Astonishment as missing Canadian hiker emerges after weeks in wilderness

Russia-Ukraine war live: Putin threatens to target Kyiv ‘decision-making centres’ with new missile after US and UK-made weapons used in Russia

President boasts that Russia produces ten times more missiles than all Nato countries combined and threatens attack with new Oreshnik missile Reuters has a quick snap that there are power cuts in Ukraine’s southern region of Mykolaiv as a result of Russia’s missile attack. It cited regional governor Vitaliy Kim.Zhitomir and Chernihiv region have ended their air alarms in Ukraine. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:21

Net migration to UK hit record high of 906,000 in year to June 2023, revised figures show

ONS says net migration is now beginning to fall but remains high by ‘historic standards’Net migration to the UK hit a record high in 2023 of 906,000 in a period covering Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s premierships, revised estimates show.The measure for the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country then dropped by 20% in the latest period, the 12 months to June 2024, and now stands at 728,000. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:13:19

Former soldier Daniel Khalife found guilty of spying for Iran

Khalife convicted of three counts relating to espionage, having admitted to prison escape while on remandDaniel Khalife: fantasist or player in world of spies?A former soldier whose prison escape sparked a huge manhunt in 2023 has been convicted of spying for Iran but cleared of carrying out a bomb hoax.Daniel Khalife was found guilty of two counts relating to his espionage on Thursday. The 23-year-old had admitted partway through his trial to the escape from HMP Wandsworth, in south-west London. Khalife had strapped himself to the underside of a food delivery van while being held on remand on the spying charges. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:07:24

Gregg Wallace steps away from MasterChef after allegations of misconduct

BBC received ‘complaints from individuals in relation to historical allegations of misconduct’, says production companyTV presenter Gregg Wallace will be stepping away from his role on MasterChef after the BBC received complaints from individuals about historical allegations of misconduct.Wallace, 60, is “committed to fully cooperating throughout the process”, a statement from the show’s production company, Banijay UK, to the PA news agency said. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:55:56

Former Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns has joined Reform UK, says Nigel Farage – UK politics live

Reform UK party leader says Jenkyns will be party’s candidate in election for mayor in LincolnshireHere is a chart from the ONS report illustrating the latest figures.Here is the PA Media story on the figures.Net migration to the UK hit a higher than previously thought record of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, revised official estimates show.The measure for the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country then dropped by 20% in the latest period, the 12 months to June 2024, and now stands at 728,000. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:04:04

Middle East crisis live: Israeli tanks fire on southern Lebanon as officials says ceasefire with Hezbollah violated

Israeli military says ceasefire was breached after what it called suspects arrived in southMy colleagues, Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem, and Oliver Holmes have produced this explainer on what the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire are. You can read more at the link below:Here is a video report on families returning to homes in Lebanon and northern Israel after the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire took effect: Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:46:00

Doctors hail first breakthrough in asthma and COPD treatment in 50 years

Results of trial of benralizumab injection could be ‘gamechanger’ for millions of people around the worldDoctors are hailing a new way to treat serious asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease attacks that marks the first breakthrough for 50 years and could be a “gamechanger” for patients.A trial found offering patients an injection was more effective than the current care of steroid tablets, and cuts the need for further treatment by 30%. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 23:30:26

David Cameron says he has changed mind on assisted dying and now supports bill

Ex-PM, who previously feared vulnerable people may be pressured to end lives, says legislation has ‘extremely strong’ safeguardsUK politics live – latest updatesDavid Cameron has said he has changed his mind on assisted dying and supports the bill to legalise it ahead of its first Commons vote this week.The former prime minister, who previously opposed changing the law, said he had been persuaded by the safeguards in the bill and believed it would achieve a “meaningful reduction in human suffering”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:50:31

Yorkshire photographer who impressed Princess of Wales dies aged 17

Liz Hatton from Harrogate, who was being treated for rare terminal cancer, began photography bucket listA teenager whose pursuit of photography while being treated for terminal cancer led her to meet the Princess of Wales and work with the photographer Rankin has died.Liz Hatton, 17, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, died early on Wednesday morning, her mother, Vicky Robayna, announced on social media. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:30:05

Posh olive oil, tinned fish and even salt are now du jour, says Waitrose

As sales of premium varieties rise the upmarket grocer details how chic-looking pantry staples are now middle-class status symbolsForget designer fashion and jewellery, trendy versions of pantry staples such as extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar and tinned fish have become middle-class lust objects for home cooks, according to a new report.A food cupboard stocked with chic glass bottles, jars and decorative tins (in the front row at least) has become a status symbol, according to Waitrose’s annual food and drink report. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 06:00:34

Daniel Khalife: a fantasist or a player in the world of spies?

The young man who escaped Wandsworth prison offered a mixed picture of ineptitude and threat, according to policeAt the heart of the Daniel Khalife trial has been the question: is he an amateurish fantasist who convinced himself he was playing a game of chess with spies, or a consequential character in the global world of espionage?The answer, the police have said, is a bit of both. They believed Khalife to be inept in many regards. Khalife’s own barrister, Gul Nawaz Hussain KC, said he was “hapless” and “sometimes bordering on the slapstick” – more Scooby-Doo than 007. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:15:55

‘It’s a sleepy little place’: disbelief in north Wales after dramatic arrest of US terror suspect

Daniel Andreas San Diego had been a fugitive from the FBI for two decades before he was found in Maenan villageMaenan, in north Wales, is not a place where very much happens. But earlier this week armed police descended on this tiny settlement, leaving neighbours in “disbelief”.They learned that a man they had sometimes seen near his home on the outskirts of the woods was in fact one of the FBI’s most wanted men. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 21:11:44

Sinn Féin optimistic but breakthrough unlikely in Irish election

Mary Lou McDonald’s party has risen to second place in the polls but analysts say the chances of victory are slimSinn Féin, the former political wing of the IRA, is hoping to stage a last-minute revival in the Irish general election after polls put it ahead of the party led by the taoiseach, Simon Harris.Ahead of Friday’s election, the party leader, Mary Lou McDonald, has said she sees a path to victory, after polls this week showed Harris’s centre-right Fine Gael dropping from first to third place and the progressive, populist, leftwing Sinn Féin moving into second behind Fine Gael’s government coalition partner, Fianna Fáil. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:36

‘Holding space’: Wicked has made the term famous. But what does it mean?

In the earnest press tour for the film, actor Cynthia Erivo was in tears at the idea that fans were ‘holding space’ for the song Defying Gravity. But is it more self-help jargon or something more powerful?The journalist Tracy E Gilchrist had just four minutes with the Wicked actors Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande – and she had to make them count. She just didn’t bargain on becoming part of one of the year’s most-used memes as a result of saying the phrase “holding space”. “I just went in and did my job, which was to try to get an authentic answer to a question in a very short amount of time,” she says. “It felt like the right term for what I was trying to get across to Cynthia, which is the idea that you can interact with a work of art like Defying Gravity and feel something within yourself.”In the interview – a standard junket affair of rotating film journalists – Gilchrist, teeing up her question, informs Erivo that “people are taking the lyrics of Defying Gravity and really holding space with that and feeling power in that”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:48:45

Lauren Mayberry: Vicious Creature review – Chvrches singer writes her own pop gospel

(EMI)The Scottish star’s solo debut is about ‘empowering myself to listen to my own intuition’ – leading her to alternately clumsy and deft songs influenced by Y2K popBy her own account, Lauren Mayberry’s debut solo album has been a long time coming. She first mooted the idea of striking out on her own after the release of her band Chvrches’ third album, 2018’s Love Is Dead, when the trio were apparently in a state of disarray: instead, Covid happened, the band regrouped and made 2021’s Screen Violence remotely. But, she has suggested that its roots go back far further, to formative teenage pop loves that she felt impelled to deny in order to gain acceptance from male musicians more interested in “Fugazi B-sides”: “I bit my tongue to be one of the boys, I sold my soul to be one of the boys,” as she puts it on Sorry, Etc.Vicious Creature takes a noticeably more straightforwardly pop tack than Chvrches’ trademark pile-up of distorted synthesisers, topped with a vocal style that Mayberry recently compared to a “sad robot”. In Mayberry’s telling, she always loved the kind of artists that Vicious Creature occasionally evokes, among them Fatboy Slim (the piano that appears at the start of Sunday Best has a distinct ring of Praise You about it), All Saints, whose influence looms large over opener Something in the Air and Avril Lavigne, who you could easily imagine singing the acoustic guitar-driven Anywhere But Dancing, with its memories of teenage discos and all that came with them (“downing all the gossip under neon lights … hands beneath a T-shirt on a Tuesday night”). Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:24

‘Thank God we are home’: Lebanese return south after ceasefire with Israel

People are relieved to be home but face having to rebuild lives among destroyed homes and villagesBefore the ceasefire had even come into effect, Zeinab and Dina were already driving south. The two sisters had been forced to flee to Tripoli, northern Lebanon, for 64 days – they had counted – and they could not bear another day without seeing home.“We were laughing and crying at the same time when we heard the news of the ceasefire. We were packing our stuff and still we didn’t believe it was happening, it was like a dream,” said Zeinab, 28, a resident of the town of Zibqeen in south Lebanon. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 18:20:03

The experts: sex educators on 16 ways to talk to your children about bodies, porn and consent

It is the discussion many parents dread most – so how and when should this be brought up? Here are the best ways to broach itMost parents and caregivers don’t relish talking to young people about sex. But, with graphic content only a few clicks away, such conversations are more important than ever. Sex educators share their tips on how to communicate well with kids about bodies, relationships and consent. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:00:40

‘By 8pm it is time to head home’: whatever happened to the big night out?

This week, the chief executive of a major bar group suggested 3pm is the new 9pm. Why have we stopped drinking and dancing the night away on a Friday and Saturday night?The atmosphere in the club is friendly, people generally aren’t drunk, and since it’s dark inside, it could just as well be 4am instead of 4pm. Welcome to the daytime rave, where you can dance, meet people and still be curled up on the sofa afterwards in time for Newsnight. It’s a home from home for Joyce Harper, who says she has been “a big clubber my whole life. In the 1990s, I used to go religiously twice a month and we’d stay up all night. We were knocked out for days and always felt terrible. I realised, as I’ve got older and wiser, the importance of sleep.”Last week she was at a day rave at the London club Fabric, and the week before that at Ministry of Sound. “I am aiming to do two a month at the moment,” says Harper, who is professor of reproductive science at University College London, as well as a podcaster and author. She’s 61 but, she adds, “For any age, staying up all night has so many disadvantages – obviously all the effects on sleep, but also things like getting home, having to wait for the first train.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:33

How we met: ‘She made my travel dreams come true’

Nancy, 69, and Barbara, 58, met over a hotel breakfast in Munich in 2022. Despite being from different continents, they clicked instantly and have travelled together ever sinceAfter retiring from her job as a nurse, Nancy loved to spend time travelling, but she never expected it would lead to her meeting a new best friend. In 2022, she went to Munich, Germany, a city she regularly visited. “I live in North Carolina but I would travel to Europe on my own because my husband still works,” she says. “Travelling is my way of relaxing and rewarding myself after all those years of hard work.”One morning, while eating breakfast at her hotel, she was approached by Barbara, a healthcare project manager from Austria, who was sitting at a nearby table. “I was visiting the city with my school friend, Andrea” says Barbara. “I noticed this very elegant woman and really liked her coat. I’m a size 18 and struggle to find nice clothes, but I noticed she was a similar size.” Barbara asked Andrea to lean over and look at the label on the coat, so she could find out where it was from. “She almost fell off her chair trying to see, so I decided to just go and ask,” says Barbara. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:00:25

How many Chalamets does it take to cheer a city up? The rise of the celebrity lookalike contest

As doppelgangers of Jeremy Allen White, Paul Mescal and Dev Patel compete across the country, organizers say contests bring wholesome fun to a negative news cycleWhen Miles Mitchell’s friends saw fliers scattered across New York City last month advertising a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition, they urged the 21-year-old college senior from Staten Island to enter.Soon, Mitchell found himself at his local Goodwill store, purchasing an outfit resembling the one worn by Chalamet’s Willy Wonka character. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:26

Charli xcx review – feral masterclass in pop presence heralds Brat winter

Co-Op Live, ManchesterThe star brings hedonistic energy to this arena show, reviving the rush of her 2024-dominating sixth album with sweaty, stage-licking abandonIf there was ever something that could shock away the midweek doldrums, it’s the sight of Charli xcx spitting on the floor as she performs the remix of Guess featuring Billie Eilish, only to dive to the ground and lick it up. Hygienic? Perhaps not. But is it Brat? Clearly. This is the opening night of the Brat tour, after all.Of course, this is a show many have been waiting for. While Charli’s sixth album was only released earlier this summer, the record’s impact – from its lime-green coloured album cover, messy party girl aesthetic and subsequent co-option by political figures – has led to the kind of cultural dominance that most pop stars dream of. For Charli, it was a long time coming: having spent most of her career as pop’s most innovative outsider slowly inching her way into the mainstream, she finally shot into her imperial phase with the best album of her career. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:03:48

Both my parents died in a hospice – the decline I saw in end-of-life care in four years was terrifying | Natalie Morris

This crisis is not the fault of medical professionals. If funding for hospices is cut further, more people will die in distressIn September, I found myself back in a hell that was all too familiar. My mum was in a hospice, dying of cancer, while I camped at her bedside or paced the halls desperately. Four years earlier – almost to the day – I had been in the exact same position with my dad after his cancer diagnosis became terminal. How was this happening to us again? And so soon? It felt like the past had looped back on itself, trapping me in a recurring nightmare.And yet something fundamental had changed in the short period between my parents’ deaths – the quality of end-of-life care has undergone a shocking and rapid decline. It is a growing crisis that I have had the misfortune of witnessing first-hand.Natalie Morris is the author of Mixed/Other: Explorations of Multiraciality in Modern BritainKeeping Care Alive: Hospices in Crisis? airs on ITV1 at 8.30pm on 28 November Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:26

Don’t be naive about the ceasefire in Lebanon. It may mean more horror and death in Gaza | Simon Tisdall

Netanyahu has not suddenly turned dovish peacemaker. He can redeploy his troops or abandon the peace deal at any timeJoe Biden is making the most of the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon that he helped to broker. “It reminds us that peace is possible,” he declared in the White House Rose Garden, where US presidents habitually preen rather than prune. Yet Biden’s flowery self-congratulation jars at this fragile moment. It sounds like cruel mockery to the beleaguered people of Gaza.With the truce holding for a second day – despite some apparent breaches – Lebanon has been spared more death and wanton destruction, for now. Celebrating, many people are heading home to the south despite Israeli warnings. But Biden’s belief that the accord will hasten a Gaza ceasefire, spike the guns of Iran and its proxies, and open the way to the wider regional settlement he has long sought finds scant justification in fact.Simon Tisdall is the Observer’s foreign affairs commentator Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:03:28

This society lauded a police officer who lied and cheated and ruined lives. At last, a reckoning | George Monbiot

As a ‘spy cop’, Bob Lambert betrayed a string of innocent women. The official inquiry must ask harsh questions of him – and the stateIt’s the testimony we’ve long been waiting for. On Monday, at the undercover policing inquiry, the man whose cruel and disgusting deceptions have come to epitomise the “spy cops” scandal will be questioned. Many of us are hoping for answers, not least because his story suggests a closing of ranks across the British establishment. Even if you think you’ve heard it all, some of the details in this column will take your breath away.Bob Lambert worked for the Metropolitan police’s Special Demonstration Squad (SDS) in the 1980s and 1990s, first as an undercover cop infiltrating environmental and animal rights protests, then as operational controller of the squad, supervising other spy cops doing similar work. In the course of his undercover assignments, while posing as a radical activist called Bob Robinson, he deceived four unsuspecting women, innocent of any crime, into starting relationships. He stole his identity from a dead child.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 06:00:36

Why was Conor McGregor’s sinister cult of content lauded and rewarded for so long? | Jonathan Liew

It took defeat in civil case against a woman who accused him of rape for brands and fans to disown UFC fighterSome good news at last for Conor McGregor. Probably there’s a way of spinning it as bad news, which is what the scum mainstream media will do. But in the wake of his defeat in a Dublin civil case against a woman who accused him of raping her, as brands and fans scramble to disown him, as murals are hastily painted over across the island, you have to take your pledges of support where you can find them. Step forward: Andrew Tate.“Bullshit ruling against Conor McGregor,” Tate wrote from Romania, where he is facing his own legal issues, including charges of trafficking and rape. “Women sleep with rich men and if that man doesn’t fund their life afterwards, they lie and sue. Their brutal narcissism can’t take the L of being undesired. We’ve set a dangerous precedent. It’s literally impossible to be a man in the western world.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 08:00:36

Who will be Ireland’s next taoiseach? With only one day to go, it’s still wide open | Justine McCarthy

With a housing emergency and the cost of living weighing heavily on voters’ minds, anything could happen at the polls on FridayIn Easter, 1916, his epic poem about the failed Dublin rebellion that eventually led to Irish independence, William Butler Yeats declared: “A terrible beauty is born.” The same might be said about the marriage of convenience between Ireland’s old civil war enemies, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, as they attempt to recreate their history-making coalition government.The two parties are now in power alongside the Greens, but this time round their mission is to stop the main opposition, Sinn Féin, entering government as part of a three-way coalition in the Republic after Friday’s general election. Instead, their preference would be to coalesce with Labour, because of voter resistance to climate-change measures.Justine McCarthy is an Irish journalist and the author of An Eye on Ireland: Writings from a Changing NationDo 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: 2024-11-28 07:00:35

Women are fed up with waiting – and they’re taking fertility into their own hands | Zoe Williams

We’ve climbed steadily from a place of little agency – waiting for the right partner to come along – before we could have childrenThe number of women without a partner having children by IVF or sperm donation has trebled in the past 10 years. IVF itself is not unproblematic; provision on the NHS varies wildly, with hurdles and prohibitions that range from random to downright cruel. There are trusts that won’t offer it over the age of 35, others that won’t if her partner has children from a previous relationship. Private clinics, meanwhile, can prey on people, gouging them for add-on treatments, exploiting hopes they know are unrealistic. Egg freezing – where numbers are also at a record high – is a similar racket, with the sector often accused of misleading promises or understating risks, and prices very high: the process typically costs £7,000. Fertility treatment, whether solo or with a partner, is not for sissies. Yet women’s increasing confidence to do it outside of a traditional partnership illustrates a sea change in attitudes to how families are made, and a positive one.It’s nearly 20 years since two obstetricians, Susan Bewley and Melanie Davies, published Which Career First: The most secure age for childbearing remains 20 to 35. I remember interviewing them at the time, feeling vexed by this intervention. In the surrounding media environment, various other ways of policing, judging and problematising female autonomy – abortion discourse, for instance – had passed out of fashion. Other hot-button issues that gave society licence to pass judgment on women’s morality and fitness – such as breastfeeding and behaviours in pregnancy – were only just getting going. Fertility and the risks around “leaving it too late” , however, were discussed constantly, and it had all the hallmarks of a patriarchal put-up job. People who didn’t really give a stuff about infertility as a lived experience – the complexity and pain of it – nevertheless had extremely strong views over what kind of risk “career women” posed to the greater good, and whether they would regret their choices down the line. The issue was used strategically to justify a broader opprobrium for women making any choices at all. I remember editors in the 90s (not at the Guardian!), always looking for starkest headline: anything along the lines of: “Have a baby by the time you’re 30, doctors warn”, was the holy grail. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 08:00:37

Let’s be honest with ourselves: Cormac McCarthy groomed a teenage girl | Moira Donegan

The legendary American writer initiated a relationship with a homeless teenager. Don’t put a romantic spin on itAugusta Britt, now 64, says that she met the novelist Cormac McCarthy in 1976 beside a motel pool in Arizona. McCarthy, who died last year, was 42 at the time. Britt was 16. Britt says that she was quasi-homeless in those years, bouncing between an abusive family home and a series of abusive foster homes, and used to go to the motel so that she could shower in the pool’s changing rooms without fear of men following her into the foster home bathrooms to sexually assault her.Britt says that when McCarthy saw her at the poolside he asked about a gun in a holster at her hip, and that she described some of her history of abuse to him and said that she’d stolen the gun from a foster father so that she would never be hit again. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:00:23

I thought Britain was worlds away from Trump’s America – until I needed to get an abortion | Anonymous

I quickly learned that the decision to terminate a pregnancy wasn’t purely a matter of 'my body, my choice’ Roughly 36 hours after I first heard about the horrifying Maga taunt “your body, my choice”, I learned that I was pregnant, despite having a contraceptive coil. My relief that I lived in the UK, not the US – where abortion is rapidly becoming illegal or inaccessible at best – was profound. Yet I realised that I had no idea how to access abortion, having complacently assumed that it would always be available if I needed it. Some fraught Googling led me to the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. A couple of days later, I had my first appointment and very quickly learned that it wasn’t purely “my choice”, even in Britain.Of all the words you don’t want to hear by surprise, “transvaginal” is up there. I thought the scan to determine how pregnant I was would be the kind where a technician slathers goop on your stomach. I wasn’t told until I arrived that it would be internal, because of the assumed early gestation. A second surprise: the coil was gone, most likely sucked out by my period cup. Later that day, I had a phone consultation. The nurse told me two doctors would have to sign off on the termination and asked me to justify why my life would be negatively affected if I were forced to continue with the pregnancy. Horrified, I said I should just be able to say: I don’t want to. She was extremely kind and agreed, but said this was a legal requirement under the Abortion Act.The author lives in London Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:00:39

The Guardian view on closing the Bibby Stockholm: a parable of failed asylum policy | Editorial

Labour has restored some decency and pragmatism to asylum policy. The next step is courage in changing the terms of debateAs a place of accommodation, the Bibby Stockholm had only a minor function in UK asylum policy, but it loomed large as an emblem of that policy’s dysfunction. The barge moored at Portland in Dorset held 400 men at maximum capacity. The last of them disembarked this week, marking the end of the vessel’s service as a Home Office incarceration facility.The total number of people in the UK waiting for asylum claims to be processed is around 85,600. Taking one barge out of the equation doesn’t reduce overall numbers. But it does indicate progress towards the more rational approach that Labour promised in contrast to ostentatiously punitive Conservative methods.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: 2024-11-27 18:36:38

The Guardian view on the Lebanon ceasefire: a lasting regional peace must go through Gaza | Editorial

The US-brokered agreement is a breakthrough for suffering civilians. But a deal on Netanyahu’s terms offers scant hope to PalestiniansUnsurprisingly, Joe Biden struck an upbeat, optimistic note on Tuesday as he announced a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah. “It reminds us that peace is possible,” said Mr Biden, as the deal brought to an end the 14-month conflict, during which close to 4,000 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands were displaced.For the outgoing American president, who has signally failed to restrain Israel’s excesses after the heinous Hamas massacre of 7 October 2023, the agreement amounts to a valedictory breakthrough after months of weak and ineffective diplomacy. More importantly, it affords the suffering people of Lebanon some respite, after a bombing campaign and ground invasion that paid scant regard to the appalling impact on civilian lives. For the 60,000 citizens of Israel forced to flee the country’s northern border region by Hezbollah rockets, there is the prospect of a return home after spending more than a year in displacement camps.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: 2024-11-27 18:37:33

Dying people deserve a choice. Let them make it | Letters

Readers who believe the assisted dying bill should be passed into law in England and Wales respond to Guardian coverage• Letters from those who argue against the bill: ‘Every person should have care – not lethal drugs’Eight years ago, my husband Mark died. Our youngest child had just turned 11. Mark had been ill for five years. Finally, he waited till the kids and I were out of the house, and ended his own life. By the time he died, he was bedridden, in constant discomfort, doubly incontinent, unable to taste, smell, or see much, but when he was well, he was handsome and brilliant. He was an archaeologist and academic. He was also a dad, a brother, an uncle and a friend. The things he liked included fossils, Tom and Jerry cartoons, jazz, cycling, Rome, 19th-century novels and yellow climbing roses.Under the present English and Welsh law, ending your life because of physical suffering is a very lonely and isolating experience. Mark knew he wanted to die, but to protect me from prosecution, he could not have me with him at the end, or even share his plans with the person closest to him. He couldn’t access psychological support because all the professionals who might provide it are obliged to treat suicide as a risk, and something to be prevented in all circumstances. And, most of all, he had to die alone, with nobody holding his hand. His act was a brave and loving thing. It still hurts and angers me. Keeping assisted dying out of reach doesn’t stop people trying to end their lives. It just forces people to die bleak and derelict deaths. Dying people deserve better. They deserve choice. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 18:00:31

Every person should have care – not lethal drugs | Letters

Readers who believe the assisted dying bill shouldn’t be passed into law in England and Wales respond to Guardian coverage• Letters from those who argue in favour of the bill: ‘Dying people deserve a choice. Let them make it’The argument that the legalisation of assisted suicide in Oregon in 1997 has not started a “slippery slope” is dangerously misleading (‘Slippery slope’ fears over assisted dying have echoes of abortion debate, 24 November). While Oregon’s eligibility criteria have changed little, their interpretation has widened and safeguards have been relaxed. Oregon’s law, like Kim Leadbeater’s proposed bill, allows assisted suicide for adults with a “terminal illness that will lead to death within six months”. Interpretation of “terminal illness” has expanded such that physicians have prescribed lethal drugs to people with anorexia and arthritis.As for safeguards, Oregon’s 15-day “waiting period” (similar to that proposed in Kim Leadbeater’s bill) ceased to be mandatory in 2020. The following year, exemptions were made in one in five cases; the year after that, one in four. In the first three years after Oregon’s law passed, 28% of those seeking assisted suicide were referred for psychiatric evaluation; in 2022, only 1%. It is also worth noting that in the first year after Oregon’s legalisation passed, 13% of patients seeking assisted suicide cited fear of being a “burden” as a motivating factor. In 2021, that figure stood at 54%. Sick, elderly and disabled people are not burdens. They are, like every person, valuable. Like every person, they need and deserve care – not lethal drugs.Katherine BacklerOxford Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 18:00:26

Conor Bradley’s raw energy too much for Mbappé and wins roar of approval | Barney Ronay

The young Liverpool full-back produced a brilliant tackle to deny the Real Madrid star in the night’s defining imageWith 30 minutes gone at Anfield there was a moment of home-crowd theatre that would stand as the defining image of this 2-0 Liverpool victory, perhaps even of Conor Bradley’s young career to date, and which also produced surely the loudest and most visceral roar of the night. And let’s face it, who doesn’t like a loud and visceral roar.It came from a Liverpool corner, Kylian Mbappé carrying the ball upfield, and feeling the night start to open up ahead of him. At which, point: enter Bradley, haring across from the left, with an energy that stated very clearly this was not a footballer intent on harrying or jockeying or showing Mbappé the outside, but who instead intended to separate Mbappé’s feet, and also the ball, from the Anfield turf. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 00:14:00

Kane Williamson admits ‘riding luck’ after stylish 93 against England

Country’s record run-scorer in form at first Test New Zealand 319-8 after being put in to batIt would be wrong to say that Kane Williamson looked like a guy making up for lost time on day one in Christchurch, so unhurried was the way he compiled 93 runs. And given his famous ego-free outlook, claiming it was driven by some kind of inner turmoil about missing New Zealand’s historic win in India would be a stretch too.But given his return from a groin injury for this series opener against England nudged out Will Young – player of the series in that 3-0 triumph – it was still a timely performance. Not that anyone in New Zealand was seriously quibbling, with Williamson the country’s record run-scorer. Judging by Young’s relaxed demeanour at training during the buildup, that one-in-all-in New Zealand spirit is very real. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 08:43:06

Frank Lampard returns to management with Coventry after 18 months out

Former England midfielder takes over from Mark RobinsTeam are 17th in Championship, two points above drop Frank Lampard has been confirmed as the head coach of Coventry, returning to the dugout 18 months after he left Chelsea. He succeeds 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 with Chelsea at the end of 2022-23. That was a third Premier League managerial job in a row for the former England midfielder, who had a previous spell at a Chelsea and period with Everton, but he is familiar with the Championship. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:07:20

Emery has tools to fix Aston Villa but overloaded Watkins needs support | Jonathan Liew

Hosts’ struggle to break down Juventus showed extent of the burden being shouldered by England forwardSo. A football match definitely happened. This much at least we can be sure of. I have a lanyard, a programme and a set of cryogenically frozen fingers to verify that fact. Other people were here too, I think. I can sort of remember noises. Vague rasping noises. Disappointed noises. The noise you make when you’ve paid £97 to watch Federico Gatti make back-passes.But already the actual memories of the event are beginning to evaporate, like a quick-drying paint, like the last thing you see before you go under general anaesthetic. Did Emiliano Martínez do something? Was Alessandro Del Piero on the pitch at some point? Hang on, it’s going blurry. Can no longer feel legs. Can no longer feel anything. Just floating. Orbs through space. Still floating. So nice here. So nice. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 00:02:16

Australia v Brazil: international women’s football friendly – live

Matildas host Olympic runners-up at Suncorp StadiumAny thoughts? Email or get in touch on BlueskyPeeeeeeeeep! We’re underway at Suncorp Stadium. The Matildas start in a 3-4-3 formation with wing-backs Carpenter and Catley pushing straight into the midfield. Brazil line up with a familiar 4-3-3.The national anthems are done, the Polkinghorne has won the toss, the captains are delivering their last-minute instructions. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:05:27

Rodri aiming to defy odds and make his Manchester City comeback this season

City said Spaniard would not play again this campaignIt would be ‘positive not to give up the season’Rodri is targeting a comeback this season despite the Manchester City midfielder having previously been ruled out until next year due to a serious knee injury.The Spaniard suffered ACL ligament damage in September’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. After undergoing surgery City announced he would not be available until next season. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 02:00:29

Ruud van Nistelrooy set to succeed Steve Cooper as Leicester manager

Cooper sacked last Sunday after defeat by ChelseaLeicester are 16th in table, one point above drop zoneRuud van Nistelrooy is poised to become the new Leicester City manager, making an almost immediate return to the Premier League after leaving Manchester United.Van Nistelrooy, a United hero, is expected to succeed Steve Cooper, who was sacked last Sunday. His last game was a home defeat against his predecessor, Enzo Maresca, now in charge of the high-flying Chelsea. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 20:41:18

Boise State withdraws from MWC volleyball tournament rather than face San Jose State

BSU pulls out of conference tournament on WednesdaySJSU will face either Colorado State or SDSU in finalSpartans have received six forfeit victories this seasonBoise State, who twice boycotted regular-season matches with San Jose State, pulled out of the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday night even after securing a spot in the semi-finals against the Spartans.San Jose State, who received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from Mountain West opponents, are seeded second in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye. Now the Spartans will advance all the way to Saturday’s championship match rather than take the court Friday. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 07:57:55

Plastics lobbyists make up biggest group at vital UN treaty talks

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

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

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

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

Mohamed Al Fayed may have raped and abused at least 111 women and girls, say police

Scale of criminality would make Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offendersPolice believe Mohamed Al Fayed may have raped and abused at least 111 women and girls over nearly four decades, with his youngest victim said to have been just 13 years old.The scale of the criminality would make Fayed, who died last year at the age of 94, one of Britain’s most notorious sex offenders, and raises urgent questions about how he got away with his crimes. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:24:34

Use robots instead of hiring low-paid migrants, says shadow home secretary

Tory MP Chris Philp calls for more investment in technology to reduce UK’s net migration figuresUK politics live – latest updatesBusinesses should be using more robots instead of hiring low-paid migrants, the shadow home secretary has said.The Conservative MP Chris Philp says other countries “use a lot more automation” for tasks such as picking fruit and vegetables “rather than simply importing a lot of low-wage migrant labour”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:27:05

Macquarie agrees £700m deal to buy UK-listed waste firm Renewi; Direct Line shares jump after rejecting Aviva’s £3.3bn offer – business live

Australian investment bank returns after being rebuffed last yearIn other news… The City regulator has bowed to pressure over plans to “name and shame” some companies it investigates, offering watered-down proposals that would give firms 10 days’ notice and consider the “potential negative impact” of revealing the identities of companies under inspection.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) put forward new proposals on Thursday after months of intense criticism from businesses, which have tried to thwart the watchdog’s plans to be more transparent with the public and whistleblowers when it is investigating potential wrongdoing across the City. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:01:14

Vauxhall owner was ‘confident’ about meeting EV rules before factory shutdown

Exclusive: Stellantis executive’s recent comments to investors undermine claim Luton closure was down to emission mandateNo need to mourn Just Eat’s exit from LSEThe owner of Vauxhall told investors that it was “confident” it would meet the UK’s rules on electric vehicle sales just two months before it blamed them for the decision to close a factory in Luton, the Guardian can reveal.Stellantis cited the UK’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate when it announced the closure of its van factory in Bedfordshire on Tuesday, putting 1,100 workers at risk of redundancy or relocation to its factory making smaller vans in Ellesmere Port. Continue reading...

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

David Lammy to appoint envoy to support Britons detained abroad

After Guardian reporting, foreign secretary looks at cases of thousands who need consular help each yearDavid Lammy has said he plans to appoint an envoy to deal with “complex detention cases” involving Britons abroad and give them a legal right to consular access.After the Guardian’s reporting on detained Britons, the foreign secretary said he had been “looking hard” at the thousands of cases a year involving people who require consular assistance. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:37

Long wait for NHS mental healthcare has ‘stark consequences for children’s life chances’

Consultant psychiatrist on why early intervention is key and why delays are unacceptableOne in three consultant child psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, analysis showsOne in three child and adolescent consultant psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, according to a “shocking” analysis laying bare the workforce crisis that experts say is fuelling “unacceptable” long waits for NHS care. Dr Elaine Lockhart, a consultant paediatric liaison psychiatrist who works in NHS child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), describes the frustrating but rewarding daily battle to meet the soaring demand and to help those most in need.At a time when children’s mental health is supposed to be a public policy priority, waiting times for children’s and adolescent mental health services are unacceptably long. Some children wait more than two years to be treated. And that delay can have stark consequences for their mental health and their life chances. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:34

Shares in Direct Line surge after insurer rejects £3.3bn bid from Aviva

Insurer says 250p per share offer was ‘highly opportunistic’ and undervalues the companyDirect Line shares soared by more than 40% on Thursday after the insurer rebuffed a £3.3bn offer from Aviva, prompting speculation that the company could attract a higher offer.Aviva’s approach, which was revealed on Wednesday night, is the third rejected by Direct Line this year, with the company having snubbed two previous bids by the Belgian insurer Ageas that culminated in a £3.2bn offer in March. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:44:25

City regulator offers to water down ‘name and shame’ rules after pressure

FCA proposes giving 10 days’ notice before revealing identities of firms under investigation and will consider market impactThe City regulator has bowed to pressure over plans to “name and shame” some companies it investigates, offering watered-down proposals that would give firms 10 days’ notice and consider the “potential negative impact” of revealing the identities of companies under inspection.The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) put forward new proposals on Thursday after months of intense criticism from businesses, which have tried to thwart the watchdog’s plans to be more transparent with the public and whistleblowers when it is investigating potential wrongdoing across the City. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:00:26

UK government failing to list use of AI on mandatory register

Technology secretary admits Whitehall departments are not being transparent over way they use AI and algorithmsNot a single Whitehall department has registered the use of artificial intelligence systems since the government said it would become mandatory, prompting warnings that the public sector is “flying blind” about the deployment of algorithmic technology affecting millions of lives.AI is already being used by government to inform decisions on everything from benefit payments to immigration enforcement, and records show public bodies have awarded dozens of contracts for AI and algorithmic services. A contract for facial recognition software, worth up to £20m, was put up for grabs last week by a police procurement body set up by the Home Office, reigniting concerns about “mass biometric surveillance”.The Department for Work and Pensions has been using generative AI to read more than 20,000 documents a day to “understand and summarise correspondence” after which the full information is then shared with officials for decision-making. It has automated systems for detecting fraud and error in universal credit claims, and AI assists agents working on personal independence payment claims by summarising evidence. This autumn, DWP started deploying basic AI tools in jobcentres, allowing work coaches to ask questions about universal credit guidance in an attempt to improve the effectiveness of conversations with jobseekers.The Home Office deploys an AI-powered immigration enforcement system, which critics call a “robo-caseworker”. An algorithm is involved in shaping decisions, including returning people to their home countries. The government describes it as a “rules-based” rather than AI system, as it does not involve machine-learning from data. It says it brings efficiencies by prioritising work, but that a human remains responsible for each decision. The system is being used amid a rising caseload of asylum seekers who are subject to removal action, now at about 41,000 people.Several police forces use facial recognition software to track down suspected criminals with the help of artificial intelligence. These have included the Metropolitan police, South Wales police and Essex police. Critics have warned that such software “will transform the streets of Britain into hi-tech police line-ups”, but supporters say it catches criminal suspects and the data of innocent passersby is not stored.NHS England has a £330m contract with Palantir to create a huge new data platform. The deal with the US company that builds AI-enabled digital infrastructure and is led by Donald Trump backer Peter Thiel has sparked concerns about patient privacy, although Palantir says its customers retain full control of the data.An AI chatbot is being trialled to help people navigate the sprawling gov.uk government website. It has been built by the government’s digital service using OpenAI’s ChatGPT technology. Redbox, another AI chatbot for use by civil servants in Downing Street and other government departments, has also been deployed to allow officials to quickly delve into secure government papers and get rapid summaries and tailored briefings. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 06:00:35

One in three consultant child psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, analysis shows

Child and adolescent mental health services have highest vacancy rates of any psychiatric specialismConsultant psychiatrist on why early intervention is key and why delays are unacceptableOne in three child and adolescent consultant psychiatrist posts in England are vacant, according to a “shocking” analysis laying bare the workforce crisis that experts say is fuelling “unacceptable” long waits for NHS care.The number of children and young people requiring mental healthcare has soared in recent years, but many face lengthy delays before they can access treatment. Some are deteriorating to a dangerously severe state of mental ill-health while they wait. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:35

Iran says it could end ban on possessing nuclear weapons if sanctions reimposed

Comments made after nuclear inspectorate board passed motion censuring Iran for building uranium stockpileThe nuclear debate inside Iran is likely to shift towards the possession of its own weapons if the west goes ahead with a threat to reimpose all UN sanctions, the country’s foreign minister has said.Seyed Abbas Araghchi said in an interview that Iran already had the capability and knowledge to create nuclear weapons, but said they did not form part of its security strategy. He also said Tehran was prepared to keep supplying arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:35

Trump Pentagon pick Pete Hegseth’s books foreground anti-Muslim rhetoric

Hegseth’s conspiracy theory- and falsehood-laden book American Crusade depicts Islam as historic enemy of westDonald Trump’s defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, who has the crusader motto “deus vult” tattooed on his arm, has put bigoted anti-Muslim rhetoric at the center of several of his published books, according to a Guardian review of the materials.Hegseth, especially in 2020’s American Crusade, depicts Islam as a natural, historic enemy of the west; presents distorted versions of Muslim doctrine in “great replacement”-style racist conspiracy theories; treats leftists and Muslims as bound together in their efforts to subvert the US; and idolises medieval crusaders. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:25

Astonishment as missing Canadian hiker emerges after weeks in wilderness

Sam Benastick, 20, discovered shivering and unsteady by two oil workers after getting lost in British Columbia wildHe returned as a ghostly apparition on a forestry road in western Canada, moving slowly and unsteadily with the help of a walking stick in each frostbitten hand. A cut-up sleeping bag was wrapped around his legs, shielding them from the bitter cold.The two oil and gas workers, who had spent the previous week surveying the trail, stared dumbfounded. When they took the sticks from his hands to help him into their truck, he nearly collapsed. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:00:25

‘We’ve heard these promises before’: is this the end of the line for Irish fishing?

Devastated by quota changes post-Brexit, fishers are pinning all their hopes on Ireland’s politicians as they head into a general electionWords and pictures by Finbarr O’ReillyGale force winds gusting across the North Atlantic Ocean kicked up thick spumes of spray from the heaving swell soon after the Ocean Crest and Carmona trawlers left the main Irish fishing port of Killybegs in County Donegal. No other boats were fishing in the area when the storm swept over Ireland’s north-west coast. This was February, and the window for catching migrating mackerel was quickly closing but the two trawlers had yet to fill their quotas.“This weather is about the limit of what we can fish in,” said skipper Gerard Sheehy as the nose of the Ocean Crest plunged into the trough of a swell, sending a wall of white water crashing over the hull and wheelhouse windows, momentarily obscuring the view before the vessel tilted back upwards into an oncoming wave.Skipper Gerard Sheehy (centre) with his crew aboard the Ocean Crest in February Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:37

Russia’s sabotage of western targets ‘could trigger Nato defence clause’

German intelligence chief warns continued hybrid warfare by Moscow increases risk of alliance invoking Article 5Russia’s acts of sabotage against western targets may eventually prompt Nato to consider invoking the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defence clause, the head of Germany’s foreign intelligence service has warned.Speaking at an event of the German Council of Foreign Relations (DGAP) think tank in Berlin on Wednesday, BND chief Bruno Kahl said he expected Moscow to further step up its hybrid warfare. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 22:05:40

Thousands return to southern Lebanon amid uneasy ceasefire

Displaced people make their way home despite volatile situation and warnings from Israeli militaryMiddle East crisis – live updatesThousands of people displaced from war-torn southern Lebanon have begun returning home after a ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah took effect on Wednesday, amid fears on both sides of the border about whether the truce would hold.Israel heavily bombed the capital, Beirut, and the south of the country throughout Tuesday, killing 42 people, until the truce began at 4am local time, while Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel, triggering air raid sirens. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 22:06:04

Swedish PM says Baltic sea now ‘high risk’ after suspected cable sabotage

Regional leaders meet after undersea telecoms cables severed, while Chinese ship remains at anchor nearbyThe Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, has said the Baltic sea is now a “high risk” zone as he met Nordic and Baltic leaders days after a suspected sabotage attack on undersea cables.The Swedish prime minister declined to speculate on who may have been responsible for the severing of two fibre optic telecoms cables in the Baltic last week. A Chinese ship – the Yi Peng 3 – that sailed over the cables about the time they were severed has remained anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark since 19 November. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 22:14:27

Reddit overtakes X in popularity of social media platforms in UK

Discussion platform takes fifth place in rankings and is the fastest growing large social media platform in the UKReddit, the American online discussion platform, has overtaken X to become the fifth most popular social media platform in the UK, according to the communications watchdog.Ofcom said Reddit, where users post on discussion threads within topic-based communities, was visited by 22.9 million UK adults in May this year, compared with 22.1 million on X. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 00:01:27

Canada leaders agree to unite against Trump tariff threat amid reports of retaliatory measures

Deputy PM says ‘we need to be smart, strong and united’ after meeting on threat by US president-elect of a blanket 25% tax on imports from Canada Canada’s federal government and the premiers of the 10 provinces have agreed to work together against a threat by US president-elect Donald Trump to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports, with one official saying the country was already examining possible retaliatory measures.“We agreed that we need to be smart, strong and united in meeting this challenge,” deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Wednesday after a virtual meeting with the premiers called by the prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 01:41:27

Democrats criticize Harris for ‘self-congratulatory’ review of election loss

Top campaign staff also under fire for saying party has to ‘dominate the moderate’ in Pod Save America appearanceUS politics – live updatesSome Democratic figures have accused Kamala Harris’s campaign of being self-congratulatory after a series of recent public appearances from the candidate and her senior staff in which they declined to admit making any errors that could have contributed to her defeat.Some of the criticism was aimed at Harris herself, following a video call to thank campaign donors in which the vice-president expressed pride in her failed race for the White House. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 19:42:21

The 8 best e-readers, tried and tested – from Kindle to Kobo and beyond

In a world where books have to vie with smartphones for attention, a brilliant ebook reader is more necessary than everE-readers have been one of the greatest single-purpose gadgets for almost three decades. They offer an escape from technology and the endless distraction of mobile phones, despite also being tech devices.But that is starting to change. Colour ebook readers, for graphic novels, magazines and books, are now fairly common, and there are several models designed for note-taking. Plus, a whole family of these devices uses Android, meaning they can run all of those apps that often distract from reading.Best e-reader overall: Kindle Paperwhite£124.99 at AmazonBest colour e-reader: Kobo Libra Colour£179 at CurrysBest affordable e-reader: Kobo Clara BW£119 at AmazonBest phone-style e-reader: Onyx Boox Palma 2€299 at Boox Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 18:00:20

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

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

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

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

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

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

How does comedy respond to another Trump presidency?

With the election result settling in, comedians and late-night hosts grapple with another four years of an easily ridiculed yet dangerous leaderIt’s become an easy and overdone coping mechanism to speak of reality as if it is television. Donald Trump, who gilded his “businessman” reputation on reality television, was the entertainer in chief, a man who built his political career on insult comedy and “just kidding” jokes. His first administration was the show that we were all watching, each frenzied day an increasingly unhinged new episode. After he left office, the unreal spectacle of January 6 lit up television and phone screens for weeks. A second matchup between Trump and Joe Biden was the sequel few wanted, the last-minute swap for Kamala Harris, a briefly invigorating plot twist. And Trump’s victory this month, after a presidential campaign defined more by memes and podcast appearances than traditional media, played out on TV as a muted reboot of 2016.It’s a sentiment that echoed across late-night comedy, which has struggled for nearly a decade with how to handle Donald Trump and, more broadly, what the mandate for topical TV comedy is in the post-truth, un-reality era. “Reboot culture has gone too far, and I say that as the host of a show that was rebooted,” said the After Midnight host Taylor Tomlinson, now the only full-time female host in late-night, in her monologue the night after the election. “It is an honor to be on television while women are still allowed to be,” she added. On the Late Show the same evening, Stephen Colbert, generally the political average of late-night hosts for the past two terms, was blunter: “Well, fuck. It happened again.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:12:38

The Madness review – Colman Domingo’s slick, smart conspiracy thriller gets better and better

Colman Domingo is a charismatic presence in this expertly crafted cat-and-mouse story about a TV host caught up in far-right machinations – which really gains heft as it goes onJust because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you. Words I have lived by since I first saw them on a badge at a Camden market stall when I was 14. And here I am, still alive to tell you about it. Makes you think, doesn’t it?It is the guiding principle behind all successful conspiracy thrillers, and The Madness has taken it to heart. Our hero is CNN-ish TV host and media pundit Muncie Daniels (Colman Domingo), who is on the brink of being offered his own show and all coming right with his world, professionally at least, and so takes a little break in the Poconos mountains to try to start his novel before fame interferes. Never do this, kids. You can write your book just as well in the safety of your own home as in a picturesque but isolated cabin, and there is less chance of coming across a murder scene in a sauna if you do. Alas, poor Muncie and his discovery of bits of his neighbour strewn across the polythene-sheeted floor of just such an amenity. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:33

Rupert Goold is an audacious innovator. He will make waves at the Old Vic | Michael Billington

Having worked his magic as director of the Almeida theatre, the gifted Goold is bound for greater glories: the National had better watch outRupert Goold, as director, has made the Almeida the most consistently exciting theatre in London over the last decade. Next year he will take over the Old Vic and the portents look promising. At the Almeida, Goold’s programming has combined respect for new writing with a highly imaginative approach to the classics. Although a fine director himself, Goold has nurtured younger talents with no sign of professional jealousy: Robert Icke, whose Oedipus is now in the West End, and Rebecca Frecknall, who will join Goold at the Old Vic, are two beneficiaries of his enlightened encouragement.I first became aware of Goold’s gifts, as director and head of a theatre, when he ran the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, from 2002 to 2005. Even though I wasn’t crazy about his Hamlet, set in a world of Paris existentialism, it managed to attract a star presence in Jane Birkin to play Gertrude. Goold’s Othello, in which Ron Cephas Jones’s hero became a second world war general and Finbar Lynch’s Iago a closeted homosexual, was, however, instantly striking. Over the next few years, whether running the Headlong company or working as a freelance, Goold proved himself, along with Stephen Daldry, to be a director whose work you wouldn’t want to miss. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 15:55:32

All That Matters by Chris Hoy review – a champion’s shattering diagnosis

The Olympic medal-winner describes his treatment for cancer and reflects on lessons learned through sportWhen Chris Hoy began to feel pain in his shoulder in 2023, he thought little of it. As an Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist accustomed to pushing himself at the gym and on his bike, twinges weren’t unusual. But, as the pain became constant, his physiotherapist referred him for a scan where a tumour was detected. Further scans and a second consultation revealed prostate cancer that had spread to his pelvis, hip, ribs and spine. Then came the final blow: it was incurable. The prognosis was between two and four years.In a state of shock, Hoy – who is now 48 – went home with his wife, Sarra, to digest their new reality. The couple have two young children so, until they knew the treatment plan, they decided to keep the news to themselves aside from close friends and family. Hoy continued with his usual work commitments: talks, sports punditry and a weekly podcast. A few weeks later, he would begin a course of chemotherapy in a bid to stop the cancer spreading further. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 07:30:36

Thirst by Giles Foden review – adventures on the Skeleton Coast

An environmental scientist goes in search of a hidden aquifer, in an action-packed novel that reads like a movie pitchIn Giles Foden’s first novel, 1998’s The Last King of Scotland, an idealistic young Celt, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan, travels to Africa into a series of adventures amid the corruption and brutality of Idi Amin’s Uganda. In Foden’s second, Ladysmith, an idealistic young Celt, Irish Bella Kiernan, travels to Africa and has a series of adventures amid the violence of the Boer war and the siege of Ladysmith. In Zanzibar, an idealistic environmental scientist, marine biologist Nick Karolides, travels to Africa and into a series of adventures, events leading up to al-Qaida’s 1998 US embassy bombing in Tanzania.Now we have Thirst, in which Cat Brosnan, an idealistic young Celt and an environmental scientist, travels to Africa and has a series of adventures searching for a hidden aquifer in the desert of the Skeleton Coast of Namibia. People talk of “Greeneland”, as the familiar places and stories that characterise Graham Greene’s writing. Something similar is true of Foden: a westerner’s wild and violent adventures in Africa. Gilesville. Fodenmark. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 11:00:24

Poor Artists by The White Pube review – how to make it in the art world

An aspiring young artist’s journey makes for a critique of the art world, in novel formThe White Pube, the collaborative identity of critics Gabrielle de la Puente and Zarina Muhammad, have always pushed hard at the idea of art criticism. The name is a sardonic twist on both the “white cube” method of presenting art and the eponymous blue-chip gallery. The pair set up a website in 2015 and have become remarkable essayists and critics, refusing to conform to the expectations of the art world establishment. Each time they write, they seem to be asking themselves and the reader: what is criticism?Poor Artists is their first book, and although they tell us directly in the introduction that we “are reading a piece of art criticism”, they also ask us to “let go of any expectations of rationality”. Most art criticism doesn’t feature a fictional main character, various monsters and ghosts, or a novelistic narrative arc. At the centre of the book is Quest Talukdar, an aspiring artist who is learning about the way the art world chews up and spits out its artists. Muhammad and De la Puente build the book around Quest’s quest (ahem) to make it as an artist. They interviewed 22 anonymous artists and art world people for the book, and they use this material as the basis for a series of strange Ali Smith-esque vignettes that feature talking babies, zombies, a professor made out of discarded art, beheaded critics, and the ghost of Gustave Courbet, among other oddities. Short chapters on real pieces of contemporary art, often performances that critique the art world itself, are also interspersed, along with references to real artists, galleries and people. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:00:38

Night markets, sky bars and a giant Buddha: the best bits of Bangkok – and three standout hotels

Welcoming more than 20 million tourists a year, Thailand’s capital is a playground for holidaymakers of all kinds – and these swanky hotels make the perfect base for exploring all this bustling city has to offerColourful, cacophonic and a round-the-clock adventure – in Bangkok gilded royal palaces are sited next to shopping malls containing their own theatres and urban parks. Bangkok lives large: it plays in sky bars, night markets and open-air theatres. It prays at Buddhist temples, Catholic churches, ornate mosques and Hindu temples. In a city that serves up one fast-paced adventure after another – travellers will need a place of calm where they can retreat from the melee. Three standout hotels promise a serene respite from the hustle and bustle – all you need to do is choose your holiday style …Explore history and culture from Millennium Hilton Bangkok The Chao Phraya river – or the River of Kings – courses through a city of 11 million to connect palaces, temples and major historical sights. The cultural must-see is the Grand Palace. From 1782, this gilt-edged complex hosted the kings of Siam – the historic name of Thailand – amid pavilions, a throne room and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.The Grand Palace Continue reading...

Published: 2024-09-13 12:00:30

From glitzy malls to fragrant spice stalls: why Singapore packs a travel punch

It’s the smallest country in south-east Asia, but this tropical island’s vibrant diversity, modern architecture and warm hospitality creates a wealth of opportunities for travellers of all kindsFor such a small country – the smallest in south-east Asia – Singapore sure packs in a lot. In the 59 years since independence, it has gone from post-colonial minnow to roaring Asian powerhouse where gleaming skyscrapers and sprawling malls rub up against heritage-listed shophouses and leafy neighbourhoods.Predominantly Chinese, Indian and Malay populations share this spotlessly clean, lush and green multicultural melting pot of a tropical island. Your visit starts when you land at Changi airport, frequently voted the world’s best, from where it’s a quick cab ride to the city centre. The island’s compact size (and amazing public transport system) means it’s a breeze to get around, and visitors can fit in plenty in just a few days. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-09-13 12:02:27

Koh Samui or Hua Hin? How to choose between two of Thailand’s top beach destinations

Crystal-clear waters, white sand and unspoilt coves – Thailand’s beaches exceed expectations in every way. Here’s what to expect from two of the country’s most sought after coastal resortsThailand is one of the world’s sandiest nations, with hundreds of beaches garlanded over 2,000 miles of coastline. These range from secluded, unspoilt coves with fine, white sand and crystal-clear waters to the more easily accessible and well-known beaches that tourists flock to every day. So where do you start?You’ll find the best introduction in Hua Hin and Koh Samui. Two very different destinations but both oozing with the charm and beach experience that you’d expect from Thailand. Once a quiet fishing village on the skinny stretch of mainland north of the Malay peninsula, Hua Hin was established as a royal getaway in the 1920s and has since grown into a fashionable resort town. While Koh Samui offers laidback island life with pristine beaches, tropical greenery and a calm blue sea. Both border the Gulf of Thailand, a sandy-bottomed waterworld filled with kaleidoscopic sea life, where temperature in the area seldom dips below 24 degrees. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-09-18 13:28:16

Linens, layers and dad trainers: what to wear when you’re travelling in south-east Asia

When it comes to female fashion, think comfort, culture, weather and colour – all key considerations when exploring this diverse corner of the worldSouth-east Asia has it all: thanks to the dazzling variety in landscapes, cultures and religions, both within and between nations, it’s one of the most diverse regions on the planet. It’s what makes it such an extraordinarily popular place to holiday – there really is something for everyone. But its many blessings in that regard can potentially make it feel like a packing nightmare … because, how on earth do you prepare your suitcase for the free-wheeling eclecticism of itineraries that could take you from a mountain hike in the morning to rice paddy mid-afternoon, then a beach for the sunset, before a dance at the hotel bar?Well, it might sound obvious but whether you’re looking to discover archaeological wonders, bargains in a market, or moonlit raves, before you venture out, really research and think about what is a bucket-list must for you so that you bring the right clothes, plus (very importantly!) the appropriate footwear. Because you’ll probably find there are a couple of sites and sights you didn’t even know existed (did you know Thailand has an ancient temple guarded by a giant catfish? I’ll bet you didn’t.) Continue reading...

Published: 2024-09-18 13:27:04

‘Gentlemen shared their tattoos over dinner’: how our taste for tattoos started with the rich

Highly decorated skin is everywhere these days, but tattoos have a more elevated pedigree than you may think. A new book aims to make us think differently about Victorian aristocrats … and bank managersIn an age in which it appears impossible to walk down the high street every summer without being confronted by countless examples of inked flesh, you may be inclined to think that tattoos are no longer associated with the underground, or indeed the underclass. But the history of the practice is long and winding. A Vanity Fair account from 1926 is typical of many similar interventions both before and after: “Tattooing has passed from the savage to the sailor, from the sailor to the landsman. It has since percolated through the entire social stratum; tattooing has received its credentials, and may now be found beneath many a tailored shirt.”“There’s obviously a long, complicated and important history relating tattoos to sailors, and also to criminals and assorted ne’er do wells”, explains Matt Lodder, author of Tattoos: The Untold History of a Modern Art), a handsomely illustrated new book on the subject. “But the main reason, certainly in Britain, we have a tattooing industry is because rich people wanted to get tattooed. I wanted to explore that industry and how it developed, and especially look at the people involved in it who have, with varying degrees of success, made tattooing a serious and standardised professional practice.” Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 08:00:37

Devon sent: a short, epic train ride into the wintry wonders of the Exe estuary

The spectacular estuary is a haven for thousands of migrant birds each winter, and perfect to explore on foot and by boatThe Christmas market doesn’t know what’s hit it. At 8.30 on a mid-November morning Exeter is a whirl of white, a city half-blinded by tumbling flakes. Four market workers, caught out by this overly authentic addition to the festive decor, are busy shovelling the ground in front of the bao stalls and craft gin chalets. Above them, the cathedral’s medieval towers stand tall and cold in the heaven-filling flurry. Winter has arrived in Devon with bells on.I’m here to catch a train to see some birdlife. A breakfast blizzard wasn’t part of the plan, but sometimes these things don’t go as expected. The city’s Queen Street has turned into a real-life snow globe – Narnia with sandwich shops – yet the little two-carriage train I’m catching trundles into Exeter Central bang on time. I find a window seat and settle in. Snowy rooftops roll by. Somewhere, an estuary lies in wait. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 07:00:37

Beyond turkey: how to get creative with classic Thanksgiving recipes

In this week’s Feast newsletter: America’s most popular holiday is a chance to gather around the table in gratitude, wherever you live, and have fun with your menu• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastThis is an extract from our weekly Feast newsletter, written by Felicity Cloake, Meera Sodha, Rachel Roddy and others. Sign up here to get it free to your inbox every Thursday.Any British reference to the US’s most popular holiday puts me in mind of Regina George’s line in that noughties classic Mean Girls. To paraphrase: “Stop trying to make Thanksgiving happen. It’s not going to happen.” We’ve enthusiastically adopted the charming tradition of the Black Friday sales that follow, but given that the Christmas decorations went up around here when people were still setting off fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night, our busy festive calendars simply don’t have time for another shindig. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:00:42

Photo filters: why are women who use them judged so harshly?

Spanish researchers found both sexes perceived men who use them as more intelligent and women as less soName: Photo filters.Age: About 15. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:00:38

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

What’s behind the alarming rise in birth defects in Brazil’s illegal gold mining capital?

In Pará state children are being born with neurological disorders. Experts note similarities to the mercury poisoning disaster in Minamata, Japan – but say that is not the whole storySeven-year-old Valdenisa squealed with delight as she grasped the tape measure above her head. It was part of a game so that a doctor could measure the circumference of her head and check her withered legs.She was one of a dozen Indigenous Munduruku children being examined by a trio of child neurologists and geneticists earlier this month in Itaituba, in Brazil’s Pará state. Located on the Tapajós River, the town is known as the country’s illegal gold capital, as it accounts for three-quarters of all the illicit gold produced in Brazil. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 12:00:25

Can you take a clean cruise holiday and which vessels are the worst emitters?

In a booming sector where the biggest ships have doubled in size since 2000, pressure is growing to make cruising a greener, more sustainable way to travelRead more in this seriesToxic, filthy and cheap, the sludge-like substance known as heavy fuel oil has powered the shipping industry since the 1960s. What is perhaps less well known is that this same substance is still used to power more than half of cruise ships today, making what many choose as an alternative to flying one of the most environmentally damaging ways to travel.The good news is that the industry, under pressure from environmentalists and new regulations, is adopting new technologies, energy saving designs and studying alternative fuels. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 07:00:36

‘An underlying stillness’: the Yinka Shonibare retreat where artists have space to grow and thrive

The earth-brick barn house nestled among cassava and yam fields in southern Nigeria is one of two artists’ residences established by the British-Nigerian artistPerched on a hilltop and surrounded by a lush 22-hectare (54-acre) farm, the G.A.S. Farm House outside the village of Ikiṣẹ in southern Nigeria is not your average place for an artist residency. For Kosisochukwu Nnebe, who works at the intersection of food and art, it’s the ultimate retreat.The 31-year-old Nigerian-Canadian is one of the first artists to be hosted at the Guest Artists Space Foundation’s barn house near the town of Ijebu Ode in Ogun state. Although she is a late riser, each morning before she has a chance to prepare eggs on agege bread, Nnebe is out of the door, heading to a banana grove five minutes’ walk away to cut banana leaves for use in a process called chlorophyll printing.The courtyard of the G.A.S. Farm House looks out on to the farm and gardens Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:00:39

Biden administration claims win with Hezbollah-Israel ceasefire – but will it hold?

Peace is shaky at best, as Israel will still strike targets in Lebanon and a power transition looms in the USThe Biden administration has claimed the long-awaited ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel as a diplomatic triumph achieved under tremendous pressure during a lame-duck period with a hostile Donald Trump administration waiting in the wings.Speaking from a lectern in the Rose Garden of the White House, Joe Biden called the result “historic” and said that it “reminds us that peace is possible”. It would return civilians to their homes, he said, and had “determined this conflict will not be just another cycle of violence”. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-27 19:39:45

How the largely immigrant-founded Macy’s Thanksgiving parade became a national symbol

New York parade has swapped lions and clowns for character balloons, but the festivity remains 100 years laterIt was a sight to behold: elephants marching through New York City streets, thousands of spectators crushed four and five deep on the sidewalks hoping to get a glimpse of the creatures.It was Thanksgiving Day 1924, and the elephants – accompanied by bears, monkeys, tigers, camels, donkeys and lions – were residents of the Central Park zoo, trotted out for a brand-new parade, sponsored by the department store Macy’s. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 10:00:41

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

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

The Long Wave: How Brazil is celebrating its Black heritage

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

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

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

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

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

MPs’ big assisted dying moment, and the people watching every move – Politics Weekly UK

As MPs prepare to vote on a bill that would, for the first time, pass assisted dying into UK law, what are the arguments on either side? The Guardian’s John Harris speaks to two campaigners: Liz Carr, an actor and disability activist who believes the bill would endanger many marginalised groups, and Mark Mardell, a broadcaster who thinks the legislation doesn’t go far enough. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:37

What’s going on with fluoride? – podcast

The conversation about fluoride’s health benefits has exploded recently after a US federal toxicology report, court ruling and independent scientific review all called for updated risk-benefit analysis. Ian Sample hears from Catherine Carstairs, professor of history at the University of Guelph in Canada, about how attitudes to fluoridation have evolved, and Oliver Jones, professor of chemistry at RMIT University in Australia, about where the science stands todayClips: the New York Sun, Columbia Pictures‘The science of fluoride is starting to evolve’: behind the risks and benefits of the mineral Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 05:00:34

Assisted dying: a historic vote comes to parliament - podcast

Deputy political editor Jessica Elgot explains how the assisted dying bill came to the House of Commons this week, and how MPs are feeling about their vote. Dr Lucy Thomas speaks about her experience in palliative care and her fears if MPs vote the bill throughOn Friday, MPs will vote on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill – a once-in-a-generation vote on whether those with terminal illnesses should have the right to an assisted death. The right, in other words, to end one’s own life with the help of medical professionals.As the Guardian’s deputy political editor Jessica Elgot explains, it would be a monumental social change, and has been compared to previous reforms on abortion, the death penalty and equal marriage. Yet with just a day to go, it is not at all clear which way the vote will go. Indeed, Helen Pidd hears from MPs in parliament, some of whom are still unsure whether they will support or oppose the bill. Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 03:00:30

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

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

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

How having babies became so political - video

The pronatalist movement in the US is gathering pace once again, rekindled by Silicon Valley personalities and hard-right conservatives who are becoming increasingly vocal about whether or not women are having enough babies. But it's not just in the US, some governments in other countries have launched marketing campaigns encouraging people to have more children, while others have offered financial incentives. But while many of these policies claim to be about halting population decline, there are other factors at play. Josh Toussaint-Strauss interrogates efforts around the world to boost birth rates, as well as the underlying political motivations, from bodily autonomy to immigrationBirthrates are plummeting worldwide. Can governments turn the tide?When desperate measures to persuade women to have children fail, it’s time for fresh thinking Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-21 12:33:44

John Prescott: former deputy PM and New Labour stalwart – video obituary

John Prescott, who has died at 86, served as deputy prime minister for more than a decade under Tony Blair, and was seen as a custodian of the Labour party’s traditional values in the face of a modernising leadership. Blair and Gordon Brown led tributes, with Blair telling BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was 'one of the most talented people I ever encountered in politics' John Prescott, British former deputy prime minister, dies aged 86 Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-21 11:40:20

Mistrust, anger and suspicion of Bill Gates: voices from the UK farmers protest – video

Amid a protest in central London on Tuesday against changes to inheritance tax announced by Labour, the Guardian discovered a mistrust of politicians, fear over the future of UK farming and suspicion of Bill Gates Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-20 14:00:22

Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for the first time?

American and Ukrainian officials have confirmed Kyiv employed US-made Atacms missiles to strike targets within Russia. The Kremlin stated that six missiles were launched at the town of Karachev, with fragments from one reportedly causing a significant explosion.In response, Russia has announced it is adjusting its nuclear doctrine. The Kremlin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Moscow would interpret any attack against it carried out by a non-nuclear state using weapons supplied by a nuclear state as a joint assault. But what exactly are Atacms, and why has their deployment unsettled Russia so deeply?Atacms: what are the missiles Ukraine has fired into Russia for first time?Russia-Ukraine war live Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-20 16:44:49

Sign up for the Fashion Statement newsletter: our free fashion email

Style, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, direct to your inbox every ThursdayStyle, with substance: what’s really trending this week, a roundup of the best fashion journalism and your wardrobe dilemmas solved, delivered straight to your inbox every ThursdayExplore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...

Published: 2022-09-20 11:06:20

Sign up for the Guardian Documentaries newsletter: our free short film email

Be the first to see our latest thought-provoking films, bringing you bold and original storytelling from around the worldDiscover the stories behind our latest short films, learn more about our international film-makers, and join us for exclusive documentary events. We’ll also share a selection of our favourite films, from our archives and from further afield, for you to enjoy. Sign up below.Can’t wait for the next newsletter? Start exploring our archive now. Continue reading...

Published: 2016-09-02 09:27:20

Guardian Traveller newsletter: Sign up for our free holidays email

From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors. You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. From biking adventures to city breaks, get inspiration for your next break – whether in the UK or further afield – with twice-weekly emails from the Guardian’s travel editors.You’ll also receive handpicked offers from Guardian Holidays. Continue reading...

Published: 2022-10-12 14:21:58

Sign up for the Feast newsletter: our free Guardian food email

A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideasEach week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email. Continue reading...

Published: 2019-07-09 08:19:21

Heavy snowfall in South Korea – in pictures

South Korea grapples extreme weather conditions for second day, with dozens of flights cancelled, ferry operations suspended and four people reported dead Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 09:00:39

Feeling blue: how denim built America – in pictures

Originally used as workwear for back-breaking jobs, these vintage images show the fabric’s role in dragging the US out of the Great Depression Continue reading...

Published: 2024-11-28 07:00:37

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

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

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

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

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

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