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Displaced residents return to southern Lebanon as Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire appears to hold – Middle East crisis live

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Ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect at 02.00GMT; Israeli military declares curfew for travel into southern LebanonFull report: Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire comes into forceDown to the final half-hour before the ceasefire comes into effect and AFP is reporting strikes on south Beirut after the Israel army’s evacuation warning.“Urgent warning to residents of the Beirut area,” army spokesperson Avichay Adraee had earlier said in a post on X, telling people in the Bachoura area in the city centre to leave, as well as “all residents in the southern suburb area”, specifically in Ghobeiry. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:28:28

Starmer refuses to rule out further tax rises when challenged at PMQs to repeat what Reeves told CBI – UK politics live

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PM said he was not going to write the next five years of budgetsWilliam Hague has achieved a rare Tory election victory; he has won the contest to be Oxford University’s next chancellor.The university has released the figures for the final round of voting, where the winner emerged after the final five candidates were ranked using the alternative vote system. The runner up was Elish Angiolini, the lawyer and academic. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:45:18

Esther Rantzen urges MPs to vote on ‘vital issue’ of assisted dying

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TV presenter says subject may not be debated in parliament for another decade if legislation does not passUK politics live – latest updatesEsther Rantzen, whose terminal cancer diagnosis led her to campaign for the legalisation of assisted dying, has issued an impassioned plea to MPs to vote this week on a “vital life-and-death issue”.The television personality told MPs “my time is running out” but the issue was one “the public care desperately about” and said it might not be debated by MPs “for another decade” if the legislation did not pass. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:12:59

Today presenter Mishal Husain to leave BBC in new year

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Presenter who joined BBC in 1998 says her time there ‘has involved many memorable moments’ Mishal Husain, one of the presenters of Radio 4’s Today programme, has confirmed she will leave the BBC in the new year after more than 25 years with the corporation.Husain said: “My time at the BBC has involved many memorable moments, going to places I would never otherwise have seen, witnessing history and being part of live, national conversation on Radio 4. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:25:43

Storm Conall brings train cancellations and warning of possible power cuts

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Rail travel disrupted in southern England after heavy rain, as parts of country still feel impact of Storm BertThe third named storm of the autumn, Conall, has brought more disruption to the UK, with trains cancelled in parts of southern England on Wednesday and the Met Office warning of delays on roads and the potential for power cuts.Up to 40mm of rain fell overnight in parts of south and south-east England and another 5-8mm was expected during the day. The Met Office issued a severe weather warning for London and areas of Essex, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:05:06

Supermarket loyalty cards give genuine savings, says watchdog

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Competition and Markets Authority finds 92% of loyalty-price items are real deals, but urges people to shop aroundShoppers signed up to supermarket loyalty schemes can make “genuine savings”, the competition watchdog has found, but it urged consumers to shop around to secure the cheapest prices.The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had reviewed 50,000 products with loyalty price options and found 92% offered a saving against the supermarkets’ usual price. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:18:08

Former chief executive of Letby hospital denies he discouraged police inquiry

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Tony Chambers accepts that chances to stop nurse were missed but declines to identify any personal failuresThe former chief executive of the hospital where Lucy Letby murdered babies has apologised to the victims’ families but denied discouraging police from launching an investigation.Tony Chambers told the Thirlwall inquiry he “wholeheartedly accepted” that the Countess of Chester hospital’s “systems failed” and that there were missed opportunities to stop the nurse sooner. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:29:15

David Coote: FA investigating claims referee discussed giving yellow card

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FA says ‘very serious’ allegations being looked at urgentlyCoote denies wrongdoing, says his integrity not in doubtThe Football Association is investigating allegations that the referee David Coote discussed giving a yellow card before a game.The allegations centre on an exchange of messages before and after Coote refereed the Championship game between Leeds and West Brom in October 2019, in which he booked the Leeds defender Ezgjan Alioski. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:14:08

Pakistan army and police accused of firing on Imran Khan supporters

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Multiple protesters said to have been killed and hundreds injured in Islamabad amid calls for Khan’s release from jailPakistan’s army and police have been accused of firing on civilians, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries to hundreds of protesters who had stormed Islamabad on Tuesday to demand the release of the former prime minister Imran Khan from prison.As tens of thousands of Khan’s supporters stormed the capital on Tuesday in defiance of government orders, the army and paramilitary forces were deployed in huge numbers and issued with shoot-to-kill orders to try to stop the crowds reaching the heart of Islamabad’s sensitive Red Zone, which houses the parliament, supreme court and prime minister’s residence. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:19:05

Banksy’s Well Hung Lover to be sold with Bristol building it is painted on

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Work showing man hanging from window ledge appeared in 2006 on wall of listed Georgian propertyOne of Banksy’s most beloved works is being sold at auction with the Bristol building it was created on.The work, known as Well Hung Lover, shows an image of a man hanging from a window ledge as a cheated rival searches for him and a woman stands by. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:20:20

‘End of an era’: Smithfield traders absorb news that London market is to close

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Workers stunned at City of London Corporation’s plan to close market, which was established in 1133 and survived Great FireThe junction at Cowcross Street marks the place where for centuries cattle were driven daily to London’s Smithfield Market. Nearby Cock Lane is another street name linked to the meat and poultry trade centred here since the 12th century, although some accounts attribute its origin to it being the only licensed place for sex work in the medieval city.Soon these will be among the last vestiges of a truly historic site that was central to London life, feeding the city’s people, dispensing justice as a place of public execution and even, in a shameful chapter from the early 19th century, providing a place where a man wishing to avoid a costly divorce could sell his wife. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:39:51

Trump’s return raises questions over future of CIA’s Russian recruitment drive

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Intelligence agency has been trying to entice Russians disaffected by invasion of Ukraine but president-elect is likely to want to make an ally of KremlinFor the past three years, the CIA has run an unusually bold outreach programme. It targeted Russians within the country’s government and security services, attempting to turn them into double agents.Slickly produced recruitment videos portrayed cooperation with the US secret agency as the patriotic choice for officials disaffected with Vladimir Putin’s regime and the war in Ukraine. The videos ended with instructions on how to contact the CIA in a secure manner. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 05:00:51

What are tariffs and why is Trump levying them on Canada, Mexico and China?

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Trump is now laying ground for a trade war with the country’s largest trading partnersTrump’s tariff threat sets stage for bitter global trade warThere are still over 50 days left until Donald Trump takes office, but he’s already laid the ground for a trade war that could shake the global economy.Trump announced on Monday that he will sign an executive order placing a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico, along with an additional 10% tariff on imports from China, in purported retaliation for drugs and migrants crossing US borders. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 09:00:01

A moment that changed me: at seven, I saw the truth of China’s one-child policy – and felt my parents’ pain

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When a classmate said she’d be allowed a brother or sister, I realised what it meant: she might die young. It was a sudden insight into tragedy and traumaOne afternoon in the spring of 1997, as my seven-year-old classmate and I played in a tiny park in our Shanghai neighbourhood, she shared a secret: “I’m allowed to have a little brother or sister.” My jaw dropped. No one my age had a sibling except a pair of twins at school. People used the words “sister” and “brother” to mean cousin. Having siblings was an outlandish, outdated, even shameful concept, something older generations had done before the one-child policy was introduced in 1980.My parents carefully stored our One Child Honorary Certificate, with golden characters on a sleek red booklet, in a bottom drawer, right by my birth certificate. They were good citizens who, by definition, had only one child. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 06:55:52

Dorothea Rockburne – New York great’s first big UK show all comes down to one long, mesmerising line

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Bernheim Gallery, LondonNow aged 95, the great polymath had trouble finding the right chipboard in Britain – but this is still a show of disarming simplicity with one stunning standout workSometimes a work gets to you and blows everything else away. It begins with a narrow black line, about the breadth of a pencil, running at waist-height around the walls of the ground floor gallery. The line negotiates the mouldings, runs under a mantelpiece, takes the corners and recesses, makes a turn, gets interrupted by a set of French doors and disappears from view. The line leads us from room to room. Regular, unvarying and relentless, it sometimes leaves a breathy residue on the wall or a build-up of fine graphite dust in the corners and crevices of a window-frame as it passes.Drawn using fine charcoal powder and fixative, the line at times appears to have been incised in the wall rather than just sitting on top of the paintwork. Sometimes it looks like a cut, as if someone has sawn through the entire building, making me think of Gordon Matta-Clark’s chain-sawed buildings. The only other thing in this bare room is Dorothea Rockburne’s 1967 Tropical Tan, a group of four abutted black steel panels leaning against the wall and reaching above our heads. The panels look flat, but each steel sheet is precisely bent on its four diagonals, the angles muted and disguised by a layer of pallid wrinkle-finish paint. The line runs behind the panels, re-emerges on the other side and carries on, oblivious, dragging me with it. Unlike me, the line never hesitates. Even when you can’t see it the line is there, as present as an invisible horizon. It is always with us. Like the line itself, the questions keep on coming. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:12:39

‘Doing it with no partner is easier’: the single women using fertility treatments

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A growing number feel single parenthood is liberating and only a sense of ‘shame’ around it is holding women backIt was Covid that gave Amy, 45, the final push to have fertility treatment on her own. “I had been thinking about it for a while, and then with Covid, I thought: ‘I’m never gonna meet anybody.’ And I didn’t really want to be that woman who’s like: ‘Hey, we’ve been on one internet date. Let’s have a baby!”Amy struck lucky with her first embryo transfer and is now the mother of a three-year-old. “I feel very blessed,” she said. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:54

‘Don’t call me Shirley’: Watch five classic moments from Jim Abrahams comedies

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Writer-director was involved with a string of hits, including Airplane!, Hot Shots! and The Naked Gun. Here are some of the most famous scenesJim Abrahams, the writer-director involved with the hit comedies Airplane! and The Naked Gun, has died at the age of 80.Here we take a look at the funniest moments from his most popular film and TV comedies. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:33:52

I want to ignore beauty culture. But I’ll never get anywhere if I don’t look a certain way

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Beauty improves only some qualities of life and demands high investment of time, money and energy, writes advice columnist Jessica DeFinoHi Ugly,How do I reconcile not wanting to become a victim to beauty culture rhetoric with the fact that being beautiful tangibly improves quality of life? I’m an undergrad in university and it’s hard not to feel like I’ll never get anywhere professionally or romantically if I don’t look a certain way, given that it seems like all the other girls on campus seem to be able to fulfill all their dreams and also casually look like That. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:00:02

How Sony could reclaim handheld gaming from Nintendo and the smartphone

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In this week’s newsletter: A new PlayStation portable device that will play the PS back catalogue is reportedly in the offing – it could be a gamechanger for the market• Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereA report from Bloomberg this week suggests that Sony is working on a new portable PlayStation device. As someone who still has a PlayStation Vita languishing in my desk drawer because I can’t quite bear to put it in the attic, this is an exciting prospect. It has been almost 13 years since Sony released the Vita, its last portable console, and it’s such a wonder of a thing, with its big crisp screen and dinky little sticks. I wish more people had made games for it – paper-craft adventure Tearaway and topsy-turvy platform-puzzler Gravity Rush remain underrated.Actually, apart from the lovely and extremely niche Playdate, nobody has bothered to release a dedicated handheld games console in over a decade. Both the Nintendo Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck are hybrids that can be played handheld and connected to a big screen. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:00:16

‘The constitutional court is easy to crack’: the threats to German democracy go on stage

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Legal journalist Maximilian Steinbeis’s play A Citizen of the People shows how easy it could be for a party like AfD to upend the country’s 75-year-old democracyA smile so sweet it will melt your heart, a handshake so earnest it will make you want to buy him a beer, and a stare from deep-set eyes so intense you will tremble for your children’s future: Dominik Arndt has the suave moves and terrifying looks typical of the rightwing politicians that are knocking on the gates of power all over Europe. Specifically, the lanky and youthful actor who plays Arndt, Fabian Hinrichs, looks a lot like Björn Höcke, the Thuringian politician many see as the boss in all but title behind Germany’s ascendant Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party.But what makes Arndt so unsettling – and the play A Citizen of the People one of the more interesting theatrical contributions to the current political moment – is that he doesn’t speak like a rightwinger at all. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:41:34

The Long Wave: How Brazil is celebrating its Black heritage

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Afro-Brazilians marked Black Consciousness Day as a national holiday for the first time, but the celebrations are facing resistance. Plus, a fertility ‘miracle’ rattles Nigeria and Kendrick Lamar’s surprise dropDon’t get The Long Wave? delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereHello and welcome to The Long Wave. It was a big week in Brazil, where Black Consciousness Day on 20 November was a public holiday for the first time. I spoke to Tiago Rogero, our South America correspondent, about the significance of the day and the big changes happening in Brazil’s approach to race. But first, the weekly roundup. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:17:00

My family has grown Britain’s food for 140 years. Here’s what politicians don’t understand about farming | Clare Wise

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We’ve cared for our farm through war, pandemic and money worries. The inheritance tax row shows how little the government respects thatClare Wise is a farmer based in County DurhamIf you are familiar with the pangs of parental guilt, then you can relate to owning a farm. Take that gut-wrenching, often irrational feeling, amplify it, and welcome to being a farmer. From the moment you’re born into a family farm, there’s a weight of expectation on you to look after it, to put it before yourself, to uphold your family’s pride. All farm kids know they don’t open presents on Christmas morning until the animals are fed, that parents miss special occasions because cows are calving, and that hopes of a foreign holiday are almost nil, at least on a livestock farm such as mine.Owning a farm is like playing a game of pass the parcel with a valuable gift, but the one who unwraps the present is very much the loser of the bunch. From an early age, it’s drilled into you that the farm, the land and its legacy are things you carry and pass on to your children. We don’t see the farms we inhabit as truly ours: they’re generational assets that produce food for the masses. That is why farmers are putting up a huge fight against the government’s new inheritance tax changes. It’s hard not to feel as though this policy is a land grab by ministers who have no idea about how farming works.Clare Wise is a farmer based in County DurhamDo 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: 2024-11-27 08:00:55

MPs will vote, but there is a better way to decide who has the right to die | Rafael Behr

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In an age of cynicism and mistrust, politicians must work harder to involve the public in difficult decisionsWhen MPs vote this Friday on assisted dying, they will be trying to answer two questions folded into one. First comes the ethical choice. Is it ever permissible for one person to help someone else take their own life? Then comes the regulatory challenge. Under what conditions might that permission be granted in law?It isn’t easy to separate those considerations. Sometimes you have to work through scenarios of implementation before arriving at a view on the prior principle. But when legislation is being drafted, the two questions must logically be answered in sequence, not in parallel. When and how are only relevant debates if the answer to the question of whether assisted dying can ever be allowed is yes.Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 06:00:52

The ceasefire in Lebanon doesn’t ensure a lasting victory for Israel, but does signal a strategic setback for Iran | Bilal Saab

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Hezbollah is still armed and has the potential to attack Israel. But more significantly it has in effect abandoned HamasNow that the dust has settled, quite literally, following the ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel, it is crucial to ask whether this deal will last – because, let’s face it, we’ve been here before.In 2006, Hezbollah and Israel fought viciously for more than a month for reasons not dissimilar to today’s context. By conducting a cross-border raid against Israeli troops, Hezbollah sought to alleviate some pressure on Hamas, which was battling with Israel in Gaza. The operation backfired, triggering a devastating conflict that led to the killing of roughly 1,100 Lebanese and 160 Israelis, and to massive displacement and damage to infrastructure in southern Lebanon. At home, Hezbollah was heavily criticised by most of Lebanese society for its unilateral decision, but, as always, it evaded accountability thanks to its guns.Bilal Y Saab, an associate fellow with Chatham House, is the head of the US-Middle East practice of Trends Research & AdvisoryDo 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: 2024-11-27 09:41:15

Prosecuting passengers for pocket change? Rail ticketing in Britain has become an absolute farce | Jonn Elledge

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The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, is right: innocent people should never feel like criminals for merely buying a ticketThere are a number of things that made Northern’s attempts to prosecute Sam Williamson for rail fare evasion seem a bit off. One was that he, er, had a ticket – one that was marked “anytime”. There were, it transpired, some limits on when he could use that ticket – his 16-25 railcard magically transformed that “anytime” ticket into a “not any time, actually” one. (There had been no such limits when he’d used it just a week earlier, because it had been summer.) But none of this was made clear at the point when he’d bought that ticket.Then there’s the fact that when Williamson discovered what he described as an “innocent mistake”, he offered to pay the difference. The revenue protection officer – the change from “ticket inspector” is surely telling in itself – who checked his ticket did not allow it. But what really makes prosecution a bit OTT is quite how much revenue Northern had lost through all this: £1.90. You can’t get a coffee for that. No matter. He seemed set to go to court.Jonn Elledge is an author and former assistant editor of the New Statesman Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:03

Labour’s ‘Get Britain Working’ strategy risks making things worse. Here’s why | Iain Porter

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These new plans are built on a safety net that is fast eroding – and becoming an obstacle to people finding workIf you’re someone with a disability or a long-term health condition who loses their job, the system designed to help you find and stay in work isn’t working. Disabled people’s experience of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is often characterised by distrust, fear and negativity. Those who have tried to move into work have spoken of structural and cultural barriers built into the system. These can include stressful and demeaning assessments, the gnawing fear of being sanctioned, and a lack of positive engagement from the DWP, which offers a poorly tailored employment support.The Labour government has promised to take a fundamentally different approach with its Get Britain Working white paper that was published earlier this week. Speaking about the paper, Keir Starmer said it was time to end the culture of “blaming and shaming” people who haven’t been getting the support they need. Then, in the same breath, he pledged to “slash” the country’s “spiralling” benefits bill as part of his government’s efforts to get more people into work. This harmful rhetoric threatens to sabotage the government’s attempts to reset its relationship with people who are sick or disabled. While the white paper signalled the government’s ambitions, the cuts to benefits it has pencilled in for next year undermine them.Iain Porter is a senior policy adviser at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:29:19

My sister is on hunger strike to free her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah from jail in Egypt. We don’t want her to die | Ahdaf Soueif

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The British-Egyptian activist is imprisoned alongside thousands of other political detainees. We’re appealing to the UK government for helpMy sister is 68, and today is her 60th day on hunger strike. This is her latest battle against injustice, and she knows it may be her last.Laila is fighting for the freedom of her son: Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian writer, software developer and democracy activist who is Egypt’s most high-profile political prisoner. Alaa has served two five-year prison sentences. The first for participating in a 15-minute silent protest, the second for reposting a Facebook post about a prisoner who had died in prison.Ahdaf Soueif is the author of Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common GroundDo 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: 2024-11-27 10:36:05

Welcome to Trump’s trade war – where no one wins because everyone just pays more for things | Greg Jericho

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Tariffs raise prices much like the GST – and like the GST it hurts people on low and middle incomes the mostIf anyone was under any delusion that Donald Trump was not going to be as bonkers as he said he would be, then his announcement on Tuesday that he would slap a 25% tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico (and deeper tariffs on China) should remove all doubt.“Tariff” has become the economic word of the year thanks to the incoming US president. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:00:04

France has the highest cannabis consumption in Europe. It’s high time to tax it | Alexander Hurst

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With the nation’s finances in a parlous state, decriminalisation could raise millions of euros – as well as cut crimeFrance might not be broke, but the state of its public finances is, well, definitely not good. Total debt stands at €3.2tn – 112% of GDP. Interest payments on that debt are the second largest public expenditure after education (which includes everything from crêche, or preschool, to universities) and are higher than the amount spent on defence. And this year’s budget deficit is projected to be 6%, three points above the EU’s 3% limit.If it weren’t for the euro, France might very well be in the throes of a fiscal crisis – as it is, interest rates on some French debt are higher than for Portugal or Spain. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:52

The Guardian view on cruise ships: a licence to pollute | Editorial

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The environmental harm caused by this shapeshifting, underregulated industry must be tackledLocal pushback against cruise ships in the world’s top tourist destinations is nothing new. More than three years ago, these vast vessels were barred from Venice’s lagoon on grounds of the risk they posed to the city’s historic buildings. This summer, cruise ships in Amsterdam and Barcelona were targeted by protesters, on grounds of chemical pollution but also as part of a wider movement against overtourism (as the negative impacts of huge influxes of visitors have become known). But – as revealed this week in a series of Guardian articles, The real cost of cruises – the environmental and social impact of this fast-growing industry goes way beyond individual cities, and requires action on a global scale.The carbon emissions of a cruise are roughly double that of the equivalent flights plus a hotel stay. The industry is also responsible for a vast quantity of waste discharged directly into the sea, as well as high levels of toxic air pollution in the ports where ships are docked – usually with their engines running. Once seen as the exclusive pursuit of a minority of wealthy retired people, these holidays are now mainstream, with vast floating resorts designed and marketed for families and young adults. The largest ships have up to 20 floors and room for several thousand people.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 18:46:00

The Guardian view on Donald Trump’s tariffs: protectionism is no longer taboo in politics | Editorial

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US trade policies since 2016 highlight a broader global retreat from globalisation, driven by geopolitical tensions and shifting economic prioritiesDonald Trump’s broadside against America’s three largest trading partners, with whom it runs a $500bn trade deficit, should surprise no one. Since 2016, both Mr Trump and Mr Biden have departed from established norms in international trade. The two presidencies diverged significantly in approach: Mr Biden emphasised systemic reform while Mr Trump relied on rhetoric and theatrics. Although both administrations faced criticism for driving up costs through tariffs and industrial policy, global events were primarily behind rising prices.Mr Trump’s self-declared fondness for tariffs is closely tied to his ability to authorise them unilaterally, bypassing Congress under claims of national security. This may explain his recent announcement of plans to impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico, and an additional 10% on Chinese imports, unless these countries address alleged issues of illegal immigration and fentanyl smuggling. The US president-elect clearly sees tariffs as more than mere policies; they are a calculated means of gaining leverage. By threatening to impose them, Mr Trump is signalling a desire to negotiate – but only on his terms.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: 2024-11-26 18:46:06

UK and US must halt escalation in Ukraine | Letters

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Diane Abbott MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ayoub Khan MP, Shockat Adam MP, Iqbal Mohamed MP, Adnan Hussain MP, Brian Eno, Alex Gordon, Fran Heathcote, Sophie Bolt and Lindsey German say diplomacy is the only path to peace. Plus, Laurie Farnum on why Russia can’t be trusted and Alex Hetmanczuk on the west’s failure to tackle it earlierWe are deeply concerned about the escalation in Ukraine. In response to British-made Storm Shadow missiles fired into Kursk (Report, 20 November), just days after Ukraine used the US’s army tactical missile systems (Atacms) to attack Bryansk, reports indicate that Russia has now launched intercontinental missiles into southern Ukraine. This rapid escalation seriously threatens an all-out military confrontation with Russia and Nato. The risk of a nuclear attack cannot be ruled out.The British government has to take responsibility for its actions and these terrible consequences. With hundreds of thousands already killed and injured, securing an end to this horrific conflict is crucial. We call on Joe Biden and Keir Starmer to halt this escalation and secure talks with Russia and Ukraine. Diplomacy and dialogue, not military escalation, are the only viable paths to a peaceful settlement in the region.Diane Abbott MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Ayoub Khan MP, Shockat Adam MP, Iqbal Mohamed MP, Adnan Hussain MP, Brian Eno, Alex Gordon President, RMT, Fran Heathcote General secretary, PCS, Sophie Bolt General secretary, CND, Lindsey German Convener, Stop the War Coalition Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 17:29:35

Whistleblowing doctors need better protection | Letters

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Wes Streeting’s move is welcome, but the entire law in this area requires revisiting, say Dr David E Ward and Prof Jane SomervilleWe are encouraged to note that Wes Streeting is taking serious steps to stop NHS managers persecuting whistleblowing doctors just because they have raised patient safety concerns (NHS bosses who silence whistleblowers face sack under government plans, 24 November). The unwarranted and widely publicised detriments to some doctors who have spoken up about safety matters over the past 20 years have had serious consequences, despite laws intended to protect them. Trusts must be banned from dismissing doctors who raise patient safety concerns, and obliged to investigate their concerns, which at present are frequently covered up.The employment tribunal system, which some doctors may forlornly engage with to save their careers and livelihoods, is heavily biased against them. If dismissal was banned, most of the massive legal costs borne by the taxpayer would be avoided. In any case, why is the judiciary, which has little or no understanding of patient safety matters, involved if no laws have been broken? The entire law in this area requires revisiting. Mr Streeting has the important task of reviewing the current egregious arrangements. Why are no data formally collected about most of these major issues?Dr David E Ward Retired cardiologist, St George’s Hospital, LondonProf Jane Somerville Emeritus professor of cardiology, Imperial College London Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 17:20:30

Mbappé finds rhythm in preferred position before Madrid visit Liverpool

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Frenchman gets another chance to make his mark on the left after ending his mini-scoring drought“The story of my career,” Kylian Mbappé called it, which it wasn’t really and would make his career surprisingly average, but at least he was polite. A little political perhaps, too.After Real Madrid’s 3-0 victory at Leganés on Sunday night, the Frenchman spoke to the club’s TV channel about a game he had started on the left for the first time since his seven-year wait to reach Spain came to a close. He had scored the opener, ending a four-match run without a goal, 21 shots rattled off without scoring, but his position, he said, was not the reason. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 08:00:54

Australia’s mission improbable: crack the genius of Jasprit Bumrah in 10 days | Barney Ronay

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India’s supreme fast bowler destroyed the top order in Perth and the hosts have little time to avoid a second Test repeatTest cricket is supposed to be cruel. This is a key aspect of its beauty. This thing hurts. It will seek out your weakest points and then very carefully and skilfully gouge its nails into the wound. But is it meant to be this cruel?There was something tender, painful and even a little disturbing about what Jasprit Bumrah did to Marnus Labuschagne during the first Border-Gavaskar Test in Perth. In the space of 23 Bumrah deliveries Labuschagne was dropped, hit in the ribs, beaten five times, left completely scoreless, and basically de-cricketed, reduced to a series of strange, formless movements, stabbing at the ball like an under-gardener swatting midges in the dark. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:18:22

Ilkay Gündogan describes Manchester City’s miserable form as ‘inexplicable’

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City let slip three-goal lead at home to FeyenoordGuardiola issues statement after ‘self-harm’ reference A baffled Ilkay Gündogan described Manchester City’s form as “inexplicable” after they let a 3-0 lead with 75 minutes gone evaporate into a 3-3 draw against Feyenoord in Tuesday’s Champions League game at the Etihad.An Erling Haaland double and a Gündogan goal put Pep Guardiola’s team in firm control as they looked to end a five-game losing run with a win. But two passing errors from Josko Gvardiol and an ill-judged rush out by Ederson allowed Anis Hadj Moussa, Santiago Giménez and David Hancko to score for the visitors and salvage a draw, the equaliser coming a minute from the end of regulation time. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:48:05

Manchester United raise member ticket prices to £66 and remove concessions

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Seats had started at £40 for adults and £25 for children Supporters’ trust fears big price rise next seasonManchester United have raised the cost of tickets for members to £66 and removed concession prices for the rest of this season. The decision has been greeted with dismay by the supporters’ trust, which fears this is the first step before “a significant price rise” next season.The move comes as part of the co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s efforts to make United more financially sustainable in the face of losses. Those tickets previously started at £40 for adults and £25 for children. Of the seats available to members across the rest of the season, 97% have been sold and the money raised by the increase is expected to be in the low millions of pounds. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:08:00

Steve Cooper’s tepid Leicester reign was doomed from the very start

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Disappointing results and an uninspiring style aside, the former Forest manager was always fighting an uphill battleBy Ben McAleer for WhoScoredFew in Leicester would have shed a tear when news of Steve Cooper’s dismissal was announced on Sunday. Following in the footsteps of Enzo Maresca was tough enough and the club appointing a head coach dismissed by their rivals Nottingham Forest last December did not sit well with supporters. In effect Cooper had to scale a mountain to win over the fanbase.Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Chelsea spelled the end of his second spell in the Midlands. That it was Maresca in the opposing dugout at the King Power Stadium was a cruel twist of fate. It extended Leicester’s winless run in all competitions to five and leaves them a point above the drop zone. Cooper has overseen two league wins, and one of those was at 10-man Southampton, where they came from two goals down to win 3-2. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:43:24

Frank Lampard edges closer to dugout return as Coventry’s next manager

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Former Derby and Chelsea coach to replace Mark Robins‘Next appointment is very important,’ says owner KingFrank Lampard is closing on a return to management with Coventry, 18 months after exiting Chelsea. Lampard is expected to succeed Mark Robins, who was sacked after almost eight years in charge, with the club 17th in the Championship, two points above the relegation zone.Lampard has been out of coaching since leaving his interim role in charge of Chelsea at the end of 2022-23, but the 46-year-old former England midfielder is poised to return to the dugout in a division he knows from his time in charge of Derby, whom he guided to the playoff final in 2019. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:36:27

TP Mazembe pull off Champions League shock as search for fanfare continues | Moving the Goalposts

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Congolese club claimed glory in Africa’s premier women’s club competition but tournament struggled for crowdsThis certainly wasn’t on my bingo card. Coming into the fourth edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League, expectations were that the continental title would be retained by Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa or regained by the Moroccan hosts, Asfar Rabat. Between them they had won all three previous editions of Africa’s premier women’s club competition. Instead, it was TP Mazembe, a Congolese club only founded four years ago, who claimed continental glory with a 1-0 win in El Jadida.With Asfar Rabat having already beaten Mazembe 3-1 in the group stage, the 15,000 partisan Moroccan fans would have been expecting a procession but Marlène Kasaj’s 10th-minute penalty, awarded after VAR intervention, silenced the crowd. After that, and in front of the Morocco head coach, Jorge Vilda, sacked by Spain in the aftermath of Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso, Asfar failed to threaten the Mazembe goal and the away side saw out a relatively comfortable victory. The tournament’s top scorer and breakout star, Doha El Madani, came closest with a free-kick she sent just wide of the post but in truth it was Mazembe who carried a greater threat on a day when they subdued their usually free-scoring opponents. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:47:33

Gukesh Dommaraju levels World Chess Championship as Ding Liren loses on time in Game 3

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Champion Ding loses Game 3 on time after 3hr 49minGukesh levels best-of-14-games match at 1½-1½Ding Liren v Gukesh D: all your questions, answeredPlay through 22 famous world championship gamesIndian teenager Gukesh Dommaraju has scored his first win in his world title match with China’s Ding Liren after the reigning champion shockingly lost on time in the third game of their $2.5m showdown in Singapore.Ding’s mismanagement of the clock left him with 10 seconds to make five moves to reach the first time control from a losing position. He was unable to reach his 40th move, which would have given him an additional 30 minutes, before the flag went up. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:02:19

Plastics lobbyists make up biggest group at vital UN treaty talks

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Fossil fuel and chemical industry representatives outnumber those of the EU or host country South KoreaRecord numbers of plastic industry lobbyists are attending global talks that are the last chance to hammer out a treaty to cut plastic pollution around the world.The key issue at the conference will be whether caps on global plastic production will be included in the final UN treaty. Lobbyists and leading national producers are furiously arguing against any attempt to restrain the amount that can be produced, leaving the talks on a knife-edge. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:14:27

Climate denial a unifying theme of Trump’s cabinet picks, experts say

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Loyalists selected for important roles have offered staunch support to fossil fuels and downplayed climate crisisDonald Trump’s cabinet picks have been eclectic and often controversial but a unifying theme is emerging, experts say, with the US president-elect’s nominees offering staunch support to fossil fuels and either downplaying or denying the climate crisis caused by the burning of these fuels.Trump ran on promises to eviscerate “green new scam” climate policies and to “drill, baby, drill” for more oil and gas, and his choices to run the major organs of the US government echo such sentiments, particularly his picks relating to the environment, with Lee Zeldin chosen as the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Chris Wright as energy secretary and Doug Burgum as interior secretary. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:05

China’s CO2 emissions have peaked or will in 2025, say 44% of experts in survey

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Research reflects rising optimism about country’s green transition as it takes leading position on climate actionNearly half of experts surveyed by a climate thinktank believe China’s carbon dioxide emissions have already peaked, or will do so in 2025, reflecting increasing optimism about the country’s green transition at a time when it is being called on to take a leading position on global climate action.According to a report published on Tuesday by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a research organisation, 44% of climate experts from academia and industry believe that China’s CO2 emissions will peak, at the latest, in 2025. In last year’s survey, only 21% of experts gave the same response. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 00:01:44

Backroom deals and betrayal: how Cop29’s late $300bn deal left nobody happy

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While an agreement on climate finance was eventually reached in Baku, many poorer countries were outragedThe Lamborghini showroom and a Tiffany branch sit at either end of Baku’s long boulevards beside the Caspian Sea. Adorned with grand 19th-century mansions, all plaster nymphs and columned facades, that were built by the first oil millionaires, they are a testament to the enduring power of fossil fuels. Oil has been very good to Azerbaijan.It flows out of the ground here, and gas has seeped out, ignited and burned naturally in the area for so long that the country’s symbol is a flame and its nickname is the Land of Fire. Baku was the world’s first oil town, with wells exploited as early as the 1840s. Ilham Aliyev, the autocratic president, calls oil and gas “the gift of God” to his people. They represent 90% of Azerbaijan’s exports. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 06:00:02

Grave exhumed near Northern Ireland border in hunt for IRA ‘disappeared’

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Search for Joe Lynskey, who was murdered and secretly buried by IRA in 1972, takes place in County MonaghanA grave south of the Northern Ireland border has been exhumed by experts searching for the body of a former monk more than 50 years after he was killed and “disappeared” by the IRA during the Northern Ireland Troubles.Joe Lynskey, a former Cistercian monk from Belfast who later joined the IRA, was abducted, murdered and secretly buried by the IRA in 1972, one of 17 victims who disappeared without trace decades ago. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:38:22

Defra cuts pose ‘existential threat’ to England’s most beautiful areas

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Exclusive: National landscapes’ chiefs say environment secretary has given no budget assurances and they are to expect cutsProposed cuts to England’s most beautiful landscapes pose an “existential threat”, the managers of the National Landscapes Association have warned.These 46 regions, including the Chilterns, the Cotswolds, the Wye Valley and the north Pennines, used to be known as areas of outstanding natural beauty but were renamed earlier this year as “national landscapes”. They cover 15% of England, including 20% of the coastline. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:34:55

Counter-terrorism police arrest six in London raids connected to PKK

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Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey among properties being searched by officers investigating banned groupSix people have been arrested by counter-terrorism police in London as part of an investigation into the banned Kurdistan Workers’ party, known as the PKK.Four men aged 23, 27, 56 and 62 and two women aged 31 and 59 were arrested at separate addresses during dawn raids in the capital on Wednesday and remain in custody, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:01:59

William Hague elected chancellor of Oxford University

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Former foreign secretary and Oxford graduate wins online vote, ending hopes a woman would fill role for first timeThe former foreign secretary William Hague has been elected as Oxford University’s next chancellor, ending hopes that a woman would fill the role for the first time in Oxford’s 800-year history.In the first ever online election for the ceremonial role, Hague triumphed over Elish Angiolini, the principal of Oxford’s St Hugh’s College and former lord advocate of Scotland, and Jan Royall, the principal of Somerville College, who finished second and third respectively. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:25:14

Undercover police officer who deceived women a ‘cruel’ liar, public inquiry told

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Belinda Harvey, who had relationship with Bob Lambert, says it is ‘beyond comprehension’ how she was usedAn undercover police officer who deceived at least four women into sexual relationships and fathered a child with one of them is a “cruel and manipulative” liar, a public inquiry has been told.Belinda Harvey, one of the women who had an 18-month relationship with Bob Lambert without knowing his real identity, said it was “beyond comprehension” how the undercover officer had used her. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 08:27:50

British mother of Egyptian political prisoner to press Lammy to take action

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Laila Soueif is to meet the foreign secretary, who in opposition called for the release of Alaa Abd el-FattahThe British-born mother of an Egyptian political prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 58 days is preparing to meet the foreign secretary, David Lammy, to urge him to secure her son’s release.Laila Soueif’s son Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British and Egyptian dual citizen who wrote eloquently about the Arab spring and its aftermath, was jailed for five years for “spreading false news”. He was due to be released in September, but has not been freed. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 06:00:51

Aston Martin looks to raise £210m after second profit warning in two months

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Luxury carmaker wants to drive electrification and boost growth by taking on further debt and issuing new sharesBusiness live – latest updatesAston Martin has announced it is hoping to raise £210m to help boost growth and drive its electrification strategy, shortly after issuing its second profit warning in two months.The British luxury car manufacturer said it aims to raise £110m through new shares and a further £100m by taking on new debt to “increase its financial resilience”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:32:45

Groucho Club’s licence suspended while Met investigates serious offence

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Members’ venue in central London popular with the media and arts world closes as police inquiry explores recent crimeThe Groucho Club has been forced to close as police investigate whether the venue was the scene of a serious criminal offence.On Tuesday Westminster council ruled that the licence of the club, which counts many A-list celebrities among its members, should be immediately suspended for 28 days. A full hearing will then take place. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 22:03:35

Harvester and Toby Carvery owner says it will take £100m hit from tax changes

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Mitchells & Butlers faces ‘cost headwinds’ because of rises in national minimum wage and employer NICsThe owner of Harvester, Toby Carvery and All Bar One, Mitchells & Butlers, has become the latest hospitality business to warn it will take a £100m hit as a result of the tax changes outlined in the October budget.The pub and restaurant group said it was facing “cost headwinds” in its current financial year, which began at the start of October, because of the increases in the national minimum wage and employer national insurance contributions (NICs) announced by Rachel Reeves, which are due to take effect from next April. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:32:46

Mother who kept three-year-old locked in a drawer jailed for seven years

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Child was found severely malnourished, unable to walk or speak and had never seen daylight before her rescueThe mother of a three-year-old girl who was kept in a drawer and had never seen daylight or another human face has been jailed for more than seven years.The girl was found severely malnourished and unable to walk or speak in February 2023 by a partner of her mother’s who had gone upstairs to use the toilet and heard a noise that sounded like a baby. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 19:30:56

Trump’s tariff plan will send prices ‘through the roof’, warn US firms

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US manufacturers are bracing for disruption and sounding the alarm that customers will be hit by price increasesExplained: what are tariffs and why is Trump targeting China, Mexico and Canada?Donald Trump set the business and political world alight late on Monday. The incoming president said he would impose a 25% tariff on goods from Mexico and Canada and hit China with more levies on day one of his term.“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!” he wrote on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:00:01

Russia-Ukraine war live: Ukrainian envoy in South Korea to discuss arms; Moscow tells US to stop supplying Kyiv

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Ukraine’s defence minister holding bilateral meetings in South KoreaRussia’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday that if the United States stationed missiles in Japan than it would pose a threat to Russia and Moscow would have to take retaliatory steps.Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova suggested that Russia’s nuclear doctrine be consulted to give a guide on what retaliatory steps could be taken in such a situation. Zakharova said that the United States continued to escalate the situation around Taiwan, undermining regional stability. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:21:21

Gibson issues cease and desist over Trump-backed guitars

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Electric guitar maker claims president-elect-endorsed merchandise infringes on Les Paul trademarkGibson, the maker of famous electric guitars, has issued a cease and desist order to the company behind a range of “Trump Guitars” endorsed by the US president-elect.Gibson told Guitar World, which first reported the story, it took action because the design of the instruments being sold as Trump Guitars “infringes upon Gibson’s exclusive trademarks, particularly the iconic Les Paul body shape”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:52:34

Elusive deer spotted wearing high-vis jacket in Canada: ‘Who is responsible?’

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‘Double takes’ as British Columbia mountain community tries to figure out how local animal came to don neon jacketIn a town of fewer than 1,000 people, it can be hard to keep a secret. And yet no one in McBride, a mountain community in British Columbia, can figure out how a local deer came to be wearing a zipped-up high-visibility jacket – or why the day-glo-clad cervid has been so hard to track down.The mystery began on Sunday, when Andrea Arnold was driving along the snowy outskirts of McBride on Sunday and witnessed a sight so baffling she slowed her vehicle to a crawl. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 11:00:06

China releases three US citizens held for years in prisoner swap

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Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung freed after Biden administration forges rare agreement with BeijingThree American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released in a prisoner swap, the White House has said, announcing a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:23:01

US economy ‘motoring along’ with 2.8% expansion in last quarter, but Trump’s trade tariffs ‘threaten economic growth’ – business live

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Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsTrump’s tariff threat sets stage for bitter global trade warTrump’s tariffs will lead to higher prices in the shops, and weaker currencies for Canada, China and Mexico, explains Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank.Schmieding saysTaken at face value, such tariffs could raise the level of US consumer prices by c1% within a year if we assume that producers and distributors can pass on roughly 70% of higher import prices to consumers at a time of buoyant domestic demand. However, a depreciation of the Canadian, Mexican and Chinese currencies relative to the US dollar will likely absorb a significant part of that impact, perhaps up to half as a back-of-the envelope guess.Trump’s tariff statement is probably merely the opening salvo of a series of tariff threats. But interestingly, he has tied his announcement of extra tariffs on the top three exporters to the US to specific complaints about immigration and drug trafficking. That seems to open the door for negotiations. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:41:41

Von der Leyen calls for more EU defence spending after narrow election victory

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European Commission president says average spending in Europe is 1.9% of GDP, while Russia’s is 9%The head of the EU executive, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for more defence spending in Europe over the next five years, as her top team was voted in by a wafer-thin majority of MEPs.The European parliament’s endorsement of the new EU executive by the narrowest-ever margin clears the way for von der Leyen and her chosen 26 European commissioners to start a five-year term on Sunday. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:06:59

Russia’s rouble plunges to lowest rate since early weeks of Ukraine war

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Rouble hit 110 against the dollar after US introduced sanctions against Gazprombank, Russia’s third-largest bankRussia’s rouble has plunged to its lowest rate against the dollar since the early weeks of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the wake of new western sanctions and growing geopolitical tensions.The rouble on Wednesday hit 110 against the dollar for the first time since 16 March 2022. Before launching its war on Ukraine in February 2022, the Russian currency traded at around 75-80 against the US dollar. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:03:13

Former ICC chief prosecutor says she faced threats and ‘thug-style tactics’

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Fatou Bensouda says she and her family were subjected to ‘direct threats’ while working on the most sensitive casesThe former chief prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda has said she was subjected to “thug-style tactics”, threats and intimidation while in office.Bensouda, who held the post between 2012 and 2021, said that when she was working on some the court’s most politically sensitive cases she experienced “direct threats to my person and family”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:52:30

Seoul slows down under blanket of heaviest November snow in 100 years

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First day of snowfall this season is heaviest on record, says weather bureauSouth Korea’s capital has been blanketed by what the weather agency said was the heaviest November snowfall since records began over a century ago. It was the first snowfall of this year’s winter.The Korea Meteorological Administration said 16.5cm (6.5 inches) of snow fell by 7am on Wednesday, compared with Seoul’s previous record of 12.4cm on 28 November 1972. It was the heaviest snowfall since records began in 1907, the KMA said. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:02:24

242 best Christmas gifts for 2024: perfect present ideas chosen by the experts

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From Monty Don’s top garden tool to Sali Hughes’s perfect lipstick and Yotam Ottolenghi’s favourite ever present, we asked everyone what they wanted – so you don’t have toStuck for what to buy everyone for Christmas? You won’t be for long … From gifts for fitness fans and gardeners to presents for pets (and their adorable owners), teens and beauty lovers, we’ve got all bases covered.Best of all, they’re hand-picked from the experts themselves: we’ve taken out the guesswork and asked the kids, chefs, cyclists and more to tell us what they actually want this year. Merry Christmas! Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-23 08:11:16

The best robot vacuums to keep your home clean and dust free, tested by our expert

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Our writer trialled the most powerful robot vacuums – some of which even mop your floors – and these are the ones he ratesRobot vacuum cleaners take the drudge work out of cleaning your floors and carpets. No more tiresome weekly stints of vacuuming, and no more last-minute panic sessions when you have visitors on the way. Instead, your compact robot chum regularly trundles out from its dock, sucking up dust, hair and debris to leave your floors looking spick and span.Over the past few years, robot vacuums have become much more affordable, with basic units starting at about £150. They’re also doing more than they used to, mopping areas of hard flooring and charging in sophisticated cleaning stations that empty their dust collectors and clean their mop pads for you.Best overall robot vacuum cleaner: Eufy X10 Pro Omni£579 at EufyBest robot vacuum for power cleaning: Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI+ £800 at John LewisBest for no-fuss robot vacuuming and mopping: iRobot Roomba Combo J9+£599 at iRobotBest robot vacuum cleaner for small homes and small budgets: Beko VRR61414VB RoboSmart £239 at Currys Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 18:00:36

Surviving Black Friday: what to know ahead of the UK sales

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In this week’s newsletter: how to cut through the noise this Black Friday, gifts for fitness fanatics and the top coffee machines for 2024• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereBlack Friday may be a recent phenomenon, but sales have been a part of British winter for decades – and they’ve always been regarded with suspicion by those who feel they’re above such things. I remember 70s newsreaders chuckling over footage of fights in the Boxing Day sales between women of previously good character, all desperate to grab the last half-price vacuum cleaner. How amusing, and how sad, said the newsreaders’ faces.I don’t share their snobbery. Black Friday can save people an awful lot of money on things they’ve wanted to buy for themselves and others but have struggled to afford during the cost of living crisis. But writing about it is a tightrope. You want to offer sincere, useful shopping advice without coming across like a puppet of commerce, and that’s a tricky path to navigate.Air fryers, heated throws and the world’s best jeans: Black Friday deals on the products we loveChristmas gifts for swimmers: what to buy water babies, from swimming costumes to changing robes and bagsChristmas gifts for runners: the best shoes, socks and vests to buy the running enthusiast in your lifeThe best Christmas gifts for cyclists, from warm cycling gloves and socks to a portable headlampThe best iPhones in 2024: Apple smartphones tested, reviewed and ranked Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 17:08:10

Air fryers, heated throws and the world’s best jeans: Black Friday deals on the products we love

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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

‘Most of these guys had never fired a weapon’: inside the FBI’s early hunt for gangsters

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The new book Gangster Hunters recalls J Edgar Hoover and his so-called ‘G-Men’ who took down some of the biggest criminals of the timeJohn Oller’s new book tells how the FBI took down John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Bonnie and Clyde and other celebrity criminals of the 1930s, as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt waged his “war on crime”. In prose fast as an Essex-Terraplane getaway car, Oller recounts and deconstructs the myths that grew around such bank robbers, kidnappers and killers. He also spotlights the agents who chased and caught and sometimes killed the criminals or were killed themselves – names long eclipsed by that of J Edgar Hoover, who led the FBI for 48 years.“Hoover was such a larger-than-life figure and he wanted to keep it that way,” Oller says. “He wanted his agents to be anonymous. If any name was going to be associated with the FBI, he was going to be it. And he pulled it off. That’s the reason none of these guys that I write about have ever been known. They kept it that way.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 09:11:00

John Lennon letter inviting Eric Clapton to join supergroup to be auctioned

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1971 letter proposes group including Klaus Voormann and Phil Spector to ‘bring back the balls in rock’n’roll’John Lennon wanted Eric Clapton to join a supergroup alongside Phil Spector in the early 1970s in order to “bring back the balls in rock’n’roll”, according to an eight-page letter that is being auctioned.The letter was written a few weeks after the release of Imagine and showed Lennon considering a dramatic shift in styles as his nascent post-Beatles solo career was taking off. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 14:40:12

Steve McQueen photography exhibition offers fresh take on history of protest in Britain

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Director showcases images of the suffragettes, Kinder Scout trespasses and anti-fascist protests in LondonAfter retelling the story of the Blitz from a new angle, Steve McQueen’s next project is an alternative photographic history of protest and campaigning in Britain, spanning a century from the suffragettes to the Iraq war protests.Resistance will open at Margate’s Turner Contemporary in February 2025, which the gallery’s director said would show how “photography has really acted as a kind of catalyst for change” in the UK. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 06:00:51

Rupert Goold named as next artistic director of Old Vic

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Goold says he is seeking new challenge after more than a decade in charge at the Almeida theatreRupert Goold is leaving the Almeida theatre after more than a decade in charge to take over at the Old Vic, ending a search for a new leader at one of the UK’s biggest theatrical institutions.Rumours of the move at the top of the British theatre world began circulating this week, after the news in May that the current Old Vic artistic director, Matthew Warchus, would step down from the role in 2026. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:49:37

I set up my own indie label. From Brexit’s brutality to the joy of DIY music, here’s what I learned

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After becoming disenchanted by pricey but middling gigs, I rediscovered the underground and became determined to champion it. But the obstacles are considerableI’m listening right now to a record I’ve put out on a label I’ve set up myself: a spiralling piece of vinyl unleashing a glorious noise. Helping bring it into existence has been a rush like no other – frightening and intimidating at times, but eye-opening and enormously rewarding. A journey discovering that, away from the corporate behemoths, there’s a lot of friendly people doing the same thing, simply because they love music, too.Music hit me at an early age and obsession has followed ever since. I’m the Guardian’s Formula One correspondent and I am deeply devoted to the sport, but listening to bands has perhaps been the only real constant in my life since first experiencing those teenage kicks. Forty years later it has reached this unexpected and yet rather glorious conclusion: my label, INH Records. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:27:59

James McMahon obituary

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Music journalism is full of passionate characters, but my friend and former colleague James McMahon, who has died aged 44 after being diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma (a rare form of cancer), could give them all a run for their money.He was passionate about the bands he liked – often scrappy, DIY ones with a fanbase you could count on both hands. And he was passionate about how the press should cover them. But he was also passionate about much more than music: Doncaster Rovers, zombie movies, Wrestlemania, true crime stories, UFOs, comic books … the list was long. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:15:41

Flex your new visual super skills

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We’ve all acquired new design smarts. Now it’s time to make the most of them Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-20 10:47:07

From manifesting to manifestos: Steven Bartlett is spearheading a new approach to achieving your goals

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The entrepreneur has teamed up with Adobe Express to promote the benefits of creating your own personal manifestoSteven Bartlett might be a visionary entrepreneur but he’s all-too aware that having vision isn’t enough on its own. As part of a partnership with Adobe Express, the quick and easy content app, he’s now on a mission to show people how to turn their vision into actionable steps with the help of a carefully-conceived manifesto that aligns with their goals and values. Calling it the “Manifest-o Method”, the idea is to provide a framework that can help guide entrepreneurs in their early stages. As he put it in an interview with Adobe: “Manifestation without action is like setting your car’s sat-nav without turning the engine on.”When creating the Manifest-o Method, Bartlett, who is probably best known for The Diary of a CEO podcast and his appearances on BBC Dragons’ Den, drew on his own experience of creating and designing a business manifesto for his podcast company, Flight Studio, using Adobe Express. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-04 15:36:29

‘Time-chunking’ and great design … side hustle experts give their tips for success

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Nearly half of us now run a side gig alongside our regular job. Here’s how to make it work …The side hustle has become central to modern living. Nearly 50% of Brits have a side hustle, with nine out of 10 “side hustlers” who are under 34 planning to transition said hustle into a full-time business. But juggling your side hustle with your day job can be tricky even for the most skilled multitasker. So here are some tips for managing multiple gigs without annoying your boss or colleaguesCompartmentalise while cross-fertilising Try to view your day job as a source of inspiration and insights rather than an obstacle to your side-hustle. Your life will feel more coherent and less draining. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-10-21 09:54:16

‘The best personal brands aren’t overly curated’: six dos and don’ts for the jobs market

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Personal branding is far more complex than it once was, with evolving tech adding to the possibilitiesPersonal branding has undergone a radical rebranding. The way we showcase ourselves in the workplace and jobs market has been transformed by the tools at our disposal and societal shifts, such as the melding of work and life. Twenty-five years ago, you had a CV and, if you wanted a new job, you updated it and sent it to prospective employers. Your reputation may have enhanced your prospects but, when it came to job hunting, your qualifications and CV were pretty much the only showcase you had.With the internet everything changed – and then changed again with social media and smartphones. Suddenly, you were visible to millions of people on a device they carried around in their pockets. Those same tools gave you the ability to step up from CVs to slickly presented websites and slide decks. And social media gave everyone a platform to build and manage their own personal brand in real time. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-01 13:59:22

‘It paid for six months of sandwiches!’ 7 tips for buying the perfect gift voucher

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Gift cards can be divisive. But if you choose well, your friends and family will be able to buy or experience something otherwise out of reachWhen Stephen received an M&S voucher from his parents for Christmas, he did what many of us do: shoved it in his wallet and forgot about it. Months later, when buying a sandwich in the shop, he remembered he had it and handed it over.“The cashier took it and, handing it back, said something like, ‘You still have £96-something on your card.’ I couldn’t believe it,” he says. “I continued to use it for incidental sandwiches for a further six months until it ran out. It’s the best Christmas present of my adult life – it just kept giving.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:00:02

The best new Christmas and winter attractions in the UK

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From festive markets and light trails to floating saunas and chalet-oke sessions, there’s plenty of wintery fun to be had for all agesThis year, there are plenty of light trails to brighten up the winter gloom. The Northern Light is an immersive light and sound show at the Slieve Donard hotel in Newcastle, County Down, with projections conjuring up the Arctic, an ice cave, the stars and the aurora borealis (£35 adults/£22 children). Cornwall’s Eden Project has an immersive light show that transports visitors to a Christmas party, as well as a new theatrical experience and carousel (from £38 adults/£12 children, selected evenings until 5 January). Christmas at Westonbirt, the national arboretum in Gloucestershire, has been designed by the light trail producers behind Christmas at Kew. Expect neon trees, luminous birds and tunnels of light, plus a Christmas village (from £18 adults/£12 children, 29 November to 31 December). Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:53

How Britons can save on winter sports holidays

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From where you choose to ski to self-catering there are deals to be had and ways of stopping costs snowballingWhen it comes to skiing and snowboarding, going to Europe will always be cheaper than flying to somewhere such as the US or Canada – but costs vary massively on the continent. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:53

I feel deflated by my £336 Virgin hot air balloon ride vouchers

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The weather and time have conspired to turn a 30th birthday gift into a nightmare for one readerAt the end of 2022 I was given two Virgin hot air balloon ride vouchers for my 30th birthday that I hoped to enjoy with my partner.We have tried repeatedly to book this experience and each time find there are hardly any spaces available. We managed to secure a booking on two occasions but both times they were cancelled because of the weather. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:52

Karam Sethi’s recipe for garlic fish tikka with cumin raita

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Salmon baked in twin marinades of garlic and red tandoori sauce, with a refreshing, garlicky yoghurt dip on the sideToday’s fish tikka is one of the standout dishes on the menu of our new restaurant, Ambassadors Clubhouse in Mayfair, where we celebrate the rich culinary traditions of undivided Punjab. Lasooni essentially means garlic, which here in roasted form joins forces with a traditional red tandoori marinade to give the fish a smoky, aromatic coating. It’s complemented by a side of refreshing, cumin-spiked raita. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 08:00:53

Health, happiness … and romance? How running could help you find love

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It’s a well trodden fact that running with other people is good for camaraderie, safety and our physical and mental wellbeing – but now it seems it’s fertile ground for datingName: Running.Age: People have been doing it since there were beasts to run after and beasts to run away from. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 16:09:38

Women in the UK: are you planning on having a baby on your own using fertility treatment?

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We’d like to hear from women who are having a baby on their own or with someone else using IVF or DIAccording to a report by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the number of UK women who are single and undergoing fertility treatment has more than trebled in a decade.In total, 4,800 women without a partner had in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or donor insemination (DI) treatment in 2022. This represents a 243% increase from the 1,400 single women who had fertility treatment in 2012. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 11:31:46

Tell us: do you still live with your ex?

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The Guardian’s Saturday magazine is looking to get in touch with former couples who still live under the same roofDo you still live with your ex? Break ups are expensive, and with the housing market in its current state, increasing numbers of couples are being forced to keep living together, after they’ve broken up.The Guardian’s Saturday magazine is looking to get in touch with former couples who still live under the same roof. We’re looking for exes of all ages, and life stages, all over the world. Whether you’re twenty-somethings stuck in the same flat-share because you can’t afford to rent elsewhere, or forty-somethings staying in the family home for the sake of your kids – we’d love to hear from you. At the moment, we are particularly keen to hear from exes in their twenties living together. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-10-02 11:03:50

Share your experience of buying weight loss jabs privately in the UK

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We would like to hear from people who have bought weight loss jabs and the adverts they have seenWeight loss jabs like Wegovy and Mounjaro are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK, and are available from many online pharmacies – including those run by high street companies. Yet concerns have been raised over whether these medications are being advertised or promoted.We’d like to hear from readers who have purchased these jabs privately, to discuss how you chose the pharmacy and your experience of adverts. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 14:56:19

Share your experience of being a celebrity lookalike

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We would like to hear from people who have been told they look like a celebrityWith celebrity lookalike contests such as Timothée Chalamet taking place, we’re interested in finding out more about the celebrities you’ve been told you look like.Have friends or family said you look like a famous musician, sports person or Hollywood star? Have you had any experiences of mistaken identity? If so, what happened? We’re also interested in hearing from anyone who has taken part in a lookalike competition. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-25 14:48:44

Paradise lost? How cruise companies are ‘eating up’ the Bahamas

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Another vast tourist resort project promising jobs and prosperity. But critics say such developments imperil the pristine environments they advertise Read more in this seriesJoseph Darville has fond memories of swimming with his young son off the south coast of Grand Bahama island, and watching together as scores of dolphins frolicked offshore. A lifelong environmentalist now aged 82, Darville has always valued the rich marine habitat and turquoise blue seas of the Bahamas, which have lured locals and tourists alike for generations.The dolphins are now mostly gone, he says, as human encroachment proliferated and the environment deteriorated. “You don’t see them now; the jetskis go by and frighten them off.Joseph Darville is worried that the big cruise lines and developers will ‘come in and eat what’s left of our country’. Photograph: Richard Luscombe/the Guardian Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 06:00:53

‘The science of fluoride is starting to evolve’: behind the risks and benefits of the mineral

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With RFK Jr and a court ruling, conversation on fluoride, in about 72% of US community water supplies, has explodedA national conversation about fluoride’s health benefits exploded this fall after a federal toxicology report, court ruling and independent scientific review all called for updated risk-benefit analysis.Fluoride, a naturally occurring mineral in some regions, has been added to community water supplies since the mid-20th century when studies found exposure dramatically reduced tooth decay. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:00:02

Ten years ago Ebola tore through Sierra Leone. Can a vaccine drive stop history repeating itself?

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Memories of 2014, when the disease ravaged west Africa, are raw, while risk remains high. This week the first ever nationwide prevention programme begins – and doctors hope it will be enough to fend off another disasterOn a concrete platform set into a steep hill in a Freetown slum, Daddy Hassan Kamara points to the tin-roofed shack behind him. “I was living here with my father, mother, wife, brothers,” he says. “I lost all my relatives inside a month.”Ten years ago, the Ebola virus tore through west Africa, killing more than 11,000 people, including nearly 4,000 in Sierra Leone – around 40% of those infected in the country. When the outbreak began, there was no vaccine. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 10:00:02

US grocery workers hit by rising prices: ‘We’re at the bottom of the food chain’

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Food store employees grapple with fewer hours and inflation – and sound alarm at merger of two largest chainsGrocery prices have surged in recent years, rising by almost 27% since the months before the pandemic. Workers inside grocery stores have been hit particularly hard.“We’re often the people down at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to wages,” said Conor Watson, a meat cutter at a Kroger-owned Fred Meyer store in Ellensburg, Washington. “And we’re very, very impacted with these rising prices.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:00:00

‘We’d rather perish’: protests roil South Korean women’s university over plan to admit male students

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Dongduk women’s university in Seoul was set up to help women in a deeply patriarchal society, but a demographic crisis is putting that under pressureSpray paint and protest banners cover the walls and pavements of Dongduk women’s university in Seoul. “We’d rather perish than open our doors,” reads one slogan. Since 11 November, students have staged a sit-in, initially occupying the main building and blocking access to classroom buildings across campus, forcing classes to move online and a planned job fair to be cancelled.The outcry was sparked by plans for some departments to admit male students but have since spiralled into a wider clash over the future of women-only spaces in a country that is grappling with the issue of gender equality. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 23:05:42

Romania election: what next after ultranationalist’s shock first-round victory?

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Upset in presidential ballot as frontrunners knocked out and pro-Russian Călin Georgescu comes firstAfter an upset in the first of three crunch votes that could lead to Romania veering towards a more anti-EU, pro-Russian stance, the EU and Nato member state returns to the polls on Sunday for a parliamentary ballot followed, on 8 December, by a presidential runoff.The votes will be closely watched not least in Brussels, which does not want another disruptive, sovereignist influence in the region alongside Hungary and Slovakia, and among western allies, which Bucharest has reliably backed against Moscow. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 13:45:02

Bone-on-bone agony: the cruel reality of facing a three-year waiting list for a new knee

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Before she retired in 2014, Alexandra McTeare had worked for the NHS for 30 years – and always believed in public healthcare. But when she experienced severe pain, she was forced to consider difficult choicesWhen Alexandra McTeare was told she might have to wait three years for knee replacement surgery, she felt desperate. “Because of how miserable your life is, how small it has become,” she says.The problems with her knee started in 2017. “It was painful and would swell up, particularly in the heat.” She would take painkillers and keep her leg elevated when she was sitting down, and did stretching exercises for her muscles. But over the next few years, “it gradually got worse, the intervals between swelling episodes reduced and the pain increased”. It reached a point where it was no longer bearable. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 05:00:50

‘More straight talking’: How Reform UK is gaining support in Wales

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Lack of faith in politics is a running theme among voters interviewed by the Guardian, but some believe Farage’s party may be worth a tryCrossing Gwent Square on a cold, crisp day in Cwmbran, married couple Maxine and David Griffin have more in common with each other than they did a year ago.In July, the Brexit supporters voted for the Reform UK party in the constituency of Torfaen; it was the first time they had both voted for the same party. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 17:12:47

Storm Bert offers stark reminder of UK’s underfunded flood defences

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Spending shortfall has seen 500 of 2,000 new protection projects abandoned despite growing severity of disastersStorm Bert caused devastating flooding in the UK this week, taking lives and destroying homes and businesses in what has become a frequent occurrence during autumns and winters.Climate breakdown is making these extreme weather events more probable. Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused global heating across most of the world, and particularly in Europe. This is because warmer air can hold more water vapour, and flooding has become more frequent and severe as a result. But floods are also hitting communities with more intensity because of inadequate, underfunded flood defences. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 15:12:01

‘We need a cultural revolution’: femicide victim’s family seek change in Italy

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After Giulia Cecchettin was killed by her ex-boyfriend, her sister shook the national conscience when she challenged a ‘society steeped in rape culture’. She is still speaking outJust a day after being told that her sister Giulia was dead, Elena Cecchettin was interviewed on live TV outside the family home in Vigonovo, a small town close to Venice. Floral tributes were tied to the railings behind her, and a torchlight procession attended by thousands of well wishers was under way. But Elena was not looking for sympathy. “Don’t hold a minute of silence for Giulia – burn everything,” she said. “We need a cultural revolution to ensure that Giulia’s case is the last.”On 18 November 2023, Giulia Cecchettin, 22, became Italy’s 105th victim of femicide that year. Her body, with more than 70 stab wounds, was found wrapped in black plastic bags in a ditch close to a lake north of Venice. Filippo Turetta, her ex-boyfriend, confessed to killing the biomedical engineering student, who was just days away from graduating. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 05:00:04

Manchester City trip up again as Arsenal shine at Sporting: Football Weekly - podcast

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Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini and Archie Rhind-Tutt as City’s crisis deepens and Arsenal produce their best performance in the Champions League this seasonRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.On the podcast today: Manchester City throw away a 3-0 lead at home to Feyenoord. It’s not a defeat but almost feels worse this way. Is the crisis deepening? Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 13:07:45

10 years of the long read: Seven stowaways and a hijacked oil tanker: the strange case of the Nave Andromeda (2022) – podcast

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As the Long Read turns 10 we are raiding the archives to bring you a favourite piece from each year since 2014, with new introductions from the authors.This week from 2022: In October 2020 an emergency call was received from a ship in British waters. After a full-scale commando raid, seven Nigerians were taken off in handcuffs – but no one was ever charged. What really happened on board? By Samira Shackle Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 05:00:51

The rise of ketamine addiction in the UK - podcast

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Journalist Elle Hunt and recovered addict Jack Curran talk about the rise of ketamine use in Britain and its sometimes devastating impactKetamine use in England and Wales has doubled since 2016.The increase, as journalist Elle Hunt explains, is especially notable among young people. And it seems to have taken health services by surprise, with practitioners often unable to provide the right treatment for the particular challenges posed by addiction to ketamine. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 03:00:47

NWSL glory for Orlando and USA head to Wembley – Women’s Football Weekly

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Faye Carruthers is joined by Suzy Wrack, Megan Swanick, and Tom Garry to round up the NWSL season games and look forward to the big Wembley friendlyOn today’s podcast, the panel reviews the conclusion of the NWSL season, where Orlando Pride were crowned NWSL Champions for the first time in their history. They discuss potential developments in the coming months that could help make the NWSL an even bigger product by 2025, as well as what lies ahead for the iconic Marta, who won her first NWSL Championship at the age of 38.The panel also covers the only game in the WSL over the weekend, where Chelsea maintained their perfect run by defeating Manchester United on Sunday, putting them five points clear at the top of the WSL table. Can Sonia Bompastor’s side be stopped? Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 11:49:29

S8, E10: David Gray, musician

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The multi-platinum selling musician David Gray joins Grace this week on Comfort Eating. His breakthrough album White Ladder topped the charts worldwide and sold more than 3m copies in the UK, making it one of the best selling albums of the 21st century. Now with his 13th album, Dear Life, he joins Grace to look back at how music changed his life, the food that sustained a three-decade career and how he avoids playing the celebrity game.If you liked this episode then have a listen to Grace’s conversations with Rufus Wainwright, Guy Garvey and Self Esteem.New episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 05:00:03

How having babies became so political - video

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Rescued turtles and a field of illuminated flowers: photos of the day – Wednesday

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The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 12:33:15

Horse trading with Travellers and Romani Gypsies – in pictures

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Photographer Sam Wright was warned not to attend a horse fair with his camera. He ignored the prejudice – and found a warm, welcoming community Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 07:00:54

Pride and protest: a photographic history of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights

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Images by Fred W McDarrah feature in a new exhibition that follows key moments of community and liberationThe Manhattan photographer Fred McDarrah came to prominence documenting the Beat movement that overtook Greenwich Village in the 1950s, capturing, among others, Jack Kerouac (who sat for a portrait in McDarrah’s apartment) and one of the earliest photos of a very young and unknown Bob Dylan. It was this portfolio that made his name at the Village Voice, where he would work for an astonishing 50 years, but toward the end of the 1960s McDarrah began to photograph an entirely new movement sweeping over the Village.In spring 1966 at Julius’s Bar, a short walk from the Stonewall Inn, four gay men – Dick Leitsch, Craig Rodwell, John Timmons and Randy Wicker – engaged in what they termed a “sip-in” in order to challenge a law that made it a prosecutable offense for one man to buy another a drink. It was one of the first salvos in the incipient gay rights movement, and McDarrah was there to see it, perfectly capturing the decisive moment when a bartender – collaborating with the group – placed his hand over the drinks and stated that it was against the law to serve the men. The image is a perfect distillation of the encounter, a moment when customer and bartender are exchanging deep, meaningful looks that say so much more than words. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 09:04:05

‘Portal to space’: the place where astronauts take off and land – in pictures

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Every three months in Kazakhstan, a trio of cosmonauts and astronauts head off to the International Space Station – then return in small capsules. What do the locals make of it? Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-26 07:00:03

Hungary’s most deprived people donate blood plasma to survive – photo essay

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The UK-based Hungarian Roma documentary photographer Béla Váradi spent months photographing the lives of blood plasma donors after he realised several old friends saw payment for plasma donation as a way of getting byIn the rust belt of north-eastern Hungary, a new economy is thriving – one built on human blood. Private companies have found a way to profit from the desperation of the region’s most marginalised population, the Gypsies. For many, the act of donating blood plasma has become a lifeline, a grim means of survival in a landscape of chronic unemployment and deprivation.Miskolc, Hungary. One man prepares for plasma donation, while the other shows his bandaged arm Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-25 14:51:57

The big picture: earthbound reality at the International Space Station landing site in Kazakhstan

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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

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