond to Polly Toynbee’s article about the tussle between central government and local planners in KentPolly Toynbee’s piece misses the central point about the housing crisis (In Kent, Labour has a fight on its hands – and a make-or-break test for its housing revolution, 19 November). It is a crisis of affordability, not supply, brought about by the over-financialisation of the stock through a decade and a half of interest rates close to zero.Prices rose from three or four times average earnings to more than nine times as investors shifted cash from deposits to bricks and mortar. No arbitrary housing targets will ever correct that because simple arithmetic is against it, never mind that developers won’t increase supply to the point where they have to drop prices. And the threat of rescinding unbuilt planning consents would see material starts, so that forfeiture would leave a mess for early buyers to live with, and someone else to sort out. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 17:19:15
Making the case for a law on assisted dying | Letter
Stephen Sedley, a former court of appeal judge, responds to an article by MPs Diane Abbott and Edward LeighWhile no one should underestimate the complexity of safeguarding (and Kim Leadbeater’s assisted dying bill, if anything, does the opposite), Diane Abbott and Edward Leigh inadvertently make the case for legalising assisted dying when they say that “the only adequate safeguard is to keep the law unchanged” (Our politics could not be more different – but we’re united against this dangerous assisted dying bill, 20 November).The law as it stands is an inhumane set of traps. In 1961, it decriminalised suicide and then criminalised “encouraging or assisting” it – two different things. Encouraging suicide should continue to be a crime. The proposed reform is about whether it should continue to be a crime to assist a mentally competent adult to bring a dignified conclusion to a life that is approaching its end. If it is open to criticism, it is for leaving out individuals who face an incurable condition with no end in sight. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 17:17:52
Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action
Amad Diallo shows versatility, Ethan Nwaneri offers plenty of potential and Danny Welbeck’s role is key for BrightonFor the established full-back, a wing-back role must be liberating, permission granted to embark on an adventure in the other half. Amad Diallo was faced with the less desirable situation against Ipswich, a forward forced to track back as he slotted in on the right of Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1. Diallo retained his attacking aggression, immediately rampaging forward and evading challenges to set up Marcus Rashford’s early opener. He was responsible in defence and one of United’s brightest performers in a mostly bleak display, even threatening to deliver a late winner when cutting inside into the box to let fly. Diallo is most likely just a stopgap in the position but his adaptability has some worth as Amorim searches for his best XI. Taha HashimMatch report: Ipswich 1-1 Manchester UnitedMatch report: Manchester City 0-4 TottenhamMatch report: Southampton 2-3 LiverpoolMatch report: Arsenal 3-0 Nottingham ForestMatch report: Leicester 1-2 ChelseaMatch report: Fulham 1-4 WolvesMatch report: Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:00:36
Salah disappointed at lack of Liverpool contract offer and feels ‘more out than in’
‘There is no club like this but it is not in my hands,’ he saysClub understood to have held positive talks with agentMohamed Salah says he is disappointed Liverpool have not offered him a new contract and feels “probably more out than in” in terms of staying beyond the end of the season.The uncertainty around Salah’s future is one of the few areas of concern amid a brilliant start under Arne Slot, whose side are eight points clear at the top of the Premier League after 10 wins in his 12 league matches. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 09:00:01
Ding Liren v Gukesh Dommaraju: World Chess Championship 2024 Game 1 – live updates
Ding and Gukesh face off for $2.5m in SingaporeExplainer: all your pre-match questions, answeredBluesky Bryan at @BryanAGraham or email himOur Leonard Barden has filed his final dispatch ahead of today’s opening game. Barden, who’s written the Guardian’s chess column every week since September 1955, doesn’t divert from the general consensus in his assessment of the match.The preliminaries are nearly over: who will win? I expect Gukesh to be cautious in the first few games, then to probe and push hard in the middle of the match. Ding’s 2024 form has been so wretched that it is difficult to see how he can keep his title. A 7.5-4.5 margin for Gukesh looks about right. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:45:57
McCullum needs England at the races alongside thoroughbred Stokes in New Zealand
England’s lead-up to the series has been a cause for concern but head coach has urged Pope and co to let Pakistan hurt wash over themAs a sideline to the day job as England’s head coach, Brendon McCullum owns and breeds racehorses in his native New Zealand. And when a “big chestnut with a pale face and dodgy legs” emerged from the stable a while back, it apparently rang too many bells not to name it after his partner in crime, Ben Stokes.“That horse has got a big heart, too, so I thought it was perfect,” said McCullum, before England swapped their training base in Queenstown for sunny Christchurch. The pair even went to watch the captain’s namesake, Stokes, claim a creditable third-place finish at nearby Riccarton Park racecourse before this tour of New Zealand officially got underway, despite some concerns about its readiness. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:00:37
First Premier League weekend on Bluesky was nice and soft but X hard-edges remain | John Brewin
Discourse on social media platform lacked toxicity of the old place but there were signs it will eventually go that wayHello, I’m new here, though you might know me from the other place. The sun is shining in the sky, there ain’t a cloud in sight, I’m here for good humour and polite social media intercourse. Thanks for the starter pack. Welcome, then, to Bluesky, where the algorithm isn’t jammed hard-right, the self-policing not too strong-arm, though there was that strange chap who listed the schools everyone attended.After the Twitterectomy (to use Nick Cave’s indelicate term for this liberal migration) to a promised land where Elon Musk doesn’t quote-tweet articles on the Great Replacement Theory as being “interesting”. Now, how would this new Xanadu shape up when placed into the hottest kiln of public debate known to humankind? Forget geopolitics and burning social issues, forget even Donald Trump, the truest test is a Premier League weekend. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:17:33
‘Max is in that club’: Verstappen joins F1 greats after fourth drivers’ title
Red Bull’s Christian Horner says his driver is in same class as Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton“What I have witnessed with him, I have never seen before,” says Max Verstappen’s team principal Christian Horner, expressing a quiet conviction in his driver on securing a fourth consecutive Formula One world championship.Horner, the CEO of Red Bull Racing, believes Verstappen, who claimed the title in Las Vegas, is setting new standards and has now unequivocally taken his place in the pantheon of Formula One. After a season-long demonstration of skill, race craft, and no little ruthless determination to close out what has been his most challenging championship yet, Verstappen has earned the plaudits. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:21:34
England claim hollow victory in game Steve Borthwick could not win | Michael Aylwin
Beating an inexperienced Japan side is small consolation for head coach after a disappointing autumn of near missesWhat is the best England could have expected from their final Test of the year? Probably something like this. But, really, this was the proverbial game they could not win.It has been tempting, as it always is with England, to cry crisis at every opportunity, especially this autumn as that losing run stretched out like a man on a rack. But it is hardly stretching a point, either, to observe that only the slightest adjustment to what actually happened might have conjured a far healthier picture. That hit post at the end of the All Blacks game, that late drama against Australia – tweak those and this campaign might even have been considered a success. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:00:35
Seven all out! Ivory Coast record lowest ever men’s T20 cricket international score
Top-scorer manages just four runs against NigeriaSix batters fell for ducks on dismal dayIvory Coast managed just seven runs in a 264-run defeat by Nigeria in Lagos on Sunday, marking the lowest score ever recorded in a men’s T20 international.After winning the toss and opting to bat, Nigeria’s Selim Salau scored 112 off 53 balls – including two sixes and 13 fours – as the hosts posted 271 for four in the 2026 T20 World Cup regional qualifier. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:35:03
Cop29 climate finance deal criticised as ‘travesty of justice’ and ‘stage-managed’
Some countries say deal should not have been done and is ‘abysmally poor’ compared with what is neededThe climate finance deal agreed at Cop29 is a “travesty of justice” that should not have been adopted, some countries’ negotiators have said.The climate conference came to a dramatic close early on Sunday morning when negotiators struck an agreement to triple the flow of climate finance to poorer countries. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 15:13:41
Cop29 climate finance deal likely to be followed by equally bitter battles
Rich countries still need convincing that giving money to poorer nations is very much in their interests tooIt was only on the last scheduled day of two weeks of negotiations at the UN Cop29 climate summit that developed countries put a financial commitment on the table for the first time.In reality, this offer took not just two weeks of talks to prepare, but nine years – since article 9 of the Paris agreement in 2015 made it clear that the rich industrialised world would be obliged to supply cash to developing countries to help them tackle the climate crisis. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 12:46:00
Carnival cruise line emitted more CO2 in 2023 than Scotland’s biggest city – report
World’s largest cruise line named Europe’s most climate-polluting, despite investing millions in cleaner technologiesThe world’s largest cruise line company is responsible for producing more carbon dioxide in Europe than the city of Glasgow, a report has found.Analysis by the Transport and Environment (T&E) campaign group, provided to the Guardian, found Carnival to be the most climate-polluting cruise company sailing in Europe in 2023. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:31
Cop29’s new carbon market rules offer hope after scandal and deadlock
Countries agree on how to create, trade and register credits to meet climate commitmentsIt was once among the most promising ways to funnel climate finance to vulnerable communities and nature conservation. The trading of carbon credits, each equal to a tonne of CO2 that has been reduced or removed from the atmosphere, was meant to target quick, cost-effective wins on climate and biodiversity. In 2022, demand soared as companies made environmental commitments using offsets, with the market surpassing $2bn (£1.6bn) while experiencing exponential growth. But the excitement did not last.Two years later, many carbon markets organisations are clinging on for survival, with several firms losing millions of dollars a year and cutting jobs. Scandals about environmentally worthless credits, an FBI charge against a leading project developer for a $100m fraud, and a lack of clarity about where money from offsets went has caused their market value to plunge by more than half. Predictions that standing rainforests and other carbon-rich ecosystems would become multibillion-dollar assets have not yet come to pass. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 10:03:11
Violence on social media making teenagers afraid to go out, study finds
Quarter of teens who see violence online are being served clips via algorithms, survey in England and Wales findsHundreds of thousands of teenagers are afraid to go out because of the violence they see on their social media feeds, a major study of children in England and Wales has found.One in four teenagers who see real-life violence, including fist fights, stabbings and gang clashes, online are being served the clips automatically by algorithmic recommendation features, according to the study done by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) and shared with the Guardian. Only a small minority actively searched for the violent content. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 06:00:32
Foreign firms taking billions of litres from UK aquifers to make bottled water
Coca-Cola extracts largest amount of freshwater of any drinks company in England, FoI request finds‘It’s not drought - it’s looting’: the Spanish villages where people are forced to buy back their own drinking waterForeign multinational companies are extracting billions of litres of water from British aquifers to sell as bottled water, the Guardian can reveal.Coca-Cola extracts the largest amount of freshwater of any drinks company in England, the data obtained through freedom of information legislation shows. It has a licence to extract 1.59bn litres of water a year from boreholes in Sidcup, Kent for its soft drinks. On top of that, it has the right to take 377m litres for its bottled water brands Glaceau Smartwater and Abbey Well from Morpeth in Northumberland. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 06:00:34
Send crisis in England and Wales leaving children more vulnerable, says report
Experts point to increased risk of criminal and sexual exploitation and call for urgent action from governmentThe crisis in special needs education has left children vulnerable to criminal and sexual exploitation, experts have warned, as parents of victims described years of failed attempts to get support.Last year, 7,432 children were referred to the national referral mechanism – the framework for identifying potential victims of trafficking and modern slavery in England and Wales. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:29:59
Barclays fined £40m for ‘reckless’ failures in 2008 Qatari fundraising
Bank’s shares rise as it disputes FCA finding it should have disclosed more about deal during financial crisisBusiness live – latest updatesBarclays will pay a fine of £40m for “reckless” failures to disclose a fundraising deal with Qatar at the height of the financial crisis, after the British bank agreed to withdraw a legal challenge against it.The FTSE 100 bank effectively won a discount of £10m by challenging the fine, but was found by the regulator to have committed serious misconduct. Barclays withdrew an appeal shortly before it was due to be heard on Monday by the upper tribunal, a court in London. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:30:09
Dozens of new Labour MPs join group pushing for electoral reform
Exclusive: All-party parliamentary group on fair elections argues proportional voting system would help restore trustKeir Starmer is under renewed pressure over electoral reform after dozens of newly elected Labour MPs signed up to a parliamentary group calling for the UK to move to a proportional voting system.More than half of the nearly 100 MPs who have joined the new all-party parliamentary group on fair elections are from Labour, with 43 from the intake elected in 2024. The group, formed in September, says it is growing all the time. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:33
Britain faces ‘talent drain’ of visual artists as earnings fall by 40% since 2010
Report says funding cuts, inflation and rise of AI contributing to median income dropping to £12,500Earnings for visual artists in Britain have plunged by 40% since 2010, with experts predicting a “talent drain” from the UK because EU countries offer more attractive working environments.A report commissioned by the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), found that visual artists had a median annual income of £12,500, with 80% of the 1,200 creatives surveyed saying their earnings were “unstable”, or “very unstable”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:01:30
Ministers speaking out against assisted dying ‘are giving false impression’, says peer
Labour’s Charlie Falconer says vocal opponents are leading voters to think government is against change‘Slippery slope’ fears over assisted dying have echoes of abortion debateSenior ministers who have spoken out against assisted dying are giving voters a “false impression” about the government’s position, a leading proponent of changing the law has said.Charlie Falconer, a Labour peer and former justice secretary, said opponents to the change were “getting more coverage” because ministers in favour of legalising assisted dying were “playing by the rules”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 18:00:18
B&Q owner says budget uncertainty hit spending and tax rise will cost it £31m
Kingfisher says it faced weak market in October, as Greggs also complains of cost of national insurance increaseBusiness live – latest updatesThe B&Q owner, Kingfisher, has said uncertainty around the UK government’s budget hit consumer spending, and it will pay an extra £31m in taxes after Rachel Reeves’s rise in national insurance.The DIY and building supplies retailer said it had seen “solid underlying trading in August and September” but that had changed to a “weak market and consumer in the UK and France in October, impacted by uncertainty related to government budgets in both countries”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:32:58
Ministers told to raise sick pay as report says 1.6m would be unable to pay bills
Low-paid workers unwell for four weeks would be in hardship despite changes in employment bill, charity findsMinisters are being urged to raise the basic rate of statutory sick pay from £3 an hour – one of the lowest in the developed world – after a report found the government’s changes would leave more than 1.6 million people unable to pay essential bills.Charities are warning that only a fraction of low-paid workers will be helped to avoid the “huge cliff-edge” of lost earnings despite improvements to statutory sick pay (SSP) in the employment rights bill, which will be scrutinised by MPs this week. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:30
Smoking could cause 300,000 cancer cases in UK by 2029, study finds
Cancer Research urges MPs to back tobacco and vapes bill, saying damage caused by cigarettes cannot be ignoredMPs are being urged to back plans to make the UK the first country to eradicate smoking, as new figures suggest tobacco will result in almost 300,000 Britons getting cancer within the next five years.The tobacco and vapes bill, which would prevent anyone born after 1 January 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought, will have its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:35
Russia-Ukraine war live: more than 20 injured in Russian attack on Kharkiv
Casualties include 14 people who have been sent to hospitalRussia launched a missile attack against the central part of Odesa this morning, governor Oleh Kiper said.The Kyiv Independent reports:“As of now, we recorded six injured. Five are in a condition of moderate severity, their lives are not in danger. One person is in serious condition,” said Oleksandr Kharlov, Kiper’s deputy, in a comment for the media.“Civilian infrastructure was damaged, namely residential buildings,” Kiper said. Officials later said that the damage was caused by fallen missile debris. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:42:47
Shock as pro-Russia independent wins first round of Romanian election
Călin Georgescu, a critic of Nato, says people have ‘cried out for peace’ after he heads into runoff with 22.9% of voteAn ultranationalist, Moscow-friendly Nato critic is set to face a centre-right candidate in the runoff of Romania’s presidential elections after a shock first-round result that has upended the country’s politics and could jeopardise its support for Ukraine.With 99.98% of votes counted, Călin Georgescu, an independent who has praised Vladimir Putin as “a man who loves his country”, was on 22.9%, with the reformist Elena Lasconi, of the Save Romania Union (USR), second on 19.17%. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 10:32:13
Singer claims Sweden ‘punishing’ her British husband by refusing him leave to remain
Tess Merkel Solomons bewails ‘disgusting’ treatment of husband after he missed post-Brexit application deadlineA singer with a Swedish disco band who performed at this year’s Eurovision has told of the “dehumanising” and “distressing” consequences of Brexit after her British husband’s application to remain in Sweden was rejected.Tess Merkel Solomons, a singer with the band Alcazar, said it felt as if her husband, Kenny Solomons, an actor and entrepreneur, was being “punished” because he was a British citizen in Sweden after Brexit. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:34
Pakistani capital under lockdown to block rally by Imran Khan supporters
Government shuts down internet, blocks highways and brings in troops to stop protest by former PM’s supportersPakistan’s capital was put under lockdown as the government shut down the internet, blocked highways and brought in thousands of police and paramilitaries in an attempt to prevent supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan protesting in Islamabad.Khan, who has been in jail for more than a year facing hundreds of charges, had issued a “final call” for his supporters to descend on Islamabad to demand his release and protest against recent changes to the judiciary and constitution. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 09:42:43
Hezbollah fires barrage of rockets into Israel after strikes on Beirut
Heavy attack launched in wake of deadly strikes on Beirut, and comes as talks for a ceasefire and hostage release deal have stalledHezbollah has fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said, wounding seven people in one of the militant group’s heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.Some of the rockets fired on Sunday reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:52:21
Danish parenting tests under fire after baby removed from Greenlandic mother
Campaigners say psychometric tests are discriminatory amid protests over case of Keira Alexandra KronvoldDenmark is under pressure to stop subjecting Greenlandic people to “parenting competency” tests that campaigners say discriminate against them, amid uproar over the case of a mother whose baby was removed two hours after she gave birth.The psychometric tests are widely used in Denmark as part of child protection investigations into new parents, and have long been criticised by human rights bodies as culturally unsuitable for Greenlandic people and other minorities. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:18:10
Poland prepares for election crucial for ruling coalition and progressive reform
Next May’s presidential vote is effectively referendum on whether Donald Tusk’s government can rule freelyDonald Tusk’s government in Poland is gearing up for a crucial presidential election next year, after a first year in office that has been marked by clashes with the current president, Andrzej Duda, as well as splits within the ruling coalition.Tusk took office as prime minister last December, ending eight years of rule by the populist Law and Justice (PiS) party. The change of government prompted celebrations from progressive Poles and relief in Brussels, where PiS had put Poland on a course of conflict with European bodies. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 09:00:35
Lord Byron museum to open in Italian building where poet had intense affair
Visitors will be able to explore Palazzo Guiccioli in Ravenna, where Byron romanced its aristocrat owner’s wifeA museum dedicated to the flamboyant British poet and satirist Lord Byron is due to open in the northern Italian city of Ravenna, housed in the same building where he pursued an intense affair with the wife of an aristocrat and completed some of his most famous works.Byron unabashedly moved in 1819 into Palazzo Guiccioli, owned by the husband of Countess Teresa Guiccioli, whom he met at a party in Venice. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 06:06:25
Possible Europe-US trade war could push euro into parity with the dollar
If Donald Trump imposes tariffs on EU imports the eurozone is likely to take a hit, causing euro to slide furtherThe euro risks falling to parity with the US dollar for the first time since late 2022 if a new transatlantic trade war weakens the already struggling eurozone economy, analysts have warned.The euro sank below $1.04 against the dollar, the weakest level since November 2022, last Friday after a survey of European purchasing managers showed eurozone private sector output has fallen this month. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 06:00:34
Amazon workers in 20 countries to protest or strike on Black Friday
Workers and their representatives to press US retailer to respect their rights and take action on the climate crisisThousands of Amazon workers are expected to protest or strike in more than 20 countries during Black Friday to press for better workers’ rights and climate action from the US retailer..Workers and representatives from unions and workers’ groups intend to join protests against the Seattle-based company’s practices between Black Friday and Cyber Monday (29 November and 2 December), one of the biggest shopping weekends of the year. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:32
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
Norway launches Jon Fosse prize for literary translators
The award will be the biggest of its kind in Europe and aims to celebrate the work of an overlooked and underpaid profession facing an existential threat from AINorway is launching a new translation price that is one of the most highly endowed of its kind in Europe, in an attempt to boost a “partly invisible” and often poorly paid profession increasingly under threat from machine translation.Named after the Norwegian novelist and playwright who won the 2023 Nobel prize in literature, Jon Fosse, the Fosse prize for translators will reward one author every year with 500,000 NOK (£36,000) for making “a particularly significant contribution to translating Norwegian literature into another language”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:30:28
The play that changed my life: Janet Suzman on staging Othello in apartheid South Africa
Putting on Shakespeare’s tragedy at Johannesburg’s Market theatre was a risky endeavour and caused an astonishing reactionIt was 1987, three years before Nelson Mandela walked free. None of us knew that secret talks were going on with Mandela in prison. We saw apartheid lasting till the crack of doom. It seemed impregnable. The law had once banned “miscegenation”. And here I was directing Othello, a play about miscegenation, at Johannesburg’s Market theatre.I used to go back there from England regularly. I was closely involved with Barney Simon and Mannie Manim, who co-founded the theatre in the mid-70s on the site of the old Indian fruit market. It was very close to my heart: a place where freedom of thought and freedom of speech could reign.As told to Lindesay Irvine Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 09:35:26
‘If you get it wrong, people get badly hurt’: the cut-throat world of theatre fight directors
When a scene calls for violence, it’s combat choreographers who prevent actors coming a cropper during the action. They explain the rules of stage conflictPhilip d’Orléans points the sword to my sternum. “The blade may be blunt,” he cautions, “but this could still take your eye out.” I cut his sword away with a dizzying metallic swish. Palm down, wrist loose. “Cast the energy to the wall,” he nods. “It needs to go past your partner, not into them.” I ready the dagger in my other hand to defend against his next attack.As a fight director, D’Orléans has created complex choreography for companies around the world, teaching hundreds of actors how to tell stories with fist and steel. This Christmas, he’s reviving the spirit of the golden age of Hollywood swashbucklers for an action-packed production of The Three Musketeers at Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic theatre. This new adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 classic takes sword fighting seriously: no actors were considered until they had passed D’Orléans’ tough trial of balance-shifting battle moves. “A lot of people can blag the ability to fight,” he shrugs, throwing his waist-length hair over one shoulder. “But once you turn up the heat on the choreography, you can quickly weed out the rocky skill-sets.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:37
The Silent Hour review – intriguing cat-and-mouse thriller with deaf protagonists
Our heroes have an unexpected advantage over their murderous pursuers in The Machinist director Brad Anderson’s shadowy crime dramaThis crime thriller unfolds mostly in a nearly empty apartment building supposedly in Boston, Massachusetts, although the end credits reveal it was actually shot on location in Malta. But that’s fine, because the whole exercise feels weirdly untethered to any specific locale other than the rooms through which the main characters scuttle, trying to avoid getting killed by armed men – who turn out to be cops, just like the male protagonist, Frank Shaw (Joel Kinnaman). The atmosphere gets a further dose of defamiliarisation thanks to the fact that Frank and his fellow victim, Ava (Sandra Mae Frank), are both deaf, a quality that makes them vulnerable but also gives them the advantage of being able to communicate silently through American Sign Language while evading their pursuers.Frank lost his hearing almost a year ago, having incurred a head injury while trying to make an arrest. Now spending much of his time drowning his sorrows, he is lured back by his former partner, Slater (Mark Strong), to help interpret a witness statement from Ava, who has been deaf from birth and prefers to communicate through ASL. You can’t help wondering why Slater didn’t just ask Ava to write a statement, since the young woman is clearly literate. But his insistence on getting Frank to help out triggers an unfortunate series of events: Frank leaves his mobile phone in Ava’s apartment and then sees the murderers she identified earlier coming back to kill her. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:38
Poem of the week: The Rights of Woman by Anna Laetitia Barbauld
This vision of liberation by a supporter of the French Revolution is rather less straightforwardly feminist than Mary Wollstonecraft’sThe Rights of WomanYes, injured Woman! Rise, assert thy right! Woman! too long degraded, scorned, opprest; O born to rule in partial Law’s despite, Resume thy native empire o’er the breast! Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:29:54
‘I do both the Beyoncé and the Jay-Z parts of Crazy In Love’: Edith Bowman’s honest playlist
The radio presenter belts out Beyoncé at karaoke and is liable to blub to Max Richter, but how did an indie gig in north London change her life?The first single I bought When Doves Cry by Prince on seven-inch from a little shop called The Lighthouse in Anstruther. Being a small fishing village, we didn’t have a record shop. We had a shop that sold many things, like a dusty cowboy town where you’d buy your groceries, a gun and beer – but it sold lightbulbs, plugs and records.The first song I fell in love with When I started dating my husband [Editors singer Tom Smith], he would sing Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right by Bob Dylan as a vocal warmup in the sound check. I’d get this kind of lovely private gig time and time again. Whenever I hear it, my heart bursts back to that first flurry of falling in love. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:36
Rachel Roddy’s recipe for polenta with buttery garlic mushrooms | A kitchen in Rome
You can’t beat polenta with buttery mushrooms: it’s a hug in a bowlPolenta is occasionally known as pulenda. It’s a reminder that both the name and the cooking method has its roots in antiquity and in the Latin word puls, a blanket term for a universal method: long-cooked, semi-liquid dishes, or “mushes”, based on cereals or legumes. Which leads us to another nice word-link: puls is also the root of the word pulses. But back to antiquity, where the nature of the mushes depended on where in the world they were made, and what was available.In Italy, that was farro, spelt, barley, broad beans, millet, chestnuts; puls or polenta were made from them all. Then, in the middle of the 16th century, mais (maize) arrived in the north of Italy from Mesoamerica (the earliest examples of the genius of Mesoamerican agriculture were found in Oaxaca, and tiny cobs of domesticated maize dated from about 4,300BC). By the 18th century, maize was acclimatised and established in many areas of Italy, as was a polenta made with its deep gold flour, which went on to become a vital staple food. It was also a problematic food until Italians learned what the Maya and Aztecs had discovered centuries earlier: that to be fully nutritious, as well as delicious, maize needs to be cleverly transformed, either by nixtamalization – that is, being ground to a finer flour and slow cooked – or balanced with other foods (beans especially). Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:37
Further chilling tales of nightmare utility companies to make you scream
A horror story in three acts as more readers do battle with their energy providers …As temperatures drop, it’s time for some gas-lighting. My ongoing drama series on utilities companies guarantees phantoms, impostors, and chilling suspense. Even death can’t save victims from the tentacles of the energy giants. Read, if you dare, the latest instalment in three acts. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:30:34
Dead cool and wolverine: from animal tracking to ski touring in Sweden
A prototype electric snowmobile and old-school wooden skis open up Sweden’s backcountry as our writer goes on the hunt for local wildlifeOn the slopes up to the ridge, the snow is deep and fresh. Long frozen arms of it hug the trees. Behind us the tracks of our skis gleam with a strange blue light, and in front, delicately drawn into the snow, is the perfect feathery imprint of a bird – like a pale icy fossil. My guide, Jens Sarlin, from Next Step Nature, stops. “Capercaillie,” he says. “It was feeding on pine needles up top and has landed here, then dug a burrow in the snow. It may still be there.”We edge forwards. A trail of bird footprints lead to a hole, but it’s empty except for some droppings. “They dig down and then sideways to fool the foxes,” says Jens. We move forwards again, silent on our hunters’ skis, antique wooden heirlooms that slip easily over deep soft snow. What we are hunting, with cameras only, is something rarely seen – the wolverine – and Jens knows the best places to find them. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:37
Meta Quest 3S review: the best bang for your buck in VR
Headset offers near top-tier experience at cut-down price with good fit, fast chip, great controllers and large games libraryMeta’s latest virtual reality headset offers almost everything that makes its top model the best on the market but at a price that is far more palatable as an entry into VR.The Quest 3S costs £290 (€330/$300/A$500) – about 40% less than the £470 Quest 3 and cheaper than 2020’s Quest 2 that it directly replaces. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:35
Can you solve it? Brain-training for Martians
Do you have alien intelligence?Hungary acquired a reputation for brilliance in maths and physics in the middle of last century, thanks to scientists like John von Neumann, Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner.The stellar cohort become known as the Martians. The Hungarians, so the joke went, were evidence that superior alien intelligence had already landed on Earth. Even their language was impenetrable. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:12:40
From US democracy to granola bars: Edith Pritchett’s week in Venn diagrams – cartoon
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Published: 2024-11-25 06:00:31
People across the UK: have you been affected by flooding?
We’d like to hear from people who experienced flooding recently, whether it affected their homes, communities or journeysMore than 200 flood alerts remain in England and Wales after torrential downpours from Storm Bert caused “devastating” flooding over the weekend and a major incident in Wales.Hundreds of homes were flooded, with roads turned into rivers and winds of up to 82mph recorded across parts of the UK. At least five deaths have been reported in England and Wales since the storm hit. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 08:57:36
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
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
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
RFK Jr will cut prescription drugs and increase weed and psychedelics access
Trump’s health department pick has expressed distrust of pharmaceuticals and attacked ‘suppression of psychedelics’Public health experts are concerned that, if confirmed, Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Robert F Kennedy Jr – could upend access to pharmaceutical drugs in favor of more experimental treatments.Kennedy, who the president-elect picked earlier this month, has repeatedly expressed distrust for pharmaceuticals, and criticized the FDA for its “aggressive suppression of psychedelics”. On his podcast, he called the US “the sickest country in the world”, blaming its healthcare system for devoting billions to “the pills and the potions and the powders rather than on actually getting people healthy, building their immune systems”. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 11:00:41
Palestinian artists plan Gaza Biennale as ‘act of resistance and survival’
Project involves showing work in Gaza but also sending works across Israeli siege lines for exhibiting worldwidePalestinian artists in Gaza plan to stage a “biennale” exhibition as an act of defiance against Israel’s military onslaught and to focus attention on the plight of the territory’s 2.3 million people under more than 13 months of bombardment.About 50 artists from Gaza will exhibit their work within the besieged coastal strip, and are looking for art galleries to host exhibitions overseas. But in order to hold their work to the eyes of the rest of the world, the artists are facing a unique challenge: how to get their art across Israeli siege lines. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 07:00:36
Polluted rivers, uprooted farmland and lost taxes: Ghana counts cost of illegal gold mining boom
Estimated $2bn lost in missed taxes from environmentally destructive practice some blame on political corruptionFelicity Nelson remembers her 17-day detention last September vividly. The 34-year-old Ghanaian activist was one of 53 people arrested at a road junction in Accra after demonstrating alongside hundreds of other youths against illegal mining.In detention, the group found a 54th person in their midst who had not been at the protest but was apprehended after visiting Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the protest’s organiser in hospital. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:34
Biden must Trump-proof US democracy, activists say: ‘There is a sense of urgency’
President can secure civil liberties, accelerate spending on climate and healthcare, and spare death row prisonersThe skies above the White House were cold and grey. Joe Biden greeted the championship winning Boston Celtics basketball team, quipping about his Irish ancestry and tossing a basketball into the crowd. But the US president could not resist drawing a wider lesson.“When we get knocked down, we get back up,” he said. “As my dad would say, ‘Just get up, Joe. Get up.’ Character to keep going and keep the faith, that’s the Celtic way of life. That’s sports. And that’s America.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 12:00:11
Theatrics, hatred and Linda McMahon: how pro wrestling explains Donald Trump
The ex-WWE CEO and likely incoming education secretary doesn’t seem like a threat. That’s what makes her oneDespite her background in professional wrestling, Linda McMahon is not known for bombast. Indeed, she’s terrible at it: in the many years during which the former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO would make occasional appearances in her company’s programming as a version of herself, she was always derided by fans for her lack of charisma and wobbly speaking voice.The most notable thing she did in any of the storylines was pretend to be comatose in a wheelchair while her husband, the vastly more explosive Vince McMahon, sexually harassed one of his female wrestlers in a skit. Linda won’t be winning an Emmy anytime soon. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 16:00:15
Trump’s White House is filling with alleged sexual abusers ... led by him
As the far right celebrates a win for their gender, a raft of people accused of misconduct is named for the cabinet Donald Trump was found civilly liable last year for the defamation and sexual abuse of the writer E Jean Carroll - just one of the more than 27 women who have accused him of sexual misconduct. In January 2025, he will again be president of the United States – the first to take office with a court-adjudicated history of sex crimes.And it seems he’s eager to pack the White House with people just like him. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 13:00:13
The truth about salt: how to avoid one of the world’s biggest hidden killers
Most of us consume far too much, which can lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes. But there are some simple ways to retrain your palate and reduce your intakeLast Tuesday, I bought lunch on the go. I fancied something hot, tasty but healthy, so I chose a vegan ramen from the Japanese-inspired chain Wasabi. The soup was packed with turmeric noodles, vegetable gyozas, mushrooms, bean sprouts, pak choi, pickled ginger and sesame seeds, in a soy and miso broth. It was delicious. In fact, it was so delicious, I was suspicious. I checked out its nutritional information online. Only 342 calories, low in saturated fat … Aha! Salt: 5.07g a portion.The World Health Organization recommends that adults eat less than 5g of salt a day. One noodle soup had exceeded my entire daily intake. (The UK limit is a little more generous at 6g, but even that wasn’t far off.) Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 14:00:13
‘I felt like I was a made man’: Stephen Graham on working with his childhood heroes
One of Britain’s most prolific actors, Stephen Graham is the face of countless hard-to-forget TV and film characters, a regular Scorsese collaborator and good mates with Leo DiCaprio. He talks about living it up in Leicestershire – and why he’s in the shape of his lifeStephen Graham likes to quote that very famous saying in acting, “There are no small parts, only small actors” – though it has nothing to do with the fact that the 51-year-old stands a power-packed 5ft five-and-a-half inches. When in 2020 he set up his own production company, Matriarch Productions, after a storied career as one of our great character performers, he made it one of the company’s founding principles.Graham established Matriarch with his wife, the actor Hannah Walters. Their first project was the 2021 film Boiling Point, which created history as the first British single-take movie. Graham won a Bafta nomination for his portrayal of head chef Andy Jones, whose life unravels in real time during one frenzied service in the kitchen. But he was determined that Boiling Point would be just as radical behind the camera, too. Typically on TV and film productions, each actor is assigned a cast number, which functions as an unspoken hierarchy of their importance on the set. Graham decided he didn’t want that. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 09:00:07
Isaac Newton’s wealth ‘intimately connected’ with slavery, author says
Scientist and banker benefited from gold mined primarily by enslaved Africans in Brazil, book claimsSir Isaac Newton, whose theory of gravity revolutionised science and who later rose to the upper echelons of London’s financial world, had closer financial ties to the transatlantic trade in enslaved people than was previously understood, a new book has claimed.The book, Ricardo’s Dream, covers the life and work of David Ricardo, a pioneer of economic theory and the wealthiest stock trader of his day. It also re-examines Newton’s time as master of the mint at the Royal Mint, where the scientist wielded political influence and amassed vast personal wealth after leaving his academic position in Cambridge. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 14:00:19
The John Prescott I knew: Blair’s ‘beautiful people’ tried to erase him – he had other plans
Once frozen out by the New Labour elite, John Prescott fought his way in from the cold to become a loyal deputy leader. Toby Helm recalls a bruising political careerIt was normally Friday evening when he would ring. There was never a “hello, how are you?” or any pleasantry like that. He just dived straight in. “What you up to for Sunday?” he would ask, meaning he had a story for me. Normally the call would come from his car phone on the A1 while he was driving to his Hull constituency. He tended to travel alone, so business could be transacted in total secrecy.Once – it must have been 1994, after John Smith had died and Tony Blair had become leader – I remember he suddenly broke off and roared some expletives mid-conversation which made me almost drop the phone. “What the hell was that about, I asked?” “Ohhh … Just some fucking moderniser overtaking on the inside lane,” he replied. “Bloody Mendelson [he would always deliberately mispronounce the name Mandelson, sometimes calling him Meddlesome] or someone.” Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 06:00:06
A cool flame: how Gaia theory was born out of a secret love affair – podcast
Scientist James Lovelock gave humanity new ways to think about our home planet – but some of his biggest ideas were the fruit of a passionate collaboration. By Jonathan Watts Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 05:00:34
A mystery in Finnish Lapland, and what it means for the climate crisis – podcast
Biodiversity and environment reporter Patrick Greenfield travels to Finnish Lapland to investigate the disappearance of its carbon sink, and its implications for the fight against global heatingFinland has one of the most ambitious carbon-neutral goals in the world: to reach net zero by 2035. If this feels like a bold pledge, there’s good reason for it: two-thirds of the country is covered in forests, that have for decades absorbed more carbon dioxide than they have put out.But recently, something has changed: Finland’s carbon sink is no longer working. In fact, in barely over a decade, its forests and peatlands have become a net emitter of carbon dioxide … with devastating consequences for the country’s climate goals. Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-25 03:00:28
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
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 monkey festival and stormy seas: photos of the weekend
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 14:58:10
The big picture: earthbound reality at the International Space Station landing site in Kazakhstan
Andrew McConnell’s shot of a young scrap collector at the remote spot where astronauts return from space captures a curious juxtapositionThe photographer Andrew McConnell first went to Kazakhstan in 2015, to witness what the Earth’s primary space portal looked like on the ground. A particular corner of the remote steppe-land, near a village called Kenjebai-Samai, was where, every three months, astronauts and cosmonauts on the International Space Station fell to earth, having been launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome 400 miles to the south. McConnell had spent much of the previous years working in war zones and was keen to focus on something more life-affirming.He discovered a curious landscape that was both on the frontier of human exploration and unchanged for centuries. Over a dozen visits in the subsequent years, McConnell became used to the rhythm of the landings. He would sleep out on the steppe in a tent with the ground crew of the Russian space agency; on hearing the explosion that heralded the capsule separating in the sky above, they would drive out over the wasteland to meet it as it landed – a vehicle no bigger than a family car.Some Worlds Have Two Suns by Andrew McConnell is published by Gost (£60) Continue reading...
Published: 2024-11-24 07:00:04
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
