Quest for the divine ... the work of outsider artist Joe Roberts Photograph: © Joe RobertsQuest for the divine ... the work of outsider artist Joe Roberts Photograph: © Joe RobertsArt and designInterviewArtist Joe Roberts: 'The psychedelic experience is an incredible tool'Stuart JeffriesThe San Franciscan’s hallucinogenic journeys inspire colourful paintings featuring Mickey Mouse, Freddy Krueger and the Wu-Tang Clan “It could be argued,” says Joe Roberts, “that the whole world is on one drug or another.
Pop and rockObituaryAl Jarreau obituaryAward-winning American jazz, R&B and pop singer whose hits included the theme tune of the 1980s television series MoonlightingAl Jarreau, the acrobatically skilful, warmly soulful American singer, who has died aged 76, always seemed too generous an individual to get much pleasure out of proving knowalls wrong. But by the third decade of a career in which the jazz cognoscenti had often been snooty about his commercial leanings, and pop tastemakers about his jazz ones, he was getting plenty of opportunities for the last laugh.
The ObserverAstronomyA new play explores the short life of Jeremiah Horrocks, whose astonishing discoveries ‘changed the way we see the universe’
On a cloudy afternoon in England in 1639, 20-year-old Jeremiah Horrocks became the first person to accurately predict the transit of Venus and measure the distance from the Earth to the sun.
His work proved, for the first time, that Earth is not at the centre of the universe, but revolves around the sun, refuting contemporary religious beliefs and laying the foundations for Isaac Newton’s groundbreaking work on gravity.
Children's booksGlobalThe Maze Runner - quizWith movie of James Dashner's book The Maze Runner coming out this weekend, it's time to test your knowledge. Will you escape the Maze…? Find out more about James Dashner in this aMazing interview
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Music This article is more than 10 years oldThousands gather to mourn death of Tabu Ley RochereauThis article is more than 10 years oldRumba pioneer remembered at state funeral in the Democratic Republic of CongoTabu Ley Rochereau, who died 30 November, was commemorated this week at a state funeral in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thousands gathered at the parliament in the capital, Kinshasa, to pay tribute to the late rumba star, who passed away, aged 76, at Saint-Luc hospital in Brussels, according to his son-in-law Jean Claude Muissa.
Drama filmsReviewHarrowing prison scenes transfigure this gripping 1956 story of a woman awaiting execution for murder, written just before the hanging of Ruth Ellis
J Lee Thompson’s gripping capital punishment drama Yield to the Night from 1956 gets a re-release: a Brit noir classic and a unique career achievement for Diana Dors as Mary Hilton, a woman awaiting execution for murder. The events leading up to Mary’s crime are intercut with her jail ordeal, attended by female wardens or “matrons” in the brightly lit cell, whose lights can never be dimmed because of suicide-watch surveillance.
Classical musicReviewLighthouse, Poole
The conductor’s special qualities were on show in a varied programme, and helped add stability to artist-in-residence Alexander Malofeev’s glittering performance
One of the most enduring and productive partnerships in British orchestral life comes to an end next summer, when after 16 years Kirill Karabits steps down as the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s chief conductor although he will continue his relationship with the orchestra as conductor emeritus, and continuing his Voices from the East series, focusing on music from his native Ukraine and other former Soviet states that’s little known in the west.
Dionne Warwick in London, 1965.
Photograph: David Redfern/RedfernsAs the soul legend is nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, we pick her 20 greatest songs from her 60s collaborations with Burt Bacharach to her later power ballads
by Alexis Petridis20. By the Time I Get to Phoenix/I Say a Little Prayer (1977)The live album A Man and A Woman is both delightful and slightly odd: Warwick dueting with Isaac Hayes, who had just had a hit with a paen to troilism called Moonlight Lovin’ (Ménage à Trois).
BooksExiles in a small worldAn early campus novel, Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin, published while Lolita was banned, first established his credentials as a writer of rare ability, writes David LodgeVladimir Nabokov was a literary genius. There is no other word with which to describe a writer who, in mid-life, became a stylistic virtuoso in a language that was not his mother tongue. Circumstances - which is to say, the convulsions of 20th-century European politics - impelled him to achieve this feat, exchanging Russian for English as the medium of his art (as well as acquiring an enviable fluency in French along the way).
TelevisionInterviewKayleigh Llewellyn on In My Skin: ‘I lived in fear of kids finding out about my mum’Rhiannon Lucy CosslettThe TV drama’s creator was surviving on charity. Then she turned her troubled Cardiff childhood into a rollercoaster ride through school crushes, sexuality – and bipolar disorder
‘Growing up,” says Kayleigh Llewellyn, “my mum had bipolar disorder type one. So quite severe. The love you have for your mother or father is so deep-seated, there’s a contradiction: you love the person, but you also feel ashamed of them, because you’re a teenager and you don’t know any better.
Benjamin was not interested in the lines between fiction writing and criticism. He instead concerned himself with the recovery of the story, which sometimes resembles what we traditionally call fiction. Photograph: AlamyBenjamin was not interested in the lines between fiction writing and criticism. He instead concerned himself with the recovery of the story, which sometimes resembles what we traditionally call fiction. Photograph: AlamyShort storiesReviewKnown primarily for his essays and insights into the cultural condition, Walter Benjamin also wrote fiction.
Michel FaberReviewThe letter D disappears in a childlike fable from the author of The Book of Strange New Things
Every morning, the heroine of Michel Faber’s new book wakes in her cosy bed on the south coast of England. Dhikilo leads what might look like an ordinary 13-year-old girl’s life, but things are not always easy for her. Dhikilo was born in Somaliland – not Somalia, as she must repeatedly insist – and adopted by Ruth and Malcolm when she was just a year old.
ArtFrom glimpses of Concorde to the sea seen through a lighthouse prism – artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Tacita Dean describe how they select and crop landscapesWolfgang Tillmans
Concorde GridWhen I embarked on making these pictures, I didn't ask BA or Heathrow airport for special access because it was important to me that I maintain a democratic perspective about this super exclusive airliner. I was more interested in how it functioned for thousands of people, who were surprised by its presence in the sky (and its roar) every day, who could project their personal ideas and dreams of a better future, of technology overcoming time and space on to it.
France This article is more than 14 years oldFrench mother jailed for murdering three of her babiesThis article is more than 14 years old Veronique Courjault admits triple infanticide
Two bodies stored in freezer, one burned in fireplaceA French court has convicted a woman of murdering three of her newborn children and sentenced her to eight years in prison.
Veronique Courjault, 41, had been accused of killing the babies then burning one of the bodies and stashing two others in a freezer.
The ObserverAutobiography and memoirReviewThe veteran actor’s pragmatism, generosity and wit are to the fore in these reflections on her career – and there’s plenty of room for rude anecdotes
“All I ever wanted to do was play Shakespeare, nothing else. It was a kind of zenith for me,” says Judi Dench, discussing her first professional role (Ophelia with the Old Vic) straight out of drama school in 1957. Despite the book’s jokily disparaging subtitle – “the man who pays the rent” is how Dench and her late husband,Michael Williams, used to refer to the Bard when they both worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company during the 1970s – her passion for Shakespeare shines through every conversation reproduced here.
Victoria Beckham on the cover of the February 2009 issue of Russian Vogue. Photograph: Vogue/PAVictoria Beckham on the cover of the February 2009 issue of Russian Vogue. Photograph: Vogue/PAVogueVogue Russia closes as Condé Nast stops publishing after ‘rise in censorship’GQ, Tatler, Glamour and others expected to shut due to ‘unprovoked war and related censorship laws’
Ukraine-Russia war: latest updates Condé Nast has announced it is closing its entire Russian franchise as a result of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s new censorship laws.
BBC This article is more than 3 years oldBBC subjects older women to 'lookism', says Libby PurvesThis article is more than 3 years oldBroadcaster, 70, claims female presenters not allowed to grow old gracefully like men are
Older women are subject to “lookism” at the BBC, even on the radio, while men are allowed to age gracefully, the broadcaster Libby Purves has said.
Purves, who presented Radio 4’s Midweek from 1983 until it was dropped in 2017, said the corporation had a problem with older women as they were under more pressure to appear attractive and youthful.
Children's booksChildren's booksFive Point Someone by Chetan Bhagat – review‘I really enjoyed this book because the characters are so real’
Written by author Chetan Bhagat, the book Five Point Someone is set in the Indian Institute Of Technology, the top engineering college in India, similar to MIT in America. It was later turned into a hit movie called The 3 Idiots. The story revolves around Ryan Oberoi, an extremely intelligent but free-spirited student.
Gabby is an upbeat girl in a cat-themed world. Photograph: DreamWorksGabby is an upbeat girl in a cat-themed world. Photograph: DreamWorksTelevisionThe wholesome kids’ show that took the world by storm during Covid – and has spawned endless merchandise – has been a godsend for parents
In January 2021, when Covid deaths were surging and many preschools were closed, Netflix launched a show about a girl who wears cat ears, sings cheerful songs about science and says things like “miaow-mazing”, “pawesome!
US televisionThe death of the controversial talk show host leaves behind a wealth of hand-to-mouth moments that defined his shock-heavy career
Jerry Springer, influential US talkshow host, dies aged 79 During his 27-year run as a TV host, Jerry Springer became synonymous with a few tropes: the paternity test, the bleeped-out swearing, the security guards always ready to break up a fight. Nearly every one of his 4,000 episodes could be considered explosive, but there are a few moments that surpass even the wackiest standards of tabloid TV.
Liverpool This article is more than 10 years oldLiverpool target £22m Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Shakhtar DonetskThis article is more than 10 years old Armenia midfielder scored 25 goals for Shakhtar last season
Liverpool believe player would be keen on a moveLiverpool have identified Shakhtar Donetsk's Henrikh Mkhitaryan as a leading transfer target for the summer and are not deterred by the £22m price tag on one of the most coveted players in European football.
Bill Ackman claimed the Business Insider stories about his wife, Neri Oxman, were motivated by antisemitism. Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/AlamyBill Ackman claimed the Business Insider stories about his wife, Neri Oxman, were motivated by antisemitism. Photograph: Kristoffer Tripplaar/AlamyMediaBill Ackman ‘losing it’ over plagiarism allegations against wife, Axel Springer saysBusiness Insider ran reports on Neri Oxman, wife of billionaire investor who helped oust Harvard head over alleged plagiarism
The billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who helped oust Claudine Gay as Harvard president in a scandal over alleged plagiarism and campus antisemitism, is “completely losing it” over stories in which Business Insider said his wife, the academic Neri Oxman, “plagiarised some passages” in her own dissertation.
How we madeChas and DaveChas and Dave: how we made Rabbit‘We met Camilla Parker Bowles at a Royal Variety show. She told us: “I do love that Rabbit song – we used to dance to it at parties!”’
Chas Hodges, singer-songwriter, pianoWe booked a cottage in the middle of nowhere to write some songs. Dave had this idea that involved an old phrase for someone who talked a lot: “jaw-me-dead”. I wanted something less obscure, so suggested “rabbit and pork” – cockney rhyming slang for “talk”.
Mock human sacrifice at Cern GuardianCern This article is more than 7 years oldFake human sacrifice filmed at Cern, with pranking scientists suspectedThis article is more than 7 years oldSpokeswoman at high temple of particle physics suggests ‘scientific users’ of the Geneva facility ‘let their humour go too far’ with staging of occult rite
The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern) has launched an investigation into a video filmed at night on its Geneva campus depicting a mock ritual human sacrifice.
The ObserverFictionReviewAntonio Tabucchi's novel about a newspaper editor in 1930s Portugal is a passionate warning against political complacencyThe Italian original of Antonio Tabucchi's novel, Sostiene Pereira (1994), has been widely translated and adapted to film, garnering major European awards. Its Portuguese protagonist – an overweight widower who edits the culture pages of a second-rate evening paper in 1938 Lisbon, under the dictatorship of Salazar – is therefore already beloved on the continent.
Ahead of a new stage revival, the creators and cast of Channel 4’s classic 90s newsroom sitcom remember close encounters with future Bond stars, writing episodes at the last minute and the meaning between that mysterious title Published: 11:55 AM ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKuklrSme9OhnJqsopo%3D
The ObserverTV comedyInterviewDerry Girl Saoirse-Monica Jackson: ‘Yes, we have a harsh sense of humour’Holly WilliamsThe star of Channel 4’s comedy hit talks fame, facial contortions and globalising Northern Irish slang
In Derry, Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s face is painted across a wall, several metres high, alongside the four other lead cast members of Derry Girls. The mural was unveiled earlier this year to celebrate the second season of the Channel 4 hit comedy, and has been warmly received by residents of the Northern Irish city.
Germany This article is more than 4 years oldGerman FA president Reinhard Grindel resigns over €6,000 watchThis article is more than 4 years old Grindel given watch by Grigoriy Surkis, a Uefa vice president
‘There was and is no conflict of interest for me’The German football federation president, Reinhard Grindel, has resigned after coming under increasing pressure following allegations of undeclared earnings, the receipt of a luxury watch and discontent with his leadership.
Peru’s safe haven for threatened species – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Endemic frogs of captivating beauty, mammals and wild birds are among the species to be found in Peru’s Cordillera Escalera conservation area, a protected highly biodiverse area between the Andes and the jungle in the east of the country
Ernesto Benavides / AFP / Getty Images
Match previewsPremier LeagueLiverpool welcome the leaders, Arsenal, to Anfield on Saturday while Chelsea travel to Wolves on Christmas Eve
WEST HAM v MANCHESTER UNITEDSaturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue London Stadium
Referee Simon Hooper This season G10 Y56 R3 5.90 cards/game
West Ham v Manchester United: probable starters, contenders in italicsWest HamSubs from Areola, Anang, Mavropanos, Kehrer, Johnson, Ogbonna, Coventry, Fornals, Cornet, Casey, Benrahma, Antonio, Ings, Mubama, Marshall, Chesters
Doubtful Aguerd (illness), Cornet (illness), Antonio (knee)
PornographyAddiction to pornography has been blamed for erectile dysfunction, relationship issues and depression, yet problematic use is rising. Now therapists and tech companies are offering new solutions
Thomas discovered pornography in the traditional way: at school. He remembers classmates talking about it in the playground and showing each other videos on their phones during sleepovers. He was 13 and thought it was “a laugh”. Then he began watching pornography alone on his tablet in his room.
BaliLocals on the Indonesian island have been enraged by behaviour that includes visitors driving motorbikes dangerously and posing nude at sacred sites
Luiza Kosykh claims she didn’t know the 700-year-old tree she posed naked in front of was sacred. However, the viral shot captured by the Russian national in Bali was enough to infuriate the local community and resulted in her swift arrest and deportation.
The case is one of a growing number of incidents involving unruly visitors, as tensions between foreign influencers and locals on the Indonesian island reach boiling point.
YESTERYEARDid Jesus have any siblings? Kareena, Sydney Australia
The Pope says "no". The Bible says "yes". You work it out. Garrick Alder, London Aren't we all the children of God, making us all his siblings? Glen Smeaton, London, UK
Barabra Thiering's book "Jesus the Man", based upon an interpretation of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a good guide. She says that Jesus's brother James was, for some time, a political rival to Jesus.
Jay Rayner on restaurantsFoodReviewThe superb cooking and friendly service at the Mandarin will inspire you to start a new family tradition
Mandarin Kitchen, 14-16 Queensway, London W2 3RX (020 7727 9012; mandarin.kitchen). Starters and soups £4.30-£13.90, large plates £8.90-£55 (for sharing), desserts £4.20-£8.20, wines from £27.90
London has many Chinatowns. They may not be as extensive as the throng around Gerrard Street, but they are very much there. When I was a kid, deep-braised in the sweet soy broth of privilege, my family would go once a year, just after Christmas, to the theatre; to bathe in the spot-lit thrill of the overture, the sequin and the jazz hand.
Crime This article is more than 14 years oldMother jailed for faking son's illnessThis article is more than 14 years oldLisa Hayden-Johnson forced boy to pretend he was unwell to con benefits from authorities and donations from the publicThe boy's bedroom was crammed with so much medical equipment that police described it as "like a scene from Casualty". He used a wheelchair and wore dark glasses because of a supposed intolerance to sunlight; he was fed through a tube and at school sported a bright yellow and green hat so that he could be quickly found in an emergency.
US news This article is more than 4 years oldRelease of Vaxxed sequel prompts fears dangerous propaganda will spread againThis article is more than 4 years oldAnti-vaccination film to premiere in theatres as several states have been battling against localised outbreaks of measles
Anti-vaccination campaigners are preparing to release the sequel to Vaxxed, the highly contentious film that has been used to spread the unfounded claim that vaccines cause autism and other developmental problems.
US newsChristina Taylor Green: a symbolic life tragically cut shortNine-year-old caught up in Gabrielle Giffords shooting had featured in a book collecting images of children born on 9/11There is a photograph on page 41 of Faces of Hope that, as the title of the book suggests, captures the spirit of optimism of the American people even when confronted by great tragedy.
It is a grainy black and white picture of an infant girl, a ribbon round her hair, set against a background of peonies.
BooksObituaryCid CormanPoet who was behind the literary magazine OriginAlthough he published some 150 collections of poetry, translations, and essays, Cid Corman, who has died aged 79, will be remembered as an editor. Through five decades, from 1951, his literary magazine Origin provided an early platform for the work of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, Gary Snyder and Theodore Enslin.
Inevitably associated with Olson and the poets who clustered around him at Black Mountain College in North Carolina in the 1950s, Corman's own work owed just as much to the influence of Japan, where, apart from a 12-year break in Boston, he lived from 1962 until his death.
Pop and rockInterviewCult punks Glassjaw return: 'It was offensive. You don’t talk to a woman like that'Daniel Montesinos-DonaghyThe post-hardcore band were loved for their knotty, emotional songs – and despised for their misogynistic lyrics. As they release their first album for 15 years, are they changed men?
It has taken 15 years for Glassjaw’s Daryl Palumbo and Justin Beck to make a new album. In between, there have been health troubles (Palumbo’s struggles with Crohn’s disease have cancelled many a UK tour), side-projects with ex-Gorillaz mastermind Dan the Automator, business endeavours, marriage, children, life.
ShortcutsSocial mediaSo much of what we share online is fantasy, but posting pictures from a hospital bed helps people feel less isolated and can demystify disability and illness
Social media is often accused of presenting an airbrushed fantasy rather than a slice of realism, so it is refreshing to see the likes of Kate Beckinsale and Nicky Campbell embrace the “hospital selfie”, which involves tweeting photos from their hospital beds. (Alas, the Daily Mail’s Sarah Vine isn’t a fan, writing in her latest column: “Why the rest of us have to suffer I don’t know.
RankedPop and rockAs the beloved indie band debut new material and return to touring, we count down the best of their eight-album catalogue
20 Available (2003)The band’s frontman, Matt Berninger, has expressed his hesitation about this song from their second album, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers; it is definitely a rare nasty one. “You just made yourself available,” he sneers at a woman, disgusted that he has fallen for her tricks.
‘I’m disappointed people don’t recognise what I did in Test cricket’ says Chris Gayle, one of only four batsmen to score two Test triple-centuries. Photograph: Linda Nylind/for the Guardian‘I’m disappointed people don’t recognise what I did in Test cricket’ says Chris Gayle, one of only four batsmen to score two Test triple-centuries. Photograph: Linda Nylind/for the GuardianChris GayleInterviewChris Gayle: ‘You’re with men. You’re good-looking. What do you expect?’Donald McRaeThe West Indies star is used to defending himself but insists the sexism row over his interview with an Australian TV reporter was blown out of proportionChris Gayle doesn’t trust me but blunt honesty is preferable when, in exchange, he is fiercely concentrated during our hour together.
Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson)
Here's the thing. Twenty-odd years ago the noble Godfrey enjoyed a night of bliss with Balian's mum, after which he wasn't seen for dust. Fie, for shame! But now he's back to make amends and spirit his bastard son on a glorious mission for God and glory. Who's who in Kingdom Of Heaven ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6ZobpwvMicq66qlah8qrnAoJxoaFxtgnWBi2ZoaWpgan55gZVubmVoYGO1tbnL
Houseplant of the weekHouseplantsNot only does this plant look striking, it can also improve the air quality in your home
Why will I love it?
Prepare to be enchanted by the striking silver-green foliage of the silver snake plant, also known as Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Moonshine’. It’s easy to look after and makes a great beginner plant as it’s near indestructible. Light or shade? It thrives in both low and bright, indirect light conditions.
DocumentaryIn docuseries Burden of Proof, Stephen Pandos searches for answers as to how his sister Jennifer disappeared in 1987 – including from his parents
Stephen Pandos was a freshman in college when, in February 1987, his 15-year-old sister, Jennifer, went missing from their family home in Williamsburg, Virginia.
The details of her disappearance were hazy. Stephen’s mother, Margie Pandos, claimed that she had grown concerned one morning when she didn’t hear Jennifer taking a shower and found her door locked.
Windrush scandal This article is more than 3 years oldWindrush campaigner Paulette Wilson dies aged 64This article is more than 3 years oldWilson, who was nearly deported in 2017, delivered petition to Downing Street last month
‘A precious gem … broken by the government’ Without Wilson, Windrush may have remained hidden
Paulette Wilson, a prominent Windrush campaigner who was wrongly detained and threatened with deportation by the Home Office, has died unexpectedly at the age of 64, a month after delivering a petition to Downing Street calling on the government to deliver justice to those affected by the scandal.
Pokémon This article is more than 1 year oldFederal court bars Australian company from releasing unsanctioned Pokémon-branded NFTs This article is more than 1 year oldParramatta-based developer Kotiota also made false representations about its relationship with The Pokémon Company International, court hears
Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast The owners of the Pokémon brand hired private investigators to track down the Australian developers behind a crypto-based online game that uses its characters without the Japanese company’s permission.
DatingDating apps are generating a whole lexicon for iffy online interactions. Here’s some we prepared earlier … let’s hear yours
In an age of dating apps, read receipts and socially acceptable stalking, a whole new confusing lingo has emerged.
Most people are familiar with terms like ghosting (when you casually ignore someone’s existence and messages). But what about ghostbusting, when you force them to reply? Or the Dickensian Marleying, when an ex gets in touch with you at Christmas out of nowhere?
France This article is more than 8 years oldPhotographer jailed for multi-billion euro Bettencourt exploitationThis article is more than 8 years oldFrançois-Marie Banier has been sentenced to three years in jail and ordered to pay back €15m to L’Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and her family
A French celebrity photographer has been found guilty and sentenced to two and a half years in prison for exploiting the mental frailty of Liliane Bettencourt, the ageing L’Oréal shampoo heiress, who showered him with gifts including Picasso paintings, life insurance funds and millions of euros in cash.
The coolest record labels of all time Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Movers, shakers, game-changers: the imprints that changed the face of music. Don't agree with our selection? Tell us who we've missed in the comments belowThe 10 British record labels defining the sound of 2014 Sam Richards
Sat 19 Apr 2014 11.00 EDT First published on Sat 19 Apr 2014 11.
Rap This article is more than 12 years oldUS rapper Nate Dogg dies aged 41This article is more than 12 years oldFriend of Snoop Dogg who featured on hit record Regulate was recovering from two strokes he had suffered in recent yearsHip-hop star Nathaniel Dwayne Hale, known by his stage name Nate Dogg, has died aged 41. The cause of his death is unclear but the Californian rapper had been recovering from two strokes he suffered in recent years.
World news'Dirty' Africans ordered to washThe view that 'foreigners are dirty' might seem old-fashioned, especially in a city that welcomes hordes of tourists each summer. But Valencia's new health guide for immigrants suggests the Costa Blanca city has a low opinion of the thousands of migrant workers, mainly from North and sub-Saharan Africa, who flock there in search of poorly paid jobs picking oranges.
The 50-page booklet, published in Spanish, English, French and Arabic by the regional government's health council, has drawn a storm of protest from local aid groups because of its patronising tone and apparent belief that most immigrants enjoy amenities such as hot running water.
‘She painted demonstrations and street life’: Support the Union, 1937. Photograph: The Estate of Alice Neel‘She painted demonstrations and street life’: Support the Union, 1937. Photograph: The Estate of Alice NeelArtReviewBarbican, London
She immortalised New York’s bohemia and her own joys and struggles in paintings powerfully alert to body language and psychological vulnerabilities
Alice Neel was a painter of fearless and tender portraits. Although apparently direct and uncomplicated, her paintings of people alone, of couples and families and mothers and children, not only unpick the dynamics between her sitters but also their complicity with the artist.
MoviesReview(no cert)From Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot to Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi, the juxtaposition of weapon and musical instrument, the gun in the music case, has been potent. The musical instrument is the polar opposite of the weapon - a force for good, surely? - and yet also more dangerous, more destructive: the means of subversion, of mobilising rebellion.
First-time feature director Francisco Vargas produces a variant on this traditional theme in his bleak drama, shot in a soupy monochrome and set among the guerrilla revolts in Mexico in the 1970s.
The night sky above River Murray Dark Sky reserve in South Australia. Photograph: Michael WaterhouseThe night sky above River Murray Dark Sky reserve in South Australia. Photograph: Michael WaterhouseAustralia holidaysAustralia has a relative abundance of astro-tourism destinations, and a growing movement to help protect their darkness
Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email An Aboriginal dreamtime story tells of the fire magic in the foot of Kambughuda, protecting her younger sisters from the hunter Nyeeruna.
Some of the hostages released on Wednesday 29 November. Top left to right: Raz Ben Ami, Itay Regev, Amit Shani, Ofir Engel. Second row: Irena Tait, Raya Rotem, Yelena Trupanob, Gali Tarshansky. Photograph: TwitterSome of the hostages released on Wednesday 29 November. Top left to right: Raz Ben Ami, Itay Regev, Amit Shani, Ofir Engel. Second row: Irena Tait, Raya Rotem, Yelena Trupanob, Gali Tarshansky. Photograph: TwitterIsrael-Gaza war This article is more than 1 month oldThis article is more than 1 month oldWho has been released so far?
The ObserverWomen's hairIn salons across Britain, a post-lockdown look that blends the best of the shag and the mullet is catching on fast
In the three weeks since hair salons have reopened, Brixton Cowie says he has cut dozens of mullets. “Except none of my customers are coming in directly asking for a mullet. They don’t use that word, but they say they want it a bit long but a bit short, choppier, with more layers, and shaggier.
Boy George This article is more than 15 years oldEscort tells of 'kidnapping' by Boy GeorgeThis article is more than 15 years old Man says he was attacked after erotic photo shoot 'Did he really have to hurt him?' asks prosecutionBoy George subjected a male escort to a violent assault that included chaining him to the wall and beating him after accusing him of tampering with his computer, a court heard yesterday.
Spain This article is more than 4 years oldMan caught fly-tipping fridge in ravine fined and made to drag it backThis article is more than 4 years oldFootage shows the man tipping the fridge down ravine in Valle de Almanzora
A man who was caught on film fly-tipping a fridge down a ravine in southern Spain has been fined and forced to drag it back up after being identified by police.
The Fashion autumn/winter 2019Spike LeeThe filmmaker explains how he changed the history of headgear with a phone call
Read more from the autumn/winter 2019 edition of The Fashion, our biannual fashion supplement I always enjoy wearing baseball caps. I got my first when I was six or seven years old. All the kids had them. Back in the day it really wasn’t a fashion thing, but now people wear the hats and it has nothing to do with sports.
Laughing stock: the week in comedyComedy This article is more than 10 years oldTim Allen demands to use the n-wordThis article is more than 10 years oldThe US actor sparks a fresh debate about racial jokes – and isn’t the only one. Meanwhile, could Ricky Gervais swing a record deal for David Brent? And Spotify launches a comedy app
This week's comedy newsComedian and actor Tim Allen is in a spot of bother this week.
The ObserverSpain This article is more than 8 months old‘We need to get out!’ How Gypsy families were driven out of Spanish town by mobThis article is more than 8 months oldMany of the 40 people forced to flee after a local stabbing are still traumatised by Andalucían town’s ‘blackest day’
Almost 10 months on, Ricardo García Carmona still shudders at the way he spoke to his mother when she appeared on his doorstep with an urgent warning a little after 9am on Sunday 17 July last year.
Photograph: Robert Pratta/Reuters Photograph: Robert Pratta/ReutersKeep it in the ground: a poem a dayWildlifeA climate change poem for today: The Rhinoceros by Robert MinhinnickUK poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy curates a series of 20 original poems by various authors on the theme of climate change
On the Steel Beach
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Look at these.
Thaw sweat.
Smoke on the swale.
Swarf off a swollen sea.
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These. World famous
Action and adventure films This article is more than 11 years oldJustice League movie back on as Warner Bros hires writer Will BeallThis article is more than 11 years oldSuccess of The Avengers prompts resurrection of shelved film featuring Superman, Batman and a host of other DC heroesWarner Bros is set to revive plans for a movie about the Justice League, the DC Comics superhero team, in the wake of the success of The Avengers, reports Variety.
The Whitechapel takeoverArtLife models face draughty studios, unflattering personal comments and lingering social disapproval. Artist Fiona Banner thought they deserved a chance to speak for themselves - so she sent Laura Barnett to meet someIn an upstairs room overlooking a park, 51-year-old Judith Castle is preparing to take off her clothes. "I should really have taken these off earlier," she says, bending down to unzip her boots. "They hate sock marks.
Mike JohnsonSecond-in-line to the presidency, the Republican makes claims about the constitution and Christianity, and his wish to impose his faith on others, that do not withstand serious scrutiny
The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, knows how he will rule: according to his Bible. When asked on Fox News how he would make public policy, he replied: “Well, go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it. That’s my worldview.
TechScape newsletterBlueskyIn this week’s newsletter: The Twitter alternatives are gaining ground, and it wouldn’t take much to steal X’s crown as a news-sharing service
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Every time Elon Musk does something bad, you can see an influx of new users to Bluesky – one of the many social media sites to pop up as a potential Twitter/X alternative.
Life and styleSoaring egg prices have fueled huge demand for backyard flocks, even as millions of ‘spent’ hens are killed yearly
First eggs became expensive and hard to find; now it’s the chicken’s turn. When the average price of a dozen eggs reached $4.28 in January 2023, more than double the previous year’s price, and shortages due to avian flu were common, people rushed out in search of chickens. The sudden demand for backyard flocks has left many farm stores and hatcheries sold out for months.
Fourth of July marked in the US – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email People across the US braved heat and heavy rain to take part in Fourth of July activities on Tuesday, celebrating the nation’s founding with parades, fireworks and hot dog eating contests
Main image: Amber Hess, lifts her daughter, Emorie Narvaez, during Harrisburg’s Fourth of July Food Truck Festival.
Other livesPaintingObituaryJane O’Malley obituaryMy friend the painter Jane O’Malley, who has died of cancer aged 79, was a still life painter of rare skill. Utilising a spare repertoire of daily objects, including bowls, vases, jugs and flowers, Jane could conjure up an alert, vibrant composition of colour, line and form. Recurrent backdrops were provided by St Ives in Cornwall, the stark lava fields of Lanzarote and her lush garden in Ireland.
Doncaster Rovers This article is more than 9 years oldOne Direction's Louis Tomlinson buys Doncaster RoversThis article is more than 9 years oldBoy band singer completes takeover with League One club's former chairman and launches £2m crowdfunding campaignLouis Tomlinson has followed in the footsteps of celebrity football club owners such as Elton John and Delia Smith by announcing a deal to buy the League One side Doncaster Rovers.
The One Direction singer, who completed a deal to take over the club alongside the former chairman John Ryan, immediately launched a crowdfunding campaign hoping to attract £2m to bring Premier League success to his beloved team.
Doctors discovered the needle during a CT scan. Photograph: JohnnyGreig/GettyDoctors discovered the needle during a CT scan. Photograph: JohnnyGreig/GettyRussia This article is more than 3 months oldRussian woman has lived 80 years with needle in her brain, doctors discoverThis article is more than 3 months oldLocal health department believe woman was victim of failed infanticide by her parents during second world war
An elderly woman in Russia’s far east has lived her whole life with a 3cm-long needle in her brain, it was revealed after doctors made the unexpected discovery during a CT scan.
Ukraine This article is more than 7 months oldSkulls left scattered after Ukraine dam breach may be from second world warThis article is more than 7 months oldMudflats are littered with bones, some of which may be remains from battle 80 years ago near Nikopol
The emptying of the vast reservoir along the Dnipro River in Ukraine as a result of the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam last week has left mudflats littered with skeletons, according to footage posted online, in a reminder of the region’s violent past.
FictionReviewTom Holland on an alternative portrayal of the life of ChristOver the millennia, the Jewishness of Jesus has been an embarrassment to Jews as well as to Christians. In antiquity, the response of rabbis to the increasingly gentile character of the church was an icy show of silence. When they could bring themselves to mention Jesus at all, it was to cast him as a failed student who, out of pique, had fallen to worshipping a brick, and then been condemned to hell, there to be boiled in excrement.
Alka Pradhan, James Connell and Sterling Thomas are lawyers for Ammar al-Baluchi, one of five men facing the death penalty for plotting the 2001 terror attacks in the US. The Trial provides a window into the buildup to the largest criminal trial in American history
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The measureFashionWhat’s hot and what’s not in fashion this week
Going upAubrey Plaza’s swimsuit Specifically in Black Bear. Grownup Baywatch.
Cher Specifically,red-carpet Cher between 1970 and 1976, the inspiration behind Zendaya at the Oscars and Dua Lipa at the Grammys.
Arthur Parkinson The Kew-trained king of the small-space garden and heir apparent to Monty Don.
Arthur Parkinson: the new Monty. Photograph: courtesy of Arthur ParkinsonTennis off-whites Wimbledon is back on. Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz plays six hours a day.
TheatreReviewSouthwark Playhouse Elephant, London
Strong voices, polished direction and pop choreography boost this uneven account of Lizzie Borden, accused of killing her father and stepmother
Reclaiming Henry VIII’s wives from their “divorced, beheaded, died” rhyme made Six a hit musical. Three of that “histo-remix” show’s former queens now unite for this rock opera which aims to flesh out the character of US murder suspect Lizzie Borden beyond the deeds described in the callous quatrain: “Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother 40 whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father 41.
ChristmasThis year’s offering from the Blairs is questionable on many levels. But have festive designs from other politicians ever caught the right mood? What does the Christmas card you send say about you? Politicians understandably approach said question with caution – often with interesting results. See Tony and Cherie Blair’s, revealed on Tuesday. Once you get past Tony’s border terrier teeth and the fact that it looks as if Cherie has been superimposed, this is all about presenting the Blairs as a unit.
The best black and white photography: 2023 Mono awards – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Dedicated to the art of monochrome and black-and-white photography in Australia and New Zealand, the annual awards celebrate the very best in three categories: people, place and animals
Australian Life photography competition 2023 finalists – in pictures Main image: Winner, People category: Bubble fun
The ObserverFictionReviewThe Greek demi-god Achilles emerges for the first time as a lover as well as a fighter in this beautifully written novelIf you were looking to retell the story of one of the great lovers in Greek myth, you could choose Paris, whose love (or lust) for Helen launched a thousand ships against his city of Troy, and wiped it from the map. Or Orpheus, whose devotion to Eurydice led him down into the depths of hell to try to reclaim her.
Classical musicReviewHackmann/Boggess/Sinfonia of London/Wilson
(Chandos, two CDs)
John Wilson’s scrupulously prepared recording gives us exactly what the audience would have heard on the musical’s opening night in New York in 1943
John Wilson started off as a conductor of musical theatre, and made his name in concert performances of Broadway shows. After relaunching the hand-picked Sinfonia of London in 2018 he has gone on to success in a much wider repertoire, but as this recording of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s Oklahoma!
BullfightingCape fear Bullfighter turns tail and runs'I decided that was it. Let somebody else who has the ability and the courage take the opportunity,' said Christian HernandezA young bullfighter in Mexico City leapt head first out of the ring at the beginning of a fight after seeing the bull charge - and was arrested for it APChristian Hernandez had fantasised about becoming a celebrated bullfighter since he was a child. Now the 22-year-old has gone down in bullfighting history not for his elegant moves, but for running away from the bull in Mexico's most famous arena.
The ObserverFashionAhead of London fashion week, the gender-fluid designer talks about glue guns, pop stars and courting controversy in Vogue
Before anyone had heard of the designer Harris Reed, they had seen his suit in Vogue. Or was it a dress?
A tailored suit with peak shoulders attached to a hoop-skirt draped in tulle and hot pink satin garlands, it was worn in the magazine’s December issue not by a Hollywood starlet, but by a popstar: Harry Styles.
World dispatchWorld newsGore: behind the beardNot for over a century has a US president had fuzz on his face. Julian Borger decodes the former vice-president's new lookThe president-in-exile returned to his ungrateful nation this week. Al Gore, the man who won half a million more votes than the current White House occupant, came back from six weeks in Europe for a couple of discreet appearances in Tennessee, his home state which so cruelly spurned him at the polls.
James Franco This article is more than 2 years oldJames Franco admits sleeping with students and says he had sex addictionThis article is more than 2 years oldActor gives first extended comments about accusations that came nearly four years ago
James Franco has acknowledged sleeping with students of an acting school he previously ran, saying he struggled with a sex addiction and has been working to improve his behavior in recent years.
Archaeology This article is more than 3 years oldTwo million-year-old skull of human cousin found by Australian team in South African caveThis article is more than 3 years oldParanthropus robustus walked the earth at roughly the same time as our direct ancestor Homo erectus
A two million-year-old skull from a large-toothed distant human cousin has been unearthed at an Australian-led archaeological dig deep in a South African cave system.
The discovery is the earliest known and best-preserved example of the small-brained hominin called Paranthropus robustus, La Trobe University researchers say.
She was dubbed ‘the wild child’ in the UK when she presented The Word in the early 90s – and left scarred by the experience. After fleeing across the Atlantic, she reinvented herself, as a feminist activist, photographer, talkshow host and now a podcaster ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKSZm7KiusOsq7KklWSwprjEm6mirKlgwbC6xGigp6yVp8OqsdY%3D
PhotographyWhen Bill Anders took this photograph from the Apollo spacecraft on Christmas Eve in 1968, our relationship with the world changed forever
This photograph is now half a century old. It was taken by the astronaut Bill Anders on Christmas Eve 1968 as the Apollo 8 spacecraft rounded the dark side of the moon for a fourth time. When Earth came up over the horizon, Anders scrabbled for his Hasselblad camera and started clicking.
Music This article is more than 9 years oldMacklemore issues apology following accusations of anti-semitismThis article is more than 9 years old'I wasn’t attempting to mimic any culture,' writes the rapper, who faced critisism after performing while dressed in a prosthetic nose and black wig
Macklemore has apologised following accusations of anti-semitism, after performing a concert in fancy dress that was claimed by some to evoke Jewish stereotypes. The singer took the stage wearing a black suit, dark wig, fake beard and a large prosthetic nose, which he has described as a "
The ObserverWomenSocieties around the world have always had a problem with a wife who no longer has a husband. But what does the W word mean in the modern era?
There’s a downside to “till death us do part” – it does. For example, 60s model Jan de Souza, co-host of Tramp nightclub with her husband Johnny Gold, died recently: of loneliness, her obituary said. He’d died a year earlier, after 50 years of marriage.
Property This article is more than 8 months oldStately home ‘used for James Bond scenes’ goes on sale for £75mThis article is more than 8 months oldDenham Place in Buckinghamshire being sold by multimillionaire Mike Jatania
A 13-bedroom Grade-I listed stately home said to have been where some James Bond scenes were filmed has been put up for sale with a price tag of £75m – which would make it one of the most expensive properties outside London.
Where to start withBooksHaving long been tipped as the next Nobel laureate, the Norwegian writer has this year been awarded the prize. For those new to the acclaimed playwright and novelist, here are some good ways in
Jon Fosse wins the 2023 Nobel prize in literature
The novelist, playwright, essayist and poet Jon Fosse, 64, is this year’s winner of the Nobel prize in Literature. He is now set to become the world’s best-known Norwegian writer of contemporary fiction, perhaps even overtaking his former student, Karl Ove Knausgård.
Asteroids This article is more than 11 months oldAsteroid lights up sky over Channel creating shooting star effectThis article is more than 11 months oldScientists predict asteroid strike for only seventh time as 1-metre object enters Earth’s atmosphere
An asteroid has lit up the sky over the Channel in the early morning after scientists accurately predicted its strike – only the seventh time that has happened.
The European Space Agency said on Sunday night that the 1-metre-sized object would enter Earth’s atmosphere and strike the surface around the French city of Rouen.
OperaYou need more than a good voice to sing the countertenor role of the sun-worshipping Egyptian leader. But it’s changed my life
‘Picture the audience naked.” The popular wisdom for overcoming stage fright was turned on its head the first time I was unveiled – body waxed, head shaved, and completely nude – in front of thousands of fully clothed opera-goers at the London Coliseum, in 2016. It was the premiere of a monumental new production of Philip Glass’s Akhnaten by Phelim McDermott, for English National Opera.
The ObserverPablo PicassoBefore 1960, Pablo Picasso and modernism were more often lampooned than loved in this country. But all that changed when the Tate's huge Picasso exhibition caused a sensation and changed the course of British art for everIn the summer of 1960 Britain was overwhelmed by what the newspapers were inevitably calling Picassomania. The Tate gallery's Picasso exhibition opened in June, the most extensive retrospective of the artist's work ever staged, and from that moment the cultural life of the nation would never be quite the same again.
The ObserverSportSex, drugs and rolling surfB Bunker Spreckels lived fast - and died young. Born into a $50m fortune, he left his family to surf in Hawaii. There, the playboy prince revolutionised the sport before, 30 years ago, his excesses caught up with him, at the age of just 27. In his previously unpublished last interview, he talks to CR Stecyk III about groupies, surfing on acid and meeting SatanBorn in 1949, Adolph B Spreckels III - great grandson of a Germany-born sugar baron, railway tycoon and publisher, Claus Spreckels - grew up in the lap of luxury.
The 100 best novelsFictionElizabeth Bowen’s 1948 novel perfectly captures the atmosphere of London during the blitz while providing brilliant insights into the human heart
Elizabeth Bowen: ‘a unique sensitivity to the lives of ordinary English men and women in extremis’. Photograph: Jane Bown/ObserverLondon in the blitz influenced the creative lives of many important English writers, from Graham Greene to Rose Macaulay. But none captured wartime London as memorably as Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973), an Anglo-Irish writer who first attracted critical attention with a collection of short-stories in 1923.
History booksObituaryWalter Laqueur obituaryDistinguished historian, journalist and scholar who focused on terrorism, the Holocaust and the decline of EuropeThe contemporary historian and journalist Walter Laqueur, who has died aged 97, made the great issues of the past century accessible to a wide readership in the almost 100 book titles that bear his name as author or editor.
His own experience of political upheaval started with fleeing Nazi Germany as a teenager, and his work helped create the academic study of communism, nazism, fascism and terrorism, continuing to the present day with The Future of Terrorism (with Christopher Wall, 2018).
The Lay ScientistScienceArtificial Intelligence: Gods, egos and Ex MachinaEven with its flaws, last year’s Ex Machina perfectly captured the curious relationship between artificial intelligence, God and ego. A tiny change in its closing moments would have given it an intriguing new dimension. It’s taken me a year and a several viewings to collect my thoughts about Ex Machina. Superficially it looks like a film about the future of artificial intelligence, but like most science fiction, it tells us more about the present than the future; and like most discussion around AI, it ends up reflecting not technological progress so much as human egos.
Shishaldin volcano, one of the most active in the Aleutian arc, saw increased lava eruptions just after midnight Tuesday. Photograph: APShishaldin volcano, one of the most active in the Aleutian arc, saw increased lava eruptions just after midnight Tuesday. Photograph: APAlaska This article is more than 6 months oldErupting Alaska volcano spews large ash cloud, prompting warnings to pilotsThis article is more than 6 months oldAsh cloud from Shishaldin volcano, which began erupting 11 July, is angular and sharp and can cause jet engine to shut down
Housing by numbersHousing Network This article is more than 6 years oldHomeless women are even more vulnerable than homeless menThis article is more than 6 years oldChannel 4 programme shows more women are becoming homeless and being treated far worse on the streets and by councils
Rough sleeping has doubled in the past five years, with increasing numbers of women: women who are often existing or expectant mothers, fleeing violence, or who have disabilities or health problems.
Sex with robots is ‘about intimacy and technology, computers and psychology’, says Dr Kate Devlin. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design/Getty ImagesSex with robots is ‘about intimacy and technology, computers and psychology’, says Dr Kate Devlin. Illustration: Victoria Hart/Guardian Design/Getty ImagesSummer essentialsSexFor at least a decade, researchers have speculated that sex with robots is just around the corner but that is yet to materialise
The man leans towards the woman on his couch.
South Africa This article is more than 13 years oldMatron cleared of abuse at Oprah Winfrey school says case left her 'humiliated'This article is more than 13 years oldProsecutors had accused Tiny Virginia Makopo of trying to kiss and fondle pupils at TV host's Leadership Academy for Girls near Johannesburg in 2007A woman acquitted of sexually abusing girls at a South African school set up by the television host Oprah Winfrey has told how the case left her "
Women's footballInterviewOrlando Pride’s Haley Carter: ‘I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot here’Suzanne WrackFormer US marine takes on general manager role and is determined to change the culture and win a NWSL championship
Haley Carter, Orlando Pride’s new general manager and vice-president of soccer operations, is not afraid to address the culture shift needed in the NWSL, including at her club. “There are consistencies we should see across the board: it needs to be safe, it needs to be inclusive and at this level it needs to be a winning culture too,” she says.
Netherlands This article is more than 1 year oldDutch city becomes world’s first to ban meat adverts in publicThis article is more than 1 year oldHaarlem’s move is part of efforts to cut consumption after meat was found to contribute to climate crisis
A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban meat adverts from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.
Republicans This article is more than 2 years oldThis article is more than 2 years oldThomas Massie’s incendiary picture, days after a deadly school shooting in Michigan, seemed carefully calibrated to provoke It is a festive family photo with seven broad smiles and a Christmas tree. But one other detail sets it apart: each member of the Massie family is brandishing a machine gun or military-style rifle.
Outcry after Colorado sheriff’s office tweets photo of Santa getting handgun permitRead moreThe photo was tweeted last week by Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman from Kentucky, with the caption: “Merry Christmas!
Mean, moody and magnificent: film noir studio portraits – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Ava Gardner, Humphrey Bogart and Rita Hayworth were never more glamorous than in the photographs taken by studio photographers to publicise black and white thrillers in the 1940s and 50s. Here is a selection of the most memorable
Film Noir Portraits by Paul Duncan and Tony Nourmand is published by Reel Art Press
Sculptures created from secondhand books – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Su Blackwell has always used text in her art, but it was after a trip to Asia that she began creating sculptures from books. “In my last year at college, I went to Thailand and, in a secondhand bookshop, bought a copy of The Quiet American with lines of Thai scrawled in its margins, which added another dimension.
FictionReviewA gritty debut novel set in a society without safety nets"Eric's … on the lamest power trip in the world – the decider of how long it takes for me to get a tampon," says Anais, a 15-year-old stuck in a care home, as she waits for a social worker to comply with her urgent request. What Fagan depicts in her debut novel, The Panopticon, is a society in which people don't just fall through the net – there is no net.
San Francisco This article is more than 8 months oldVideo shows Walgreens guard killing trans organizer Banko Brown as he left storeThis article is more than 8 months oldSan Francisco district attorney says shooting was ‘reasonable’ and no charges will be filed, sparking outrage
Surveillance footage from a Walgreens in San Francisco shows the moment a private security guard killed a young transgender man accused of shoplifting.
The footage captures the guard tackling and punching Banko Brown, 24, on 27 April before fatally shooting him as he exited the store.
Las Vegas city guideLas Vegas holidaysReviewThe music and clubbing scene in Vegas attracts the world's very biggest names to its dive bars, outrageous clubs and chillaxin' venues, say Chuckmonster and Spencer Patterson As featured in our Las Vegas city guide
The Joint at the Hard Rock HotelWe'll admit it, we weren't too thrilled when Las Vegas's most iconic rock room announced it would double in size. After all, this was the place where the Stones stripped down, where Neil Young ditched Greendale, where Metallica and the Chili Peppers rang in the New Year, where Jack White's guitar spontaneously burst into flames.
Architecture and design blogArchitectureReviewIt may be an improvement on the old station, with a light-flooded atrium and a huge concourse, but the Foreign Office Architects project is a very British trade-off
When a young London-based duo won an international competition for the Yokohama ferry terminal in Japan in 1995, there was a collective gasp of incredulity. The shock was not only that the couple, still in their early 30s, could land a £150m port project on the other side of the world, but that their design was unlike anything seen before.
Beauty hacksLife and styleIf bolder choices such as strong liner and bleached brows make you feel safer, give them a go
The hack
Does “unapproachable” makeup scare men off?
The test
With over 124m views on TikTok, the unapproachable makeup trend has become a firm gen Z favourite. The brief seems to be: “Looking so good they’re too scared to approach you,” according to TikToker Megi Hebeja – the “they” in question being men.
BusinessObituaryDame Anita RoddickPioneering green entrepreneur who used the profits of her ethical beauty business to campaign for a better worldDame Anita Roddick, who has died aged 64 after a brain haemorrhage, opened her first Body Shop in Brighton in 1976. The year is important. The beauty business was not then about bodies, which were merely the soaped tail end of the face and hair market, its lotions laboratory tested, industrially concocted and sold through chemists' chains or the phoney salons of department stores.
The first ever photograph of Wil flying. Photograph: Alan LawrenceThe first ever photograph of Wil flying. Photograph: Alan LawrenceFamilyAlan Lawrence has a son with Down’s Syndrome. As a photographer, he wanted to shine a light on the negative attitudes towards the condition – and his little boy showed him how
A few weeks before my son Wil was due, I was sitting at my computer working when I suddenly had the strangest feeling.
Is Jack Straw under-employed? It seems unlikely: persecuting asylum seekers, curtailing trial by jury and drooling over MI5 ought to be a full-time job. And yet he somehow found the time yesterday to share a platform at Church House in London with the American author Charles Murray, at a debate sponsored by the Sunday Times on "The Growing Threat of the Underclass". Straw is unapologetic. "I deplore many of the views Mr Murray has espoused,"
CrimeIn August, Christopher Foster shot dead his wife and daughter, turned his mansion home into an inferno and then killed himself. Why? Jon Ronson talks to friends and peers of the bankrupt millionaire to try to find outMaesbrook, Shropshire, is a beautiful, well-to-do village on the Welsh borders. The houses are vine-covered Georgian mansions. The cars parked in the driveways are Range Rovers and Porsches. The people of Maesbrook are, by and large, self-made millionaires from Birmingham and Wolverhampton, entrepreneurs who've made it big.
Jonathan Jones on artArtAre there really only seven different types of beauty?Extravagant, transgressive, elemental ... the Cooper Hewitt design museum in New York has taxonomised the indefinable – beauty. Is this wrong-headed scientific precision or the brave tackling of a taboo?
So now we know. Humanity’s Keatsian quest for the true meaning of beauty is effectively over, the subject sussed once and for all. It’s fully understood, in the same way particle physics fell into place when the Higgs boson was proven to exist.
Ask Leo & LucyEthical and green livingDo I have to give up bleach to go green?Many of us believe a splash of bleach is a necessary evil. But is it? Lucy Siegle flushes away some of the many misconceptions'I'm willing to go green in almost every other area, but the eco loo cleaners I've tried just don't do the job.'
While not the most elegant subject, the bleach/toilet conundrum is a common one.
HTCReviewNew 5.5in smartphone might be bulky, but its super-shiny back and pressure sensitive controls make up for it
Once the darling of the smartphone world, HTC has been struggling to gain traction in a market dominated by Samsung and Apple with its solid but bland devices. Now the U11 is here and it’s squeezable (no really), can the former smartphone leader turn it around?
The U11 is the new top of the line for HTC, replacing last year’s all-metal HTC 10 with the company’s new shiny metallic glass design.
Tom Hanks This article is more than 3 months oldTom Hanks says AI version of him used in dental plan ad without his consent This article is more than 3 months oldActor, who has previously expressed concerns about use of AI in film, tells fans ‘I have nothing to do’ with hoax video
Tom Hanks has warned fans that an ad for a dental plan that appears to use his image is in fact fake and was created using artificial intelligence.
The ObserverFictionReviewA debut novel set in 1930s Denver blends the colonial past with a dangerous present in a feat of old-school storytelling
Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s debut novel is set in 1930s Denver, Colorado, a teeming city built on the exploits of white colonial settlers and the erasure of Indigenous American lands, histories and societies. Its heroine is Luz Lopez, who must struggle to survive despite a traumatic past, a dangerous present and an unknown future.
Michael Jackson This article is more than 14 years oldFact and fiction in Michael Jackson's deathThis article is more than 14 years oldThe death of Michael Jackson has prompted an explosion of rumour that has grown more lurid with every day that passes. Now more than a week since he died, there is no let-up in the speculation. But what are the facts, and what the fiction? What do we know for sure about why he died, and about the ungainly scramble for assets that his death has unleashed?
Rumour MillSoccerToday’s fluff is causing a kerfuffle across Europe
When the big clubs see something they like, they don’t hang about. Raphaël Varane was just a sparkle in the eye of Lens fans when Real Madrid signed the then 18-year-old for €10m back in 2011, right under the noses of Manchester United.
“I hurtled down on the train from Euston to Lille to sign the young French defender Varane,” Sir Alex Ferguson wrote in his 2015 book Leading.
Notes & TheoriesDinosaursI'm tired of seeing naked dinosaursIt's about time books, documentaries and movies caught up with the latest fossil discoveries and depicted more feathered, bristly dinosaurs, says Brian SwitekWhile walking through a natural history museum gift shop a few years back, I spotted a plush Velociraptor among the piles of dinosauriana. Frankly, it looked pretty stupid. Covered in a soft, fuzzy coat of faux-feathers, it lacked the reptilian menace of the predatory dinosaurs I remembered from my youth.
FilmInterviewOne Day star Rafe Spall on Anne Hathaway, Ridley Scott and dad TimFrancesca BabbThe Shadow Line actor plays a luckless loser in the adaptation of One Day but admits he's enjoying a 'golden period'"Someone asked me recently," says Rafe Spall, squinting into the August afternoon sunshine, brow furrowed in earnest, "if I had to 'ugly up' to play the part of Ian in One Day." He pauses, looks at me incredulously, and then guffaws with laughter.
Republicans This article is more than 2 months oldOutrage grows after ‘chilling call for genocide’ by Florida Republican This article is more than 2 months oldCalls to censure Michelle Salzman, who said, ‘All of them’ when Democrat asked: ‘How many [dead Palestinians] will be enough?’
Outrage continues to grow over a public comment made by a Florida state Republican lawmaker calling for all Palestinians to die.
The remarks came during a debate in the state legislature about calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s invasion of Gaza, which has so far killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, many of whom are children.
OpinionIsrael This article is more than 14 years oldThe paradox of Israel's pursuit of mightThis article is more than 14 years oldMax HastingsForty years ago, I was enraptured by Israel's courageous sense of mission. For me today, as for many, that idealism has palledI first visited Israel in 1969. It was a time when much of the western world was still passionately enthused about the country's triumph in the 1967 six-day war.
US CongressObituaryCharlie Wilson obituaryFlamboyant Texan congressman who masterminded covert US support for the mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan warIt is rare for one individual seriously to divert the course of history. To have done so virtually unnoticed was the astonishing achievement of the former Texas congressman Charlie Wilson, who has died aged 76 after suffering a cardiopulmonary arrest.
His accomplishment in launching and sustaining America's largest clandestine war – supplying arms to Afghan rebels fighting the Soviets in the 1980s – might have been more understandable had he been a discreet figure sliding greyly through the corridors of power.
College basketballIowa sensation Caitlin Clark drains winner from logo to cap 40-point nightClark pours in 40 as No 4 Iowa beat Michigan State 76-73Iowa guard and nation’s top scorer hits winner at buzzerCaitlin Clark knew her shot at the buzzer was going in, even though she launched it from the Hawkeyes logo near midcourt.
So did her coach.
“Caitlin has ice in her veins,” Iowa’s Lisa Bluder said. “Everybody knows it.
The G2 interviewJay McInerneyInterviewJay McInerney: 'You can only blow up your life so many times before it becomes ridiculous'Emma BrockesWith Bright Lights, Big City, the novelist established himself as the chronicler of New York’s hedonistic 80s elite. Thirty years later, he is railing against Trump but fascinated with wealth – though his friendship with Bret Easton Ellis is flagging
It is more than 30 years since Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney’s first and most famous novel was published, and everything and nothing has changed.
Classical musicObituaryJennifer Bate obituaryVirtuoso organist who was a leading exponent of the music of Olivier Messiaen
The organist Jennifer Bate, who has died aged 75 from cancer, was a leading exponent of the music of Olivier Messiaen. They met in 1975, when the composer and his wife, Yvonne Loriod, went to hear her play his music at St James’s, Muswell Hill, north London. Afterwards he asked her if she had heard his own recordings.
Mohammed Salim Patel with Digby and the animal’s trainer, Katy Smith. Photograph: Lancashire Telegraph/SWNS.comMohammed Salim Patel with Digby and the animal’s trainer, Katy Smith. Photograph: Lancashire Telegraph/SWNS.comShortcutsAnimalsAn American miniature horse is training to become a faithful assistant to a visually impaired man from Lancashire – and causing quite a stir on the streets of Blackburn
Mohammed Salim Patel knew he was causing a stir in Blackburn market on Monday because he could hear it.
SEMANTIC ENIGMASThe French for an eye is "un oeiul" but the plural is "les yeux": I can't think of any other instance, either in English or any other language, where a plural bears absolutely no similarity to the singular. Can anyone else? Sean Doherty, Derry Ireland
This is known as suppletion, and is fairly common in English with verb changes (e.g. I go but I went). A commonly cited plural example is the Russian for person (chelovek singular --> lyudi plural).
Bangladesh This article is more than 12 years oldBangladeshi family tells of grief over girl whipped to deathThis article is more than 12 years oldActivists call for end to use of religious justice after teenager diesIt was a chance meeting next to the palm tree just yards from her bedroom that led to a 14-year-old girl being whipped to death in this tiny village about 40 miles south of the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka.
Florida This article is more than 9 months oldDisney World hosts LGBTQ+ conference amid DeSantis crackdown on rightsThis article is more than 9 months oldHosting of Out and Equal Workplace summit is seen as response to governor’s fight against LGBTQ+ rights in Florida
Disney is pushing back against Florida’s rightwing Republican governor Ron DeSantis’s crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights by hosting a major LGBTQ+ conference.
The Out & Equal Workplace summit has touted itself as the “largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world” and draws more than 5,000 attendees annually.
UK newsLawrence 'obscenities' finally get a showingA collection of paintings went on display yesterday - more than 70 years after the images were banned - but there is no sell-by date on obscenity.
In June 1929 a squad of embarrassed policemen raided the Warren gallery in London, and seized 13 paintings by DH Lawrence. They were spared from being burned on condition that they were never exhibited in Britain again.
SculptureObituaryRuth Ziolkowski obituaryDriving force behind a decades-long project to sculpt a vast memorial to Crazy Horse out of the Black Hills of DakotaRuth Ziolkowski, who has died aged 87, spent much of her life helping her husband, the Polish-American sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, to achieve his dream of transforming a mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota into a colossal sculpture depicting the 19th-century Oglala Lakota war chief Crazy Horse. When Korczak died in 1982, the project could have foundered; it had been in progress for 34 years and still, despite vast quantities of rock having been blasted away, the pink granite crag did not look even remotely like a warrior on horseback.
XFLXFL and USFL announce new, merged spring football leagueThe United Football League to kickoff in March 20242023 XFL and USFL champions will play in opening gameThe latest edition of a spring football league will be called the “United Football League”, after the merged XFL-USFL leagues confirmed they will be merging.
Former XFL president/CEO Russ Brandon will hold the same position in the UFL. Former USFL president of football operations and current Fox Sports broadcaster Daryl Johnston will lead the new league’s football operations, the league announced in a press release.
ShortcutsSoap operaIt’s been suggested that soaps are in crisis because their ratings-chasing storylines have become too ridiculous. But it’s the unbelievable plot twists that we watch them for
According to the writer and broadcaster Mark Lawson, it’s time for soaps to tone things down. The likes of Coronation Street and EastEnders are in crisis, he says in the latest issue of the Radio Times, because they are “[piling] catastrophe after crisis on the best-known characters” in order to boost flagging ratings.
SEMANTIC ENIGMAS"Avon" is a Celtic word for "river" (viz Welsh afon); "llama" is the third person singular of the Spanish verb "to be called or named"; "kangaroo" (I believe) is an Aborigine term meaning "I don't know". What other names have have arisen from the apparent misunderstanding of a native's answer to a curious foreigner? Jon Riley, London W5 The French word 'vasistas' means fanlight or roof window and is a corruption of the German 'wass ist das' (what is that?
The 21st-century yokelLife and styleDistracted by animals in the house and struggling to write, I set out in the fresh Devon air – and was inspired by a one-eyed zombie seaweed snake
It’s fair to say that it had not been my best morning. I had smacked my head pretty hard on a ceiling beam, a jackdaw had flown down the chimney while I was cleaning my teeth in the kitchen sink, and I had reached a tricky passage towards the end of my new book.
Graphic novel of the monthComics and graphic novelsReviewThis rip-roaring graphic retelling of the Aldous Huxley classic brings to mind Fritz Lang, Spielberg and vintage comics
A certain weariness came over me at the prospect of this adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World; I’m not much in the mood for dystopian doom and gloom right now. But I was wrong to be chary: this is a book that will keep your bedside light burning long into the night.
UK news This article is more than 15 years oldDrunk pony rescued from swimming poolThis article is more than 15 years oldA drunk pony was rescued from a swimming pool after gorging on fermented apples and falling into the water.
The pony, called Fat Boy, broke in to Sarah Penhaligon's garden in Newquay, Cornwall, to get to the fruit, which had fallen from trees.
He ate so many apples that he became confused.
MusicInterview‘It’s like we just fell on to this planet’: the rise of psych-rockers KhruangbinAmmar KaliaHow the Texan trio’s woozy sound, inspired by Thailand, Mexico and west Africa, perfected the art of ‘Earth music’
Onstage, the Texan trio Khruangbin are a strange sight to behold. At their sold-out show at London’s near-5,000 capacity O2 Academy Brixton last December, guitarist Mark Speer and bassist Laura Lee, dressed in long, black, heavily fringed wigs, sway in unison, while bald drummer DJ Johnson sits calmly in his poncho, pensively holding the groove.
Other livesDramaObituaryNick Laughland obituaryIf you have watched prime-time television drama over the past three decades it’s almost certain you will have enjoyed the work of the director Nick Laughland, who has died aged 69 of complications arising from a long-term illness. His CV reads like a chart-list of the most-loved TV series of the past 30 years: Lovejoy, Boon, Playing the Field, Where the Heart Is, New Tricks, Wild at Heart, Midsomer Murders.
Book of the dayFiction in translationReviewThis blackly absurd satire of provincial Hungarian life is maddening, compelling – and very funny
Before even its title page, Baron Wenckheim’s Homecoming comes prefaced with a “warning”. Over the course of seven pages, which may or may not have anything to do with the 550 pages that follow, an orchestral conductor delivers a peroration that is also a rant that is also a kind of philosophical projectile missile.
The green recoveryUK newsHarnessing power from sun, wind and sea could spur UK’s post-pandemic economy while tackling climate crisis, say experts
Is the Covid-19 crisis the catalyst for greening the world’s airlines? Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage In the first months of 2020 Britain relied on renewable energy like never before. The power generated by clean energy projects eclipsed fossil fuels for the first time ever, making up almost half the electricity used to keep the lights on.
FoodNicolette Hahn Niman was an environmental lawyer who became a cattle rancher, and didn’t eat meat for 33 years. For both the ecosystem and human health, she argues, it’s how animals are farmed that matters
After refusing to eat meat for 33 years, Nicolette Hahn Niman bit tentatively into a beefburger two years ago. She had become a vegetarian because she was concerned about animal welfare and the environmental cost of meat.
Naomi Rukavina plays Dr Remi Varga-Murphy on Neighbours – one half of a biracial, queer couple with Sara West’s Cara. Photograph: Nadir Kinani/The GuardianView image in fullscreenNaomi Rukavina plays Dr Remi Varga-Murphy on Neighbours – one half of a biracial, queer couple with Sara West’s Cara. Photograph: Nadir Kinani/The GuardianNeighboursInterviewNaomi Rukavina on being one half of Neighbours’ first biracial, queer couple: ‘Feels bloody excellent’Sian CainStarting out, the actor was told someone like her could never work in TV.
FilmFor George Orwell, there was nothing pro-American about Animal Farm. The CIA, however, had other ideas. Karl Cohen tells the remarkable story of how US intelligence secretly funded a landmark British movieAmerica's use of animated propaganda during the second world war is fairly well known, but propaganda made after the iron curtain went up is rarely seen or discussed. By the late 1940s, the CIA was spending tax dollars creating culture as a secret weapon to combat communism around the world.
CoronavirusAlmost as important as saving lives, the Covid jab has given politicos a great reason to get their kit off in public
Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Since the miracle invention of a vaccination for Covid-19, a second discovery has been made: male politicians absolutely love taking their shirts off for a photo opportunity. In the UK, you are more likely to find a Conservative MP bare-chested than a Labour one – Brendan Clarke-Smith and Johnny Mercer are the poster boys of the movement, resplendent in chest hair as they pose for the cameras.
‘It’s clear the cleavage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is just one manifestation of racism in Australia.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP‘It’s clear the cleavage between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is just one manifestation of racism in Australia.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPThe AgendaAustralia news This article is more than 3 months oldIn the aftermath of the voice referendum, how can we unbork a polarised Australia? Here are three ways forwardThis article is more than 3 months oldPaul KarpA national anti-racism framework, a Human Rights Act and discrimination law could all do a lot of good, especially for Indigenous Australians
Fashion is returning to its roots: needle and thread are what it's all about, lest we forget. Which is presumably why fat stitches have started appearing on the outside of clothes this season. Are designers simply bored of the perfect finish? On the spring/summer catwalks, Paul Smith had hessian stitches, while Givenchy had big, child-like ones; Sonia Rykiel roughly sewed cherries and flowers on to bags and tops, and Stella McCartney at Chloe went craft crazy, stitching multicoloured tigers, eagles and faces on to frayed white skirts and - gasp!
The amazing world of sport Sport Quail fighting is a big money sport in Afghanistan - video Abdul Majeed has caught quail to sell as fighting birds since he was 15, making up to £650 for the best quality fighters. Quail fighting has been a tradition of Afghanistan's Pashtun community for over 100 years. The sport has been making a comeback after it was banned by the Taliban.
UK news This article is more than 1 month oldSara Sharif: three family members plead not guilty to 10-year-old’s murderThis article is more than 1 month oldGirl’s father Urfan Sharif, stepmother Beinash Batool and uncle Faisal Malik to go on trial next September
Three members of Sara Sharif’s family have pleaded not guilty to her murder.
The 10-year-old’s father, Urfan Sharif, her stepmother, Beinash Batool, and uncle Faisal Malik are accused of killing her.
The ObserverWomenSeparated at birthGiven up as babies and adopted by different families, it took these women 35 years to meet and discover they were identical twins. Louise France talks to the sisters whose amazing story hit the headlines worldwideWhen I arrange to meet identical twins Elyse Schein and Paula Bernstein at a patisserie in New York City, I imagine that they will pitch up together. That's what happens with twins - they tend to be lumped together like balls of dough.
WASHINGTON
Rialto, Olympic national park Washington state meets the Pacific Ocean along 157 miles of rugged coastline at the Olympic peninsula. Much of this shoreline has been incorporated into the Olympic national park, including the three miles of Rialto beach. Easy to walk, this wilderness beach is open to exploring, with views out to the forested James Island. North of the picnic area, Ellen Creek tumbles into the sea, and further on lies Split Rock, a massive sea stack with two pinnacles, the tops of which are crowned with dwarfed trees.
Gymnastics This article is more than 9 months oldFresh allegations made of sexual abuse at gymnastics club in PooleThis article is more than 9 months oldMore complainants come forward over historical allegationsGymnastics for Change appeals for anyone needing its helpGymnasts for Change says it is supporting a number of new complainants who have alleged abuse at the former Olga gymnastics club in Poole when it was run by Brian and Monica Phelps, and has appealed for any further individuals needing its help to come forward.
US crimeFruitvale Station trial ends as Bart settles with Oscar Grant's friendsFriends of Oscar Grant, who was shot by a Bart police officer in 2009, will split $175,000 from San Francisco transit agency
Five friends of Oscar Grant, the man who was fatally shot by a San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer, have reached a deal to settle a federal lawsuit against the agency, officials said.
Jack Bryson Jr, Nigel Bryson, Michael Greer, Carlos Reyes and Fernando Anicete Jr will split $175,000 as part of the settlement reached late last month, their attorney John Burris said Tuesday.
ArtFrom a battlefield avenger to a nude colossus, the Corsican conqueror was a rich subject for artists across Europe. But did Turner, who painted him as a fallen emperor, finally capture the truth?
So you think Napoleon was short? Well, it’s a myth. Britain’s great satirist James Gillray didn’t just caricature the French leader relentlessly, he also pulled off arguably the greatest cartoon coup of all time, convincing the world even to this day that he was pint-sized.
Book of the dayScience and nature booksReviewA scholarly look at how badly we treat other species employs moral principles to shame us into acknowledging their rights
The physicist Stephen Hawking once hosted a party for time travellers, but only sent out the invitations after the date had already passed. No one came. If people from the future had turned up, what would most appal them about our society today, apart from Love Island and Suella Braverman?
Book of the dayMusic booksReviewHow did a leafy bolthole north of New York become so central to rock lore?
In 1964, Bob Dylan wrote many of the songs on Bringing It All Back Home in a spartan “white room” he’d been loaned above the Café Espresso in Woodstock. About 100 miles north of New York, the small country town is lodged at the foot of wooded hills, between the Catskill mountains and the Hudson river.
Kumamon celebrates his birthday on 12 March, 2014 in Kumamoto, Japan. Photograph: The Asahi Shimbun/Getty ImagesKumamon, a cartoon bear created to promote tourism in an overlooked part of Japan, has become a billion-dollar phenomenon. Now, a new academic field is trying to pinpoint what makes things cute – and why we can’t resist them
by Neil SteinbergOn 14 April 2016, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake hit Japan’s southernmost island of Kyushu, toppling buildings and sending residents rushing into the streets.
Marina O'Loughlin on restaurantsRestaurantsReview'Where is everybody? It's a question I continue to ask as the food arrives: I can't find fault with any of it'This is quite the plate of food: stark, almost bleak in its monochrome simplicity. Everything is shades of pale: waxy potatoes, pearly cod, espuma in a colour that Farrow & Ball would probably call Stornoway Sound, tiny dots of darkest grey. But it's also remarkable in its flawlessness: the cod cooked just so, subtle maillard brushstrokes on top, flesh as tender and yielding as a truffle.
2019 TV: what happened next?Leaving NeverlandDan Reed knew his film would shatter Michael Jackson’s reputation. But he didn’t expect so many death threats – or the superfans stalking his office
In February, when the documentary maker Dan Reed and I met in a near-empty bar, it felt very much like the lull before the typhoon. He was calm and expansive as he spoke about his film, Leaving Neverland – which was about to be broadcast – about James Safechuck and Wade Robson, who accused Michael Jackson of sexually abusing them for years.
Oprah Winfrey This article is more than 10 years oldOprah Winfrey given Swiss apology for 'racist treatment' over handbagThis article is more than 10 years oldBillionaire media mogul says Zurich shop assistant refused to show bag, saying it was too expensive for herThe Swiss tourism board has apologised to Oprah Winfrey, after the media mogul experienced her own "Pretty Woman" moment while shopping for a $38,000 handbag.
Winfrey, who is one of the world's richest women, claimed in an interview with the US television show Entertainment Tonight that a shop assistant at a Zurich fashion store had refused to show her the bag, claiming it was "
Pete Townshend This article is more than 11 years oldPete Townshend book describes 'insane' attempt to expose internet child abuseThis article is more than 11 years oldThe Who' guitarist uses autobiography to explain why he used credit card to access illegal materialThe Who's Pete Townshend has explained his "insane" attempt to expose the spread of child abuse images on the internet, which resulted in his high-profile arrest.
The songwriter and guitarist was eventually cleared of possessing illegal images of children in 2003, but not until after the scandal caused lasting damage to his image.
Children's booksGlobalTarzan – the quiz!With the new Tarzan movie out today, Tarzan author Andy Briggs has devised this quiz for you – so come swing through the vines with us and test your jungle skills! Andy Briggs is the author of three thrilling new Tarzan adventures: The Greystoke Legacy, The Jungle Warrior and The Savage Lands
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The Kindertransport at 80HolocaustIn 1938, the first of the Jewish Kindertransport children evacuated from Nazi Germany arrived in Britain. This week, we’re publishing the stories of six of those refugees, beginning here with Bob and Ann Kirk
Bernd Koschland: ‘I’m grateful my parents sent me away to carry on living’
Ruth Barnett: ‘When I was 14, my mother appeared out of nowhere’
Bea Green: ‘I was bowled over that these non-Jewish people were nice to us’
CultureReviewThe 'only truly terrifying singer rock'n'roll has ever known' keeps it honest and defies his own stereotypeIn Lipstick Traces, the brilliant "secret history of the 20th century" in which Greil Marcus placed punk rock at the end of a long tradition of subversion and sedition, the Sex Pistols were hailed as immeasurably more than just a four-piece rock group. "It doesn't seem like a mistake to confuse their moment with a major event in history,"
Head quartersNeuroscienceBad driving: what are we thinking?New laws to curb dangerous driving highlight the fascinating psychology of the roadLast week the UK government announced a crackdown on unsafe driving. From now on, those of us spotted tailgating or lane hogging will face on-the-spot fines of £100 and three penalty points. As road safety minister Stephen Hammond said: "Careless driving puts innocent people's lives at risk. That is why we have made it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers.
The age of extinctionCarbon offsettingEU bans ‘misleading’ environmental claims that rely on offsettingProducts and services billed as climate neutral, biodegradable or eco must provide proof, with carbon schemes banned as evidence
Terms such as “climate neutral” or “climate positive” that rely on offsetting will be banned from the EU by 2026 as part of a crackdown on misleading environmental claims.
On Wednesday, members of the European parliament [MEPs] voted to outlaw the use of terms such as “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “eco” without evidence, while introducing a total ban on using carbon offsetting schemes to substantiate the claims.
TV reviewHorror (TV)ReviewSet in a cursed apartment building, Sky’s sinewy horror series has promise amid its random carnival of disgust
It’s dark, and rain pours down thickly, as wan teenager Juri (Tristan Göbel) and his ursine father Jaschek (Charly Hübner) arrive at the tower block they’ll soon regret calling home, in the opening scene of the German chiller Hausen (Sky Atlantic). Prepare for horror of the dripping, oozing, inky kind, set in a cursed building where the taps seem to be watching you, the condensation on the windows has a threatening aura and mould is a supporting character.
FictionReviewA sense of doom hangs over this exploration of the distance that exists between people, revolving around unnamed characters in an unnamed town
Over the last decade or so, literary fiction has often taken a particular shape on the page. Everything is folded into one neat justified column – memories, digressions, dialogue (never signalled with quotation marks). New paragraphs are scarce. Page breaks do the work chapter breaks used to. This has an effect on language and tone.
Top 10sFictionIf Valentine’s Day is an unwelcome reminder of what has become of your love life, you can find solace at the bookshop. Here are 10 literary highlights for the lovelorn
Some relationships ebb away, petering to their end. There is loneliness and ambivalence after this kind of breakup, no doubt. But there is another altogether more visceral kind – the brutal, sudden and sometimes unexpected end to love, which is experienced like a death.
Music blogMusicAvril Lavigne showed up meet-and-greets for the sham they areEveryone laughed at the awkward photos of the Canadian singer and her fans – but the bigger sin is that so many acts chisel money out of their loyal followers for the briefest access
Share your photographs of meetings with music stars
It seems peculiar that the greatest online wailing and gnashing of teeth over Avril Lavigne's meet-and-greet with her Brazilian fans – who'd paid a reported £215 for the privilege – seemed to concern the fact that the resulting photos were the model of discomfort.
UK newsBigot on a bridge wins poll for funniest religious jokeThere was the one about Jesus asking to be put up for the night, and puns about paedophile priests, but a tale of two men on a bridge that mocks sectarianism has been found the funniest religious joke by readers of a Christian website.
Demonstrating a fondness for black humour about their faith or lack of it, Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, atheists and agnostics sent 951 religious jokes to the website Ship of Fools (Shipoffools.
Dorin Atias fled the Supernova music festival and sought refuge at the Re’im kibbutz.View image in fullscreenDorin Atias fled the Supernova music festival and sought refuge at the Re’im kibbutz.Israel-Gaza war This article is more than 3 months oldFriends of woman killed in Israeli kibbutz pledge to rebuild communityThis article is more than 3 months old‘Peace and love are more powerful than terror,’ say friends of 23-year-old Dorin Atias
The friends of a 23-year-old killed in a kibbutz after seeking refuge from the massacre at a music festival last Saturday plan to rebuild the community as a sign that “peace and love are more powerful than terror”.
Lockdown cultureTheatreReviewOld Fire Station, Oxford
Compassion and community lie at the heart of this hilarious one-woman show about curtain-twitching neighbours
Mike Bartlett wrote Mrs Delgado during lockdown, after a period of struggling to put pen to paper, and it has the gleeful glow of someone returning to what they love. The story and characters tumble out fully formed. The jokes feel effortless, the passion instinctive. It’s a heartfelt rallying cry for the importance of community, performed in one of the micro-communities that Bartlett most cherishes: the theatre.
LGBTQ+ rights This article is more than 4 months oldNashville elects Tennessee’s first openly transgender politicianThis article is more than 4 months oldOlivia Hill, 57, a military veteran, joins the Nashville city council in historic election
A transgender woman won election to a seat on Nashville’s city council, becoming the first openly transgender person to be voted into political office in Tennessee.
Olivia Hill, 57, secured one of the four open at-large seats on the metro council of Nashville, a politically liberal city in an overwhelmingly conservative state.
Health & wellbeingUV damage means I bruise easilyNatural health therapist Emma Mitchell answers your questionsI am a fit man in my early 50s. I suffer from thin skin on the backs of my hands and lower forearm, which bruises very easily. I suspect this is caused by UV radiation damage. Are there any natural remedies?
It would be impossible to reverse the damage, but taking a good antioxidant should lessen further thinning - try Antioxidant Plus and add Bio C, which contains bioflavonoids and vitamin C to prevent bruising and strengthen skin; both from Blackmores, 08707 700976.
Cif beliefMental health This article is more than 12 years oldCarl Jung, part 1: Taking inner life seriouslyThis article is more than 12 years oldMark VernonAchieving the right balance between what Jung called the ego and self is central to his theory of personality developmentIf you have ever thought of yourself as an introvert or extrovert; if you've ever deployed the notions of the archetypal or collective unconscious; if you've ever loved or loathed the new age; if you have ever done a Myers-Briggs personality or spirituality test; if you've ever been in counselling and sat opposite your therapist rather than lain on the couch – in all these cases, there's one man you can thank: Carl Gustav Jung.
Alternating currants: Dishoom’s jackfruit biryani. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Oliver Rowe. Prop styling: Anna WilkinsAlternating currants: Dishoom’s jackfruit biryani. Photograph: Ola O Smit/The Guardian. Food styling: Oliver Rowe. Prop styling: Anna WilkinsFour favourite recipesFoodRecreate restaurant group Dishoom’s crowd-pleasing dishes at home, from their house black dal to a rich chicken curry and fragrant jackfruit biryani Jackfruit biryani (pictured above)To make this dish vegan, swap the Greek yoghurt for live coconut yoghurt, use extra-virgin coconut oil instead of the butter and omit the cream.
Classical musicFrom eavesdropping to iPads and beetles to Bach, the pianist reflects on the extraordinary feats of memory required of concert soloists, and how she continues to exercise that muscle
It happens to all pianists at some point: that terrifying moment when you’re on stage and can’t remember what comes next. My former teacher, Jean-Paul Sévilla, was once playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations when, at the end of Variation 7, he couldn’t remember how Variation 8 began.
Notes and queriesWhat two quite contrary Marys had in common; British Isles – the view from the Channel; Why do baddies always have two henchmen?Who was Mary Mary, and why was she quite contrary?
Two 16th-century queens have a claim to this beloved nursery rhyme: Mary Queen of Scots and Bloody Mary. Both queens' husbands supposedly cheated on them, and "cockleshells" may refer to this.
Bloody Mary was renowned for torturing Protestants, and "
The beauty of a red-headed man – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email An exhibition at Sydney’s Deutscher and Hackett Gallery challenges social stigma towards ‘gingers’ by celebrating the modern-day, red-haired male. Shot by the British fashion photographer Thomas Knights, himself a redhead, the 100 models include the Vampire Diaries actor Daniel Newman and the Olympians Greg Rutherford and Race Imboden.
The week around the world in 20 pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Wildfires in Hawaii and Portugal, Russian strikes on residential buildings in Ukraine, the funeral of Sinéad O’Connor in Ireland and the cycling world championships in Glasgow: the most striking images this week
Jim Powell
@jimpowell2002 Main image: Two people walk down Front Street, Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in Hawaii.
‘I live in the same Manhattan neighborhood as Miranda, and I know for a fact that there is a barber shop every 10 feet. This is an easily remedied situation.’ Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters‘I live in the same Manhattan neighborhood as Miranda, and I know for a fact that there is a barber shop every 10 feet. This is an easily remedied situation.’ Photograph: Eduardo Munoz/ReutersOpinionHamilton This article is more than 7 years oldI adore Lin-Manuel Miranda, but the man needs a hair interventionThis article is more than 7 years oldMary Elizabeth WilliamsThe Hamilton creator stands as proof that less-than-great hair can happen even to more-than-great men
Instagram This article is more than 6 years oldInstagram: celebrity contact details leaked after nude Bieber photos postedThis article is more than 6 years oldPhone numbers and email addresses of high-profile users exposed just days after Selena Gomez’s account posted naked shots of ex-boyfriend Bieber
A bug in Instagram that allowed criminals to steal the private information of celebrities has come to light just days after hackers took over the account of Selena Gomez to post nude pictures of Justin Bieber.
Decorative sea silk, woven from the spun byssus threads produced by the large bivalve mollusc, the Noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis). Photograph: Nature Picture Library/AlamyDecorative sea silk, woven from the spun byssus threads produced by the large bivalve mollusc, the Noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis). Photograph: Nature Picture Library/AlamyFashionThe ultra-rare material made from fibers – byssus – harvested from giant mollusks was once the height of fashion, for items such as the hat going under the hammer in New York
Weekend love specialRelationships'Every man ticked off on his fingers was someone I'd been compared to at one point or other. Someone kissed better than me. Someone had more stamina, a more seductive voice'Getting stuffed: a tale of love and taxidermy by David Sedaris
It was a Friday night in mid-July, around nine o'clock, and Hugh and I were at the dinner table, eating this spaghetti he makes with sausage in it.
WeatherwatchDroughtWhile many methods have been proposed for weather control, few have been quite as peculiar as the cloudbuster invented by Austrian psychiatrist Wilhelm Reich. This device manipulates Orgone Energy, a cosmic life force which also happens to hold clouds together. It resembles the chi of traditional Chinese belief and has yet to be detected by orthodox science. The cloudbuster is a set of hollow tubes pointing to the sky and "
The ObserverSalford This article is more than 8 years oldAs Salford buries its Mr Big, his gang want revenge and the turf wars growThis article is more than 8 years oldPaul Massey’s murder has left a vacuum in the north-west’s criminal underworld, and a question: was the infamous drug baron a police informant?
Just beyond the towering stands of Old Trafford lie plots of wasteland that on match days are transformed into lucrative makeshift car parks.
France This article is more than 12 years oldComette family home damaged by egg-sized meteoriteThis article is more than 12 years oldMeteorite believed to be more than 4bn years old smashes through roof of home on outskirts of ParisWhen your name is Comette you may get used to jokes about rockets and space and planets. But French schoolboy Hugo Comette, 11, had the last laugh when of all the places, in all the countries on Earth, a piece of rock from outer space landed on his home.
Doctor Who: episode-by-episodeTelevision & radioReviewNcuti Gatwa makes a delightful full appearance as the Doctor in a fun-packed extravaganza. He oozes charisma, flits from charming to serious in the blink of an eye – and saves Davina McCall’s life
Not many people will have had “Jabba the Hutt Goblin King gets impaled on a church spire and Doctor Who generates a Christmas single about eating a baby” on their bingo cards for 2023, but that is exactly where we find ourselves after this joyful introduction to the Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and new companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).
Pollution This article is more than 5 months oldEPA approved fuel ingredient with sky-high lifetime cancer risk, document revealsThis article is more than 5 months oldChevron component approved even though it could cause cancer in virtually every person exposed over a lifetime
This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power The Environmental Protection Agency approved a component of boat fuel made from discarded plastic that the agency’s own risk formula determined was so hazardous, everyone exposed to the substance continually over a lifetime would be expected to develop cancer.
France This article is more than 11 months oldFrench justice minister ‘devastated’ after son reportedly arrestedThis article is more than 11 months oldEric Dupond-Moretti’s son Raphael ‘detained’ in ski resort of Courchevel on suspicion of domestic violence
France’s justice minister has said he is “devastated” after his son was reportedly detained in an upmarket ski resort on suspicion of domestic violence.
“As a father, I’m devastated,” Eric Dupond-Moretti told reporters. “My thoughts are for the victim.
Folk album of the monthFolk musicReview(Smithsonian Folkways)
Subtitled Field Recordings from the Collection of Mack McCormick 1958-1971, this 66-song set is full of gripping storytelling and arresting instrumentals from the American south
This invigorating 66-song set of broadside ballads, blues, spirituals and other field recordings from the mid-20th century American south comes with a telling title. It reveals the power dynamics at play when songs performed by African Americans were taped by white male folk collectors.
Daniel Johns This article is more than 3 months oldDaniel Johns addresses disagreement with Silverchair bandmates after ABC documentary pulled from iViewThis article is more than 3 months oldJohns says he was denied opportunity to ‘fact check’ Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou’s memoir
Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Daniel Johns has responded to speculation about the removal from iView of an ABC documentary featuring his former Silverchair bandmates, Ben Gillies and Chris Joannou.
GeneticsIdaho Gem, the world's first cloned muleBirth of an identical genetic copy of a member of the equine family could mark the start of a new era in the wealthy world of horse racingHis birth may not have been accompanied by the fanfare that greeted Dolly the sheep, but Idaho Gem, the first cloned mule, is already causing a stir in the conservative and wealthy world of horse racing.
Born on May 4, Idaho Gem is an identical genetic copy of his brother, a champion racing mule called Taz, and the first clone to be born in the equine family.
Pop and rockEthereal, angelic shoegazers or boozy scenesters? Seventeen years after they split up, Lush talk about their legacy – and why they have reformed
Officially, Lush broke up in February 1998, when they issued a statement as a courtesy to their fans. In reality, they were done the minute they heard that their drummer, Chris Acland, had killed himself on 17 October 1996. “I didn’t even want the publicity of splitting up,” singer and guitarist Miki Berenyi says.
The Last Kingdom: episode by episodeThe Last KingdomThe Last Kingdom recap: series two, episode two – the heads start rollingThe swords’n’Vikings drama quickly ramps up the action, with violence and deception coming from all angles – but can it keep pace for the whole series?
This blog is for those who have watched the second episode of series two of The Last Kingdom. Please try and avoid book spoilers in the comments.
Climate crisis This article is more than 3 months oldType of storm that drenched New York is up to 20% wetter due to climate crisisThis article is more than 3 months oldRapid attribution study finds storm 10-20% wetter after city experienced a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours on Friday The unmistakable influence of the climate crisis helped cause New York City to be inundated by a month’s worth of rain within just a few hours on Friday, scientists have warned, amid concerns over how well the city is prepared for severe climate shocks.
Virginia TV news shooting This article is more than 8 years oldVirginia TV shooter Vester Lee Flanagan was a 'disturbed' and 'unhappy man'This article is more than 8 years oldDecade of lawsuits alleging racism at work culminated in ABC News fax claiming attack was revenge for Charleston church shooting in June
Vester Lee Flanagan was a popular teenager, a model for Macy’s department store as a young man, and appeared to be a successful reporter at local television news stations in California and across the American south.
Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. Photograph: Universal Tv/AllstarAngela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote. Photograph: Universal Tv/AllstarTelevision & radioObituaryDame Angela Lansbury obituaryVersatile actor with a long career on stage and screen, best known as the TV sleuth Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She WroteAlthough she was born in London, and retained a classic English poise all her life, Angela Lansbury, who has died aged 96, was a Hollywood and Broadway star for more than seven decades, and one who was completely unclassifiable.
PhotographyPhotographer Laura Pannack stripped off to gain access to the secret world of young British nudistsThey sit in old-fashioned halls or play pétanque in the surreal other world of naturist clubs. Britain's young naturists may be an endangered breed, but Laura Pannack, who won their trust by agreeing to take her clothes off before she photographed them, discovered an astonishing diversity of subjects.
Her quest to portray the secret lives of naturists under 30 has taken 18 months.
A shepherd in the area around the mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, Guatemala. Photograph: Daniele Volpe/The GuardianIndigenous defenders opposing the Marlin mine were criminalised by a corporation and its state allies
by Nina Lakhani in San Miguel IxtahuacánIt has been 15 years since the anti-mining activist Patrocinia Mejía was forced to hide in the forest to avoid being detained by police, but the shame has never gone away.
Mejía was among scores of Indigenous environmental and land defenders criminalised for opposing a sprawling Canadian gold and silver mine in San Miguel Ixtahuacán, a rural Indigenous municipality in the western highlands of Guatemala, which divided the community and crippled the social movement.
FictionReviewAlex Clark is charmed by Salman Rushdie's return to the world of Haroun and the Sea of StoriesThe stories that adults invent for children – whether they're designed as entertainment, diversion, education, balm or a mixture – come with a built-in dramatic irony. Not only does the teller have control of a particular narrative, how it proceeds and, perhaps most significantly, how and when it ends, but they will usually have a more developed understanding of what a story is in the first place, and know the approximate coordinates of the border between reality and fiction.
Exploitation in focusGlobal development This article is more than 4 years oldMajor global hotel brands accused of profiting from sex traffickingThis article is more than 4 years oldHilton and Intercontinental among 12 hotel chains named in litigation claiming signs of sexual exploitation were ignored
Hotel brands owned by Hilton, Intercontinental and Best Western are among a number of leading global chains accused of profiting from sex trafficking.
In a landmark case that lawyers claim demonstrates “industry-wide failures” to prevent sex trafficking, it has been alleged that women and children were held captive, abused and sold for sex in their guest rooms across the US.
TV reviewTelevisionReviewPrue Leith and her Tory MP son hold profoundly opposing views on legalised euthanasia. They tackle them in a sensitive, fascinating show that’s full of nuance and respect
There has been a line of celebrity parent-child “road trips” creeping on to our screens. Bradley Walsh occasionally takes some time off from The Chase in order to travel with his son on Breaking Dad. For five series, Jack Whitehall trotted his curmudgeonly father around the world to try to bond with him on Travels With My Father.
Educational TVThe CBeebies show saved parents struggling under lockdown by making maths fun. But how do its makers come up with their ideas – and what would happen if seven ate nine?
When the first lockdown struck and schools closed, parents suddenly found themselves reassessing their approach to screen time. Their choice was simple: they could either labour on, attempting to piece together a ramshackle Rube Goldberg parenting strategy that kept their children healthy, happy and educated, while maintaining their own obligations to full-time employment, or they could bite the bullet, plonk them in front of the telly and hope their kids’ brains wouldn’t entirely atrophy.
ObituaryChris WagnerHis groundbreaking research linked asbestos with cancer and changed the world of work for millionsChris Wagner, who has died aged 77, was an outstanding international authority on asbestos-related cancer. In 1956, while working at the South African Pneumoconiosis Research Unit, he conducted an autopsy on a black African miner thought to have died from tuberculosis. He later wrote: "On opening the thoracic cavity, I was amazed to find a huge gelatinous tumour.
Classical musicReviewWigmore Hall, London
The Norwegian soprano, accompanied exquisitely by pianist James Baillieu, revealed a finely graded expressive range in this chamber music venue in a programme that included Berg, Grieg and Schubert
What a difference three-and-a-half years can make. In mid-February 2020 – the pandemic’s first lockdown only a few unthinkable weeks in the future – Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen made her debut at London’s Barbican with pianist James Baillieu and a heavy-duty late-Romantic programme.
Andrés Manuel López Obrador This article is more than 10 months oldMexican president posts photo of what he claims is a Maya elfThis article is more than 10 months oldAndrés Manuel López Obrador said the photo appeared to show an alux, a creature from Yucatán folklore
Mexico’s president posted a photo on his social media accounts on Saturday showing what he said appeared to be a mythological woodland spirit similar to an elf.
OpinionJournalism education This article is more than 10 years oldThe death of Dr V: ethics should matter more to journalists than storytellingThis article is more than 10 years oldBronwen CluneA Grantland article outing a trans person sparked a furore. Transparency doesn’t account for the fact that a journalist’s truth is not greater than that of their subjects
Sometime around 18 October 2013, Dr Essay Anne Vanderbilt died alone. She killed herself shortly after learning that details of her former life were going to be exposed by a journalist who regarded the fact that she was born male a point of fascination.
Media lawWill Smith wins Hitler slur apologyHollywood actor Will Smith has won an apology and damages from an entertainment news agency after it distributed a story in which it alleged he had called Adolf Hitler a "good person".
London-based World Entertainment News Network admitted at the high court today that the allegations were "misleading and published in error" and apologised for any distress and embarrassment they had caused to Smith, the star of films including Independence Day, Hitch and I Am Legend.
Victoria BeckhamA model figureReal Lives : She's been dubbed Skeletal Spice - but Victoria Beckham insists she's not too thin. So is she actually underweight and if she is, is it any of our business? Lucy Atkins investigatesFor breakfast I had two bowls of Sugar Puffs," said Posh Spice Victoria Beckham yesterday, countering hurtful tabloid accusations that she's turned into "Skeletal Spice". "For lunch two chicken fillets with loads of vegetables.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cooks while lecturing her viewers about politics. Photograph: AOC instagramAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez cooks while lecturing her viewers about politics. Photograph: AOC instagramAlexandria Ocasio-CortezAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez is using her millennial’s instinct for social media and her star quality to get her message across
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or talk up a storm about the minimum wage, healthcare and the existential struggle for democracy.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s latest Instagram live stream found the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress standing at a chopping board with two lemons and a plastic jug as she expounded her political philosophy.
Observer business profileYouTubeInterviewFrom hate speech to AI music: the YouTube chief trying to leap tech’s biggest hurdlesAlex LawsonAlison Lomax, London chief of the video platform, says it is committed to embracing artificial intelligence – but ‘responsibly’
Alison Lomax’s presence on the video streaming platform she runs is relatively scant compared with the YouTubers with whom she spends much of her time.
But what clips exist succinctly chart the marketing tech revolution she’s been navigating: there’s a badly framed 12 minutes from 2014 of Lomax lecturing on the rise of influencers working with brands; in another she describes how TV companies woke up to the potential of partnering with YouTube in 2016; and there’s her on stage at London’s podcast show this year, discussing YouTube’s imminent relaunch into the booming audio format.
Jared LetoJared Leto considered wearing drag to the OscarsLeto, who won the best supporting actor award for his portrayal of a transgender woman in Dallas Buyers Club, says the experience changed his views on the Academy Awards, and on female groomingJared Leto has revealed heconsidered attending the Oscars in drag to pick up his best supporting actor prize for portraying a transgender woman suffering from AIDS in Dallas Buyers Club.
William ShakespeareReviewSt Peter's Church, ManchesterThis is more like it. After a lightweight Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, we now get a production that gets closer to the heart of the play's mystery. Staged in a deconsecrated Victorian church for the Manchester International Festival, it is co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh and boasts a performance by the latter that reminds us what an intemperately exciting Shakespearean actor he is.
The production has many fine qualities as well as one or two dubious ones.
Wisconsin This article is more than 6 months oldTeen dies in sawmill accident as US states aim to roll back child labor lawsThis article is more than 6 months oldInvestigation underway after police were called to find unresponsive teenager last week at Florence Hardwoods sawmill
A 16-year-old boy has died following an industrial accident at a sawmill in Wisconsin.
Police received an early-morning call last Thursday regarding an unresponsive teenager at Florence Hardwoods, a sawmill in northern Wisconsin, according to the Florence county sheriff’s office.
StageObituaryClare McIntyre obituaryShe was among the 1980s generation of playwrights who tackled feminist issuesClare McIntyre, who has died of multiple sclerosis, aged 57, was one of an extraordinary generation of British female playwrights who emerged in the 1980s. Before then there were really only two nationally known women writing in the British theatre, Caryl Churchill and Pam Gems. By the end of the decade, there were two to three dozen. Although her first play, I've Been Running, was performed at the Old Red Lion theatre pub in Islington, north London, McIntyre's two best-known plays were presented – like many other plays by women at the time – by the Royal Court theatre under the artistic directorship of Max Stafford-Clark.
‘Creative principle’ Kofi Flexxx.‘Creative principle’ Kofi Flexxx.The ObserverJazzReview(Native Rebel)
The Sons of Kemet frontman joins forces with associates including Alex Hawkins and Daisy George in an expansive collaboration that’s more than the sum of its parts
Native Rebel is the label run by Shabaka Hutchings (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming, Shabaka and the Ancestors), who will be retiring his principal instrument, the tenor sax, at the end of the year.
Leonardo DiCaprio This article is more than 8 years oldLeonardo DiCaprio finding room for 24 characters in The Crowded RoomThis article is more than 8 years oldActor will star in biopic of Billy Milligan, a schizophrenic who successfully defended robbery and rape charges by arguing that the crimes were the work of two of his 24 personalities
Leonardo DiCaprio will star in the real-life tale of a man acquitted of rape and robbery after convincing a jury that he had 24 different personalities, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
TheatreObituaryMick Lally obituaryCo-founder of the Druid theatre in Galway, he achieved soap fame as Miley ByrneThe Irish actor Mick Lally, who has died aged 64, succeeded in straddling the worlds of stage, television and film. In particular, he was a vital presence in the renaissance of Irish drama in the 1970s and 80s, while making himself a household name in Radio Telefís Éireann's soap operas Bracken and Glenroe.
The eldest of seven children on a 30-acre hill farm in Tourmakeady, County Mayo, in the Gaelic-speaking west of Ireland, Lally, through the generosity of a grandfather, attended St Mary's College in Galway and University College Galway, where he read Irish and history.
Boston This article is more than 2 years oldSean Ellis, wrongly convicted of murder in 1993, is finally fully exoneratedThis article is more than 2 years oldJudge and prosecutor toss out remaining convictions on gun charges in case that became the Netflix documentary Trial 4
Sean Ellis, a Black man who featured in a Netflix documentary after spending decades in prison wrongly convicted of murdering a white police officer, has finally been fully exonerated.
Categories Nooks and crannies Yesteryear Semantic enigmas The body beautiful Red tape, white lies Speculative science This sceptred isle Root of all evil Ethical conundrums This sporting life Stage and screen Birds and the bees ETHICAL CONUNDRUMSWhat did Jesus do with his gold, frankincense and myrrh - surely very valuable gifts that would have set him up for life?
ObituaryAmalia RodriguesPassionate voice of fado, Portugal's haunting musicAmalia Rodrigues, the world's greatest singer of traditional Portuguese "fado" music, has died aged 79. Three days of official mourning and the partial suspension of campaigning for this weekend's general election reflect Portugal's love of a woman who was arguably the country's leading public figure this century.
Revered by aficionados of fado world-wide, who would sometimes kneel when she came on stage, her voice came to personify the painful tones of "
Dublin holidaysOn the centennial of James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece, we offer a pilgrimage you can fit into a single day
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of Ulysses, by Paris bookshop Shakespeare and Company. It’s also James Joyce’s birthday; he was born on 2 February 1882 – 140 years ago.
Ulysses is contemporary with the Irish Free State, established on 6 December 1922; historians love to pore over its dense, riddling text for clues about the national psyche at the time.
California This article is more than 2 months oldMuslim Stanford student hospitalized in suspected hate crime hit-and-run This article is more than 2 months oldUniversity says incident being investigated as possible hate crime after Abdulwahab Omira suffered non-life-threatening injuries
An Arab Muslim student at Stanford University was hospitalized after being struck in a hit-and-run that authorities are investigating as a hate crime, amid rising threats against Arab and Muslim people across the US.
OpinionCulture This article is more than 2 years oldSatan shoes? Sure. But Lil Nas X is not leading American kids to devil-worshipThis article is more than 2 years oldAkin OllaThis whole controversy is part of a long history of misdirected moral outrage that blames artists for the social ills of society
Lil Nas X, a 21-year-old musical artist first famous for his rap/country hit Old Town Road, has ruffled quite a few feathers with the release of the video for his new single Montero: Call Me By Your Name.
Familiar faces … The Durrells, the TV adaptation of My Family and Other Animals. Photograph: John Rogers/ITVFamiliar faces … The Durrells, the TV adaptation of My Family and Other Animals. Photograph: John Rogers/ITVBiography booksReviewThe truth about Corfu’s eccentric expat family was much darker than the comic myth – but do we need another biography of the family?
When My Family and Other Animals was published in 1956 it was as if someone had flung back the curtains, thrown up the windows and let in a stream of bright light.
TheatreReviewMinerva theatre, Chichester
Amy Herzog’s play about a grandmother surprised by her grandson is given a contemplative staging by Richard Eyre
Timothée Chalamet and Eileen Atkins were fully rehearsed for this family drama at London’s Old Vic when theatres closed due to Covid in 2020. After its eventual cancellation, Atkins picks up her role as 91-year-old Greenwich Village lefty Vera, directed instead by Richard Eyre in Chichester, opposite Heartstopper’s Sebastian Croft in lieu of Chalamet.
The ObserverLife and styleA sizeable questionEverything you ever wanted to know about sex, but were too squeamish to ask'I am an 18-year-old with a serious issue about my penis size. My friends say a normal penis is 7 to 8in when erect, but mine is only 6in. Am I on the small side?'
Sebastian Horsley
As I'm sure you have heard, I have an unfeasibly large penis. I wouldn't want to tell you exactly what size (your girlfriend might leave you).
FashionObituaryAzzedine Alaïa obituaryFashion designer with a gift for personal couture whose clients included Grace Jones, Madonna and Naomi Campbell
Azzedine Alaïa was couture’s rebellious outsider even as he became one of its institutions over 60 years of creativity. He was self-taught, originally from outside Europe, a hands-on craftsman uninterested in fame, wealth and, especially, branding. In a business in which casual cruelty is the norm, he was kind; he helped newcomers, kept open house to a diverse, elective family at his Paris workshop, and ran a salon in the old French sense, as a meeting place for culture and cultures.
Bernie SandersBernie Sanders calls on Congress to block funding to IsraelIsrael’s response ‘has been grossly disproportionate, immoral and in violation of international law’, senator says
Bernie Sanders, the progressive senator of Vermont, issued a statement Tuesday calling on Congress to block additional funding to Israel amid the war in Gaza, where more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks after Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October.
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac(1922-1969)1922-1969
"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles..."
BirthplaceMassachusetts, US
EducationUniversity of Columbia (football scholarship); dropped out.
Other jobsLabourer, mechanic, sports journalist, sailor
Did you know?Having enlisted in the US navy during the second world war, he was swiftly discharged as an "
Millennials: the trials of Generation Y UK newsGeneration Y has been labelled a bunch of lazy job-hoppers who expect everything on a plate. The truth is very different
Millennials will make up half of the global workforce by 2050. Although generalisations are not helpful, broadly speaking members of this generation, born between 1980 and 1994 and also known as Generation Y, are bound together by the fact they have come of age during a severe financial crisis, have been both the pioneers and guinea pigs of technological change, and are more plugged into a global network than their predecessors.
Book of the dayShort storiesReviewThe author’s eventful life provides the subject matter for stories pierced with loneliness and shame in a collection of great emotional range
Lucia Berlin’s short stories were not well known during her lifetime. A few collections published by small presses between the 70s and 90s won a tiny but devoted band of admirers including Lydia Davis and Saul Bellow. The 43 stories brought together in A Manual for Cleaning Women make a powerful claim for far wider recognition and celebration of her talents.
Israel-Gaza war Aerial footage shows scale of Israel-Gaza ceasefire march – video Thousands of people marched from Park Lane as part of the pro-Palestine demonstration. Organisers say the march, which has been the backdrop to a political row over Suella Braverman’s public criticism of the policing of protests, could be one of the biggest in British history
• Pro-Palestine protesters assemble as police jostle with far-right groups
The ObserverBooksReviewKatherine Heiny’s sparky, bittersweet tales of love; Elizabeth Day’s generous memoir about friendship; and a fastidious study of four nature campaigners
Games and RitualsKatherine Heiny
Fourth Estate, £16.99, pp240
For any reader yet to encounter Katherine Heiny, this sparky new story collection provides a joyous introduction. Its title encompasses her protagonists’ antics in pursuit of – or flight from – love. They’re a somewhat jaded bunch with awkward pasts they never seem able to break free of.
J’Ouvert celebrations at Notting Hill carnival – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email J’Ouvert marks the start of the carnival in west London, with revellers coming out early in the morning to dance, drink and cover each other in oil, paint and powder
David Levene
@levenephoto Main image: J’Ouvert at the Notting Hill carnival.
The best of: First Dog on the Moon cartoons 2023 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email From cricket buffoonery to coronation quiche, revisit five of the best cartoons by First Dog on the Moon in 2023
Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints First Dog on the Moon
Airline industryExplainerA door panel that blew out of new jet has raised fresh concerns about design issues with the Max generation of aircraft – and Australia’s regulator is watching closely A directive to ground almost 200 near-new planes in the United States is not set to affect Australian skies – for now at least.
On Saturday, 171 of Boeing’s 737 Max 9 planes were grounded after a door panel blew out shortly after a flight in the US took off.
Women This article is more than 4 years oldAnd the least feminist nation in the world is... Denmark?This article is more than 4 years oldA poll of more than 25,000 people in 23 major countries found that just one in six Danes consider themselves a feminist
It is one of the best places in the world to be a woman, with a narrow gender pay gap, equal employment rights, universal nursery care, and some of the happiest female retirees on the planet.
Notes & TheoriesNeuroscienceDjango Unchained and the racist science of phrenologyPhrenology really was used to justify slavery, as portrayed in Django Unchained. But it was also used to justify abolition"Why don't they kill us?" asks Calvin Candie, the southern slave owner in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. He wants to know why the African slaves he brutalises do not rise up and take revenge. Before long, he has the skull of a recently deceased slave on the dinner table.
Sydney Roosters This article is more than 7 years oldMitchell Pearce dog video: NRL player stood down by Sydney RoostersThis article is more than 7 years oldRoosters skipper stood down from all training commitments until the club concludes investigation, and reportedly faces a fine and loss of captaincy The Sydney Roosters have stood down skipper Mitchell Pearce after he was filmed simulating a lewd act with a dog during drunken Australia Day celebrations.
The ObserverCalifornia holidaysHe was the ultimate tastemaker, but Apple co-founder Steve Jobs lived in surprising suburban ordinariness in Silicon Valley. Jonathan Margolis follows his trail Click here to see an interactive map showing Jonathan's tour of the valley
The bestselling biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson is most notable for revealing that the innovator and aesthete genius behind Apple – the world's most successful company – was in many ways a giant, semi-autistic toddler.
Edinburgh festival 2013The best (and worst) of the Edinburgh fringe festival 2013From dancing polythene to radical reinventions and feminist rage … as the dust settles on the Edinburgh festival, our critics name the highlights – and lowlights – of this year's fringeClothes? Who needs clothes?No standup show was complete at this year's Edinburgh fringe, it seemed, without a sprinkling of nudity. Tasmanian comic Hannah Gadsby shed her garments to make a point about her body image.
The Saturday poemBookstranslated by WS MerwinTonight I can write the saddest lines.
Write, for example, 'The night is starry
and the stars are blue and shiver in the distance.'
The night wind revolves in the sky and sings.
Tonight I can write the saddest lines.
I loved her, and sometimes she loved me too.
Through nights like this one I held her in my arms.
I kissed her again and again under the endless sky.
BooksReviewJohn Banville examines the nature of memory in his Beckettian Booker prize-winner, The Sea, says Nicholas LezardThe Sea
by John Banville
(Picador, £7.99)
It won last year's Booker prize, so does not exactly need the oxygen of publicity: but this almost airless, deliberately stifled book is one of the more interesting titles that the prize has been conferred upon recently.
The writer who most immediately springs to mind when reading Banville is Beckett.
Beaver damnation … a still from the Zombeavers trailer. Photograph: YouTube Photograph: YouTubeBeaver damnation … a still from the Zombeavers trailer. Photograph: YouTube Photograph: YouTubeFilm blogHorror filmsAfter Zombeavers, five more monster movies we'd like to seeWeasked readers to come up with titles for new B-movies that could rival the unimprovable Zombeavers. Stuart Heritage picks the best suggestions and imagines what they might entail
Last week, fuelled by the prospect of watching a real film called Zombeavers, we set you an impossible task.
OpinionIsrael-Gaza warIsrael is murdering Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Where is the outrage?Chris McGrealThe pattern of killing cannot be denied. Is there a lack of sympathy because the victims aren’t American or European?
I am in awe of Wael Dahdouh’s strength to haul himself back in front of the camera and focus on the suffering of others even as he has repeatedly endured his own personal hell. The face of Al Jazeera’s reporting throughout Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza was on air in October when he learned that his wife, seven-year-old daughter, 15-year-old son and one-year-old grandson were killed in an attack.
OpinionThe BearJeremy Allen White looks great in the Calvin Klein ads – and that’s a lesson for us allCoco KhanThere was some surprise when the boy-next-door star of The Bear revealed an impossibly toned body in a new ad campaign. It was a reminder, once again, that celebrities aren’t like you or me
Sex sells. Just ask the fashion label Calvin Klein, whose adverts flogging perfectly white (and salaciously tight) men’s underwear have led to global pant domination.
MoviesInterviewLife of Pi: 'I felt like I was going insane'Emine SanerWhen Suraj Sharma, an unknown teenage actor, landed the starring role in Ang Lee's film adaptation of Yann Martel's book, little did he know what was in storeSharma: 'Ang makes things real.' Photograph: Andrew H Walker/Getty for DIFFIt would be an exaggeration, says Suraj Sharma with a laugh, to describe what he did in the adaptation of Life of Pi as "
SwedenIn 2017, journalist Kim Wall became the story when she was murdered after boarding a submarine. Now, Kim’s parents are sharing her life and tragedy in a new book
On a winter night in 2017, Joachim Wall was sitting in front of his daughter’s laptop at his home in Trelleborg, a town of around 45,000 and Sweden’s southernmost. He was going through thousands of pictures, trying to reorganize her archive – a task that would keep him busy for many more months.
Laura Bates on everyday sexismWomen This article is more than 7 years oldIt's not groping or fondling – it is sexual assaultThis article is more than 7 years oldLaura BatesUsing euphemistic language downplays the severity of an offence and enforces a dangerous message: it isn’t a big deal, and victims won’t be taken seriously
Numerous high-profile cases of sexual violence and abuse have have been exposed in recent years, with the same words cropping up again and again: “groping”, “fondling”, “inappropriate touching”.
Jennifer EganReviewJennifer Egan's prescient earlier novel is intriguingJennifer Egan is so hot right now. Her new book? It's about a model! And the quote on the back saying how marvellous it is? Vogue, darling!
Actually, that's unfair. Jennifer Egan is indeed very hot right now, but she's no mere fashion-froth. Her most recent novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad, won two of America's most prestigious literary awards – the Pulitzer prize and the National Book Critics Circle award – and received excellent write-ups everywhere.
Lucy Letby This article is more than 7 months oldLucy Letby texted about doctor ‘crush’ hours before attempt on baby boy’s life, court toldThis article is more than 7 months oldNurse accused of murdering seven babies and attempted murder of 10 more at Chester hospital in 2015-16
Lucy Letby was texting about a doctor on whom she allegedly “had a crush” hours before she attempted to murder a vulnerable baby boy, a court has heard.
The ObserverSex EducationInterviewSex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood: ‘I was in so much pain underneath it all’Barbara EllenAs the high school comedy returns for a third series, its Bafta-winning star talks about stage fright, embarrassing scenes, and the torment that lay behind her desire to please people
In June, Aimee Lou Wood, 26, won a Bafta for best female performance in a comedy programme for her role as another Aimee (a teenager) in the hit Netflix show Sex Education, about a set of sexually active high school students, now returning for a third series.
Sean O'Hagan on photographyPhotographySkinheads: a photogenic, extremist corner of British youth cultureWith their short hair and swastikas offsetting neat clothes, the skinheads who street photographer Derek Ridgers found roaming UK youth culture in the late-70s made a virtue of visual and social disruption Shooting skinheads: Derek Ridgers captures a cult – in pictures
If you are old enough to remember London in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Derek Ridgers' new book Skinheads 1979-1984 is a reminder of the latent aggression that defined youth culture in the capital, and sometimes made the journey home by night bus and tube train a risky business.
Around five o'clock this evening, the Tate Gallery will fax national daily newspapers to let us know the winner of the 1991 Turner Prize of £20,000. But the artists in contention won't be told. They might not turn up at tonight's dinner where, after many courses and speeches, the Channel 4 cameras will wish to capture their expressions - of hope, disappointment, triumph - when the official announcement is made.
Anne Rice This article is more than 13 years oldAnne Rice 'quits being a Christian'This article is more than 13 years oldTwelve years after she converted from atheism, author of Interview with the Vampire abandons Christianity over its attitude to birth control, homosexuality and scienceTwelve years after she converted to Christianity from atheism, bestselling author Anne Rice has "quit being a Christian" because of the religion's attitude to birth control, homosexuality and science.
Drama filmsReviewAndrew Haigh's debut feature is part of a nationally touring programme from this year's London Lesbian and Gay film festival. Using non-professionals and improvised scenes, it is a semi-dramatised account of the life of a male escort, Greek Pete, played by Peter Pittaros, a new-in-town guy who wants to make as much money in the London scene in as short a time as possible, and is soon earning enough to rent a £500-a-week flat in Covent Garden.
Book of the dayCaitlin MoranReviewWho cares if the hero’s too good to be true? The bestselling poptimist has rewritten her past in heroic terms, creating a rollicking fantasy which leaves a rosy afterglow
These days the concept of Britain as a creative meritocracy is retreating as alarmingly fast as the polar ice caps, as libraries shut, youth centres are defunded, record companies retrench and London is made uninhabitable for the young by dodgy money from the Wild East.
Carey MulliganThere have been plenty of failed F Scott Fitzgerald adaptations already. Besides, who needs films based on 20s literature when their themes resonate through so much film and TV anyway?Given the track record that film-makers of some distinction have had adapting F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, you may understand my reluctance to see Baz Luhrmann's new version. I shall need another two deep readings of the book to armour myself completely against the grievances I expect the movie will do to it.
World Cup 2014 squadsUruguay This article is more than 9 years oldUruguay squad for 2014 World Cup: the 23 chosen by Oscar Tabarez WashingtonThis article is more than 9 years oldThis is the Uruguay squad for the Fifa 2014 World Cup finals with the official squad numbers
Arévalo Ríos: the player who epitomises the garra of Uruguay
Uruguay: a tactical analysis
What is up with the manager and his lucky ties?
Cruise passengers enjoying the sun on deck. The 16-34 age group has been identified as a key market. Photograph: AlamyCruise passengers enjoying the sun on deck. The 16-34 age group has been identified as a key market. Photograph: AlamyThe ObserverCruises This article is more than 4 years oldWhy cruises float the boats of the Instagram generationThis article is more than 4 years oldMillennials become the biggest market for luxury liners as they share holiday moments using onboard wifi
Cricket World Cup 2011 team guidesPakistan cricket teamIn Shahid Afridi and Umar Gul they possess some of the best one-day players in the world – but which Pakistan will turn up?Group A
23 Feb v Kenya, Hambantota (d/n)
26 Feb v Sri Lanka, Colombo (d/n)
3 Mar v Canada, Colombo (d/n)
8 Mar v Pakistan, Kandy (d/n)
14 Mar v Zimbabwe, Kandy (d/n)
19 Mar v Australia, Colombo (d/n)
World Cup history
UK news This article is more than 9 years oldDorothy 'Cherry' Groce inquest finds police failures contributed to her deathThis article is more than 9 years oldJury finds police failed to communicate properly during search for Groce's son in a planned raid at her home in south LondonPolice failures contributed to the death of a mother whose shooting by an officer triggered the 1985 Brixton riots, an inquest jury has found.
The ObserverBooksReviewArtist Ma Jian's account of his trek through China to Tibet, Red Dust, is a beautiful, disturbing read - a new Wild SwansRed Dust: A Path Through China
Ma Jian
Chatto & Windus £12, pp324
On 18 August 1983 the Chinese poet and painter Ma Jian turns 30. His ex-wife has just pronounced him a political criminal and forbidden him to see his daughter. His girlfriend has taken up with a convict and betrayed him to the police.
The foodie travellerIceland holidaysBrennivín was traditionally drunk to wash down rotting shark. Now this caraway-infused aquavit is firing up cocktails from Reykjavik to Brooklyn
Brennivín, Iceland’s signature drink, was never intended as a slow-sipping tipple. The caraway-spiced aquavit’s name translates literally as “burning wine”, and the colourless 37.5% ABV spirit looks more like vodka than a mellow aperitif. Traditionally, brennivín was shot quickly at the pagan midwinter festival Þorrablót, for the purpose of washing down hákarl – a rotting shark speciality that American Anthony Bourdain once said was the worst thing he’d ever put in his mouth.
Monarchy This article is more than 5 months oldMountbattens’ biographer claims he has been spied on by the British stateThis article is more than 5 months oldAndrew Lownie, a historian seeking access to diaries and documents, says his activities have been monitored
A biographer seeking the release of the personal diaries of Lord and Lady Mountbatten, which had been saved for the nation using £2m of public money, says he has been spied on by the British state during his years-long legal battle with officialdom which has cost £450,000 in legal fees.
Notes and queriesMoviesWhy don't zombies eat each other? The flaws in Berlin's transport system; The adolescence of the lambsHow do zombies know not to eat each other? What would they do if there were no non-zombies left?
Zombies know not to eat each other because they only eat living human flesh. Once infected and full zombification has taken place, the zombie is no longer alive, so its flesh is not palatable to other zombies.
Sali Hughes on beautyMakeup‘Clean girl’ minimalism has erased the rule on matchy-matchy varnish – now nail polish is all about milky nudes and glossy tones When was the last time your tips’n’toes matched? For me it must have been when I was about 10 and working with whatever polish I had manage to pilfer from my mother. For all of recent beauty history, to be matchy-matchy with finger and toenail lacquer was to commit a fashion faux pas – the beauty equivalent of double denim.
UK news This article is more than 3 months oldMan held on suspicion of murder after attack by dog believed to be XL bullyThis article is more than 3 months oldWitnesses say 54-year-old man who died sustained throat injuries in attack in Wearside
A murder investigation has been launched after a man was fatally injured in Wearside by a dog believed to be an American XL bully.
Northumbria police said they received a report of an attack at about 6.
TheatreReviewCrucible, Sheffield
Billed as an opportunity to reframe Boublil and Schönberg’s original, this is more of a tweak but it is a visually captivating production
Last autumn, a theatre company of British east and south-east Asian artists voiced its objection to the staging of Boublil and Schönberg’s Vietnam war musical for its racially reductive stereotypes. Miss Saigon’s producers defended it as an opportunity to reframe the material in a fresh way.
James Wong on gardensGardening adviceAlliums which we know as garden plants are prized ingredients in other parts of the world. Here’s why…
It’s officially bulb-planting season again, but for a greedy gardener like me there is often a tense trade-off between what space I dedicate to ornamentals and what I leave for edibles in my tiny urban patch. Fortunately, there is one genus of bulbs that can combine the best of both worlds, giving you dazzling colour and a tasty treat at the same time come spring.
Religion This article is more than 9 years oldThis article is more than 9 years oldAlex Malarkey co-wrote a bestselling book about a near-death experience – and then last week admitted he made it up. So why wasn’t anyone listening to a quadriplegic boy and a mother who simply wanted the truth to be heard?
When he wrote a blogpost in 2012, complaining about the explosively popular genre of books about near-death experiences, the evangelical writer and editor Phil Johnson did not know what he was getting into.
Donald TrumpTrump rages in court as E Jean Carroll testifies during defamation trialFormer Elle columnist says ‘I’m here to get my reputation back’ as judge warns ex-president he could be kicked out of court
E Jean Carroll took the witness stand on Wednesday morning in her defamation trial against Donald Trump, marking the first time she has confronted the ex-president in a courtroom. Carroll’s testimony so incensed Trump that he had numerous outbursts, prompting the judge to warn that he could be kicked out of court.
The ObserverTV comedyThe surreal adventures of Peter Griffin and his family have taken the cartoon closer to a comedy Emmy than the Simpsons ever managed, reports Paul HarrisIt is the cartoon that came back from the dead and now its resurrection is complete. Family Guy, the irreverent TV show about a suburban family that includes a martini-drinking dog and a homicidal baby, has been nominated for an Emmy award.
The nomination is the first time a cartoon series has been up for an award in the Outstanding Comedy Series category since The Flintstones received the nod in 1961.
First personLife and styleI married a strangerJust four weeks after they met, Steve Rowland and his girlfriend decided to marry. Less than an hour after the ceremony in Las Vegas they were already discussing divorce. Would their relationship survive?We had been married for less than an hour and my wife was already asking me for a divorce. "We shouldn't have done that. Got married." "You're probably right, but we don't need a divorce.
Rhik Samadder: ‘What is small talk again?’ Composite: Nick Dawe/The GuardianBeen up to much lately? After a year of isolation, I’ve forgotten how to talk to people – but help is at hand
by Rhik SamadderA good friend of mine, who started a new job six months ago, is about to meet his colleagues face to face for the first time. They have been buddied up in pairs to make socialisation less daunting, he said.
FeminismTo commemorate The Simpsons 20th anniversary, Marge is to appear naked on the cover of US Playboy. For some, it's a bold satirical move from a cartoon used to raising issues of female empowerment, but to others, its a betrayal of the show's feminist idealsPlayboy has a new cover girl – or make that cover woman: none other than Marge Simpson will strip to her lingerie for the November issue of the original lad's mag, complete with a three-page pictorial spread, pullout, and an interview entitled The Devil in Marge Simpson.
US news This article is more than 10 years oldNorth Carolina state fair: five injured during 'Vortex' ride accidentThis article is more than 10 years oldAuthorities investigating what caused contracted spinning ride to begin moving while passengers were disembarkingFive people were injured on a carnival ride known for its wild twirls and flips at the North Carolina state fair, and officials were trying to determine Friday exactly what caused the accident.
Book of the dayFictionReviewThis is a bravura reimagining of the real-life relationship between Bram Stoker and two stars of the Victorian theatreThe Irish writer Joseph O’Connor is still best known for his 2002 novel, Star of the Sea, but in 2016 he wrote a radio play, Vampyre Man, about the real-life relationship between Bram Stoker and the two greatest stars of Victorian theatre, Henry Irving and Ellen Terry. It is easy to imagine these three magnificent characters refusing to be abandoned on the airwaves, and O’Connor has given them an appropriately grand stage in the breathtaking Shadowplay.
BangladeshBangladesh election: Sheikh Hasina expected to win fourth term amid opposition boycottThe election has been branded a ‘sham’ designed to cement Hasina’s rule by exiled opposition leader Tarique Rahman
An opposition boycott looks set to usher prime minister Sheikh Hasina to a fourth straight term in the Bangladesh election this weekend.
The election has been described as a “sham” designed to cement Hasina’s rule by exiled opposition leader Tarique Rahman.
‘You assume everyone knows how TV works, but they don’t. Why should they?’: Emily Maitlis shot at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park. Styling by Kara Kyne. Hair and makeup by Laura Szydlowski using Charlotte Tilbury. Emily is wearing Listen Up Jumper by Bella Freud. Photograph: Alex Lake/The Observer‘You assume everyone knows how TV works, but they don’t. Why should they?’: Emily Maitlis shot at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hyde Park.
IsraelAnalysisHamas attack exposes deteriorating ties between Russia and IsraelPjotr SauerVladimir Putin fails to condemn attack on Israel, instead blaming the situation on failed US diplomacy
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has long portrayed himself as a friend of Vladimir Putin. In a memoir published during Russia’s war on Ukraine, Netanyahu repeatedly lauded the Russian leader for his intellect and his “particularly friendly attitude” toward the Jewish people.
Putin, too, has over the years cast himself as a loyal ally of the Israeli state, promoting cultural ties and visa-free travel between the two countries.
Children's booksChildren's booksThe Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart - review‘A book which will prove to be surprisingly thought-provoking for a range of age groups and worth reading to challenge your judgement about what a high school girl can achieve’
Frankie Landau-Banks is privileged enough to go to one of the most prestigious schools in America: Alabaster Academy. As she starts the school year she quickly attracts the attention of Matthew Livingstone, a senior who becomes her main preoccupation.
TV tonightTelevisionCan a witchy neurosurgeon kill with her mind in this Anne Rice story? Plus: the season finale of Shetland. Here’s what to watch this evening
Mayfair Witches9pm, BBC TwoAfter the recent Interview With the Vampire adaptation, here’s another supernatural thriller based on novelist Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe series. Alexandra Daddario (The White Lotus) is ambitious neurosurgeon Rowan Fielding, who – after wondering if she can kill people with her mind – learns she’s an heiress to a dynasty of powerful witches haunted by a sinister spirit.
OpinionAbortion This article is more than 11 years oldAbortion: thank God Justin Bieber fans won't be listening to his motherThis article is more than 11 years oldRhiannon Lucy CosslettPattie Mallette's film Crescendo seeks to set back reproductive rights. But tweenagers don't pay attention to such stuffWhat better way to welcome the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade than the news that Justin Bieber's mother is producing an anti-abortion film? I honestly cannot think of a superior way to celebrate how American women finally succeeded in winning reproductive rights.
World news This article is more than 16 years oldAir force looked at spray to turn enemy gayThis article is more than 16 years oldMake love not war may be the enduring slogan of anti-war campaigners but in 1994 the US air force produced its own variation on the philosophy.
What if it could release a chemical that would make an opposing army's soldiers think more about the physical attributes of their comrades in arms than the threat posed by the enemy?
The ObserverBiography booksReviewThe enjoyable story of Tommy Nutter – flamboyant suit-maker to the stars – casts a new light on swinging London and Britain’s persecution of homosexualsThe Savile Row tailor Tommy Nutter – his birth name, rather than a moniker adopted at the height of his stardom – was the exemplar of fabulous but fleeting fame in the 60s and 70s. Emerging apparently from nowhere, he quickly became “the coolest man you’ve ever seen”, designing flamboyant clothes for stars such as Elton John and the Beatles, who, apart from George, wore his suits on the cover of Abbey Road .
Rail industryLondon Underground tube strike called off after ‘positive’ talks with TfLRMT suspends action which threatened to halt almost all tube services in the capital over next four days
A strike that threatened to halt all London Underground services for the next four days has been called off.
The RMT union announced that it had suspended its planned action after talks with Transport for London (TfL), after the mayor of London apparently made new funds available.
MusicFrom Kid Rock to Bubba Sparxxx: why white rappers walk the thin line between friend and fraud
The month's best music: Post Malone, Björk, Lorenzo Senni and moreRead moreThe white rapper narrative within hip-hop is a clunky one at best, leaving room for ambiguity with someone like Post Malone. Dubbed “the most streamed artist in the world”, the Texas-raised Malone is currently at No 1 in both the US and the UK with Rockstar.
The ObserverBritish Museum This article is more than 4 months oldSir Mark Jones put forward as interim director of British Museum This article is more than 4 months oldFormer head of V&A has suggested Parthenon marbles could be shared with Greece
A former head of the V&A Museum, who previously suggested the Parthenon marbles could be shared with Greece, has been put forward as the interim director of the British Museum.
Dagonet (Ray Stevenson)
Race: Sarmatian
Handy with: Axe
Likes: Protecting the weak
Dislikes: People who hurt the little children
Known weaknesses: Is a big softie
On the other hand: He really is no slouch with that axe. Ooh, Mamma King Arthur ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6ZobpwvMicq66qlah8qrnAoJxoaFxtgnWBi2ZoaXFgaYZ4hZBwaGVoYGO1tbnL
UK newsHow Einstein struggled with his grand theory - and the mathsUnseen papers on sale for $1.5m show scientific genius's failures together with his lighter sideThe following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday May 24 2006
To many he is the greatest scientist who ever lived, but a unique collection of Albert Einstein's letters and papers has revealed a history of struggle and failure made worse by an apparently shaky grasp of maths.
US newsPlayboy magazine publishes last issue featuring naked womenThe latest issue, featuring Pamela Anderson, went on sale Friday, months after the men’s magazine announced it would switch to only ‘non-nude’ content
The last issue of Playboy to feature naked women went on sale on Friday, with the magazine stating it will now switch to being “non-nude” .
The January/February 2016 issue, which features Pamela Anderson on its cover, draws a close to 62 years of nudity.
Children's booksGlobalQuiz: Which of the March sisters from Little Women are you?Let's face it, no one can read Louisa May Alcott's novel without identifying with one of the four March sisters. Find out which one you really are!ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJuYnrmlvsSnqmaan6S4tHnSoqueZ6Gqtrt7kWlobmeRpb9wfY9oqK6hqmLEqbXCoWSonl2ptaZ5zJqpnKBdqLa0wMSrqmaeoqS6brjIraulnV2svK6xzWaYq51drry2
The foodie travellerMilan holidaysChef Luca Gaggioli on the best place in Milan to try the saffron-infused version of Italy’s famous rice dish
Risotto, the most typical of northern Italian dishes, actually has its origins in the south. It is believed that risotto giallo alla milanese originates from “rice with zafran” – a dish of pilau rice with saffron brought to Sicily by the Arabs. Today Sicilian arancini (rice balls) are still made from saffron risotto.
Children's booksChildren's booksThe Winter Horses by Philip Kerr - review'When almost all of the horses are shot by Nazi soldiers, Kalinka begins a desperate journey to get both herself and the horses to safety'The Winter Horses is set during WW2, in Ukraine. The character is a young girl named Kalinka, who is fleeing from the Nazis after her family were killed for being Jews. Also being hunted by the Nazi soldiers are the Przewalskis horses, an ancient breed thought not good enough for the Nazi ideals.
A moment that changed meSex This article is more than 8 years oldA moment that changed me: waking up with a bad hangover – and two menThis article is more than 8 years oldAnonymousAt first, after I became single, being free to have sex with any man I wanted was thrilling and fun. And then it wasn’t
I woke up in a strange bed, naked, between two naked men. My brain felt like it had been soaked in beer and Jägermeister, the furniture seemed to dance in front of me, and for some reason my nose felt very present on my face.
‘I think social media is stupid’… Dorothy Wiggins at home in New York City. Photograph: Maria Spann/The GuardianDorothy Wiggins was devastated when her husband died. But she was determined to embrace life, and quickly found fame when a journalist friend started filming her escapades in New York
by Ammar KaliaIn 2020, three months after his 100th birthday, Dorothy Wiggins’ husband, Guy, died. They had been married for 61 years. “We never fought,” she says.
First world war This article is more than 8 years oldBletchley Park celebrates codebreakers who changed course of first world warThis article is more than 8 years oldExhibition brings to light work of MI1(b) and Room 40, latter of which helped bring US into Great War after deciphering Zimmermann telegram
In January 1917 British codebreakers known as Room 40, named after their original cramped space at the Admiralty, intercepted and deciphered a German secret message which changed the course of the first world war, helping to bring the US into the conflict.
UK newsObituaryCynthia Payne obituaryStreatham brothel-keeper whose ‘personal services’ inspired a film and books, and launched her on a celebrity careerCynthia Payne, who has died aged 82, was the quintessentially English madam whose career as an eccentric suburban brothel-keeper led to a film, books and a career as a “naughty but nice” celebrity. Unrepentant to the end, in her later years she expressed the hope that her life story might be turned into a musical.
New EuropePoland This article is more than 12 years oldDebunking stereotypes: Polish women are all beautifulThis article is more than 12 years oldHeinrich Heine sang their praises at least a century ago, but the men don't get much of a look inThe notion of Polish women being of unparalleled beauty is an old one: the 19th-century German Heinrich Heine was a big fan, describing the "schöne Polin" as an "angel on earth"
San Diego This article is more than 8 years oldSan Diego sportscaster Kyle Kraska shot multiple timesThis article is more than 8 years oldPolice say Mike Montana, 54, fired several times through Kraska’s Mercedes following a dispute over the painting of the TV anchor’s house
Kyle Kraska saw a painter in the neighbourhood and hired him to work on the outside of his house, but the relationship later soured. Police say the painter allegedly fired on the San Diego television sportscaster through the back window of his Mercedes.
OpinionPornography This article is more than 4 years oldA porn site tricked and degraded women – and that was exactly its pointThis article is more than 4 years oldMoira DoneganGirlsDoPorn defrauded unsuspecting women, a court found. But a successful $13m lawsuit won’t fix a culture of contempt
In the ads, the women were clothed. Appearing on innocuous sites like Craigslist, they advertised modeling opportunities that paid about $5,000. There was no indication that nudity or sex would be involved.
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel This article is more than 8 years oldBest Exotic Marigold Hotel checks out of third instalmentThis article is more than 8 years oldDirector of successful films about Indian retirement hotel says another film not on the horizon, citing age of principal cast as major factor
Despite the success of the first and second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films, director John Madden has confirmed there will be no third instalment in the series, it has been reported.
ShortcutsMediaThe legendary encyclopedia collection is to be printed no more. So it's farewell to the salesmen tooI remember them well: those heavy black books with their glossy gold lettering, all 32 of them, occupying their own special bookcase in the corner of my grandparents' living room. Anything I wanted to know – the circumference of the globe, say, or the migratory habits of Canada geese – my grandfather would look for in there, his prized set of Encyclopedia Britannica.
OpinionChristmas This article is more than 7 years oldDon’t be fooled, Christmas isn’t over yet – so keep on celebratingThis article is more than 7 years oldPeter OrmerodThe corporate calendar decrees that Christmas is done with – so it’s up to us to resist, and go on enjoying this special time of year for as long as possibleMerry Christmas! And again: Merry Christmas! And again: Merry Christmas! I’m going to keep this up until everyone realises these days in which we now find ourselves are not the dead and dreary affairs they seem but are still actually Christmas.
Oleksandr Ivantsov, left, with his company commander, called ‘Onyx’, in the ruins of Azovstal steelworks, Mariupol, April 2022.Exclusive: The odyssey of Oleksandr Ivantsov who fought with the Azov brigade and eluded Russian troops in a blockade Putin called so tight “a fly can’t get through”
by Luke Harding in KyivIt was May 2022 and Oleksandr Ivantsov was trapped. The Russians had seized the city of Mariupol. A small island of territory, the Azovstal steelworks, remained under Ukrainian control.
Chelsea This article is more than 6 months oldTransfer roundup: Chelsea complete £32m signing of Nicolas JacksonThis article is more than 6 months oldZiyech’s £8m move to Al-Nassr collapses after knee issueCaptain Azpilicueta set to join Atlético Madrid on a freeChelsea have bolstered their attacking options by buying Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal. The striker has joined for around £32m and signed an eight-year deal.
Jackson’s contract contained a £30m release clause but Chelsea secured favourable payment terms by agreeing to a slightly higher price.
America's dirty divideNew YorkThere’s a century of toxic sludge hiding in the Gowanus Canal, but it may not be enough to stop a mega-developer from building on it
In November, gigantic yellow excavators began scooping up the poisonous sludge colloquially known as “black mayonnaise” from the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, New York – a momentous step in a prolonged cleanup effort, 10 years after the waterway’s designation as a Superfund site.
Harry KaneThe Tottenham striker had a successful spell at Millwall as an 18-year-old which is recalled fondly as he prepares to face the south London club in the FA CupJoe Gallen was the Millwall assistant manager at the time and he remembers it as an “us or them” situation. Millwall were hovering above the Championship’s relegation places and Portsmouth were embedded in them, having been docked 10 points for their descent into administration.
TheatreReviewSouthwark Playhouse, London
It can feel exasperating at times but this well-performed 1951 drama offers a smart balance of discomfort and laughs
Eugène Ionesco’s single-act play, about a lesson that unravels into baroque violence inflicted by a professor on his pupil, is built on deliberate, head-scratching confusions. It is only in the final moments that it clarifies all the comic absurdity that has come before, with an ending that lands like a sinister punchline.
US newsThe mystery of Robert Wone's deathThree men stand accused of covering up the murder of the lawyer in a trial that has gripped WashingtonThe paramedics had seen a lot of corpses, but never one quite like this. Robert Wone's chest was carved open by three deep stab wounds. A bloodied knife lay on a side table. But the high-powered Washington lawyer's body was laid out neatly on a bed with his arms at his side.
Alan Hayashi checks on his strawberries at his farm in Oceano, California, in August. Photograph: Emanuel Hahn/The GuardianCalifornia families endured wartime incarceration and market changes to stay in business, but gen Z eyes life beyond the farm
by Claire Wang in Arroyo Grande, CaliforniaAlan Hayashi’s 120-hectare (300-acre) farm is an unassuming pillar of Arroyo Grande, a city on California’s central coast that’s covered by rolling vineyards and ancient oaks. Two vast fields, partitioned by an inland stretch of Highway 1, produce white strawberries, squash, beets, celery and two dozen other crops.
Autobiography and memoirReviewA brilliant 'anti-memoir' of growing up in 1970s Scotland"All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." I probably won't be the only reviewer of Janice Galloway's second volume of autobiography to fall back on Tolstoy's line from Anna Karenina, even though I'm not sure I believe it. There are almost certainly books to be written about happy, well-adjusted people just getting on with life, thriving with the help of love and support from all around them.
Master of mischief … Simon David.Master of mischief … Simon David.Lockdown cultureComedySimon David plays the frenzied host for a jolly hour of frivolity as an array of comics showcase the joys of mischief
For this April Fools’ Day, comedian Simon David has become the April Fools Gay. That is, he dresses up in a baby blue onesie and jester’s hat, then presents his set before a backdrop of cut-out emojis. In an online fundraiser for the transgender support fund FiveforFive, David appears to prank various friends, his boyfriend and the authorities – resulting in the demise of his relationship and a hefty fine.
Observer book of the weekBiography booksReviewThe former NME star writer rewatches the films of the German director and writes hauntingly about the way our tastes and passions change over time
A dream prospect. Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the short-lived, self-destructive wunderkind who made movies about love as masochism, pain as an inevitable condition and history as a dire weight upon his native Germany, has long been in need of an equally forthright celebration.
TelevisionObituaryJames Garner obituaryVersatile film and television actor who starred in Maverick and The Rockford FilesThrough many films and two influential television series, Maverick and The Rockford Files, James Garner, who has died aged 86, developed a persona with a subtly different appeal. It began as original and accrued familiarity over the course of four decades: a coward who was the soul of honour, a hero likely to ride away, stick his finger up the barrel of his opponent's gun or get winded in a fight and complain of damage to his dentistry.
Social historyObituaryMoshe Lewin obituaryLively, provocative scholar of Soviet social historyMoshe Lewin, who has died aged 88, was one of the foremost scholars of Soviet history. Misha Levin, as he was more familiarly known, was a vibrant and creative intellectual whose work, expressed in a language and style distinctively his own, and informed by his life experiences, made a major contribution to the field of social history.
His magisterial work Russian Peasants and Soviet Power (1968) explores the clash between the world of the peasants and the priorities of an industrialising state in the late 1920s that had little sympathy or comprehension of the peasants' outlook.
Carol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetryPoem of the week: Antidotes to Fear of Death by Rebecca ElsonAn intense engagement with mortality, by a young writer taken too soon, blends religious and scientific imagery
Antidotes to Fear of Death
Sometimes as an antidote
To fear of death,
I eat the stars.
Those nights, lying on my back,
I suck them from the quenching dark
Til they are all, all inside me,
Australian police and policingExplainerKrista Kach, 47, died last week after the ‘supersoft’ shotgun round penetrated her body and hit her heart, police say
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast New South Wales police revealed on Tuesday that Newcastle woman Krista Kach died after being hit by bean bag rounds during a siege in Stockton last week.
Enrico Pelillo, a lawyer for Yara Gambirasio’s family, talks with journalists following the verdict. Photograph: Gianpaolo Magni/EPAEnrico Pelillo, a lawyer for Yara Gambirasio’s family, talks with journalists following the verdict. Photograph: Gianpaolo Magni/EPAItaly This article is more than 7 years oldDNA evidence and family secrets snare Italian child murdererThis article is more than 7 years oldMassimo Bossetti guilty of killing Yara Gambirasio, 13, in case involving 18,000 DNA samples and revelation of illicit affairs One of the most sophisticated murder investigations in Italian history concluded on Friday with the key suspect jailed for life after being caught through a combination of DNA evidence and the revelation of family secrets.
Pass notesAnimalsScientists have discovered a terrifying-looking crustacean hundreds of metres under water. It’s not the only horror lurking in the deeps
Name: Bathynomus yucatanensis.
Yikes! What the hell is that? Can we do this properly, the Pass notes way?
Sorry. Age: Somewhere near the 160m year mark. From fossil records, that’s how long giant isopods are calculated to have been around.
Isopod? It’s a type of crustacean.
And bathynomus yucatanensis is a giant one of those?
From next year, primary schools must teach pupils that different types of families exist. It is a great step forward for society, says Paul Twocock, a Stonewall director Published: 5 Sep 2019 ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKiipLOquMRop5qtnGLBuLvCqJqk
Book of the dayLiterary criticismReviewAn inspiring analysis of Shakespeare and race restores his reputation as a playwright for all
There is a vivid moment in Farah Karim-Cooper’s new book where she reflects on the image of the nation’s pre-eminent playwright – how unfathomable he has seemed to artists and how his face has been conjured from a historical blur. She compares portraits and discerns a marked shift in the 18th century when he seems to become “more beautiful, symmetrical, and whiter in complexion”.
Business This article is more than 2 years oldUK firm goes from debt to £20.5m thanks to lucrative Covid test dealsThis article is more than 2 years oldDisruptive Nanotechnology acts as middleman between the UK government and US firm Innova, which makes lateral flow tests
Two entrepreneurs with no apparent background in healthcare have made £20m – and could make tens of millions more – after landing roles as middlemen between the UK government and a US firm that won £3.
SculptureObituaryAlfred Hrdlicka obituarySculptor whose work probed political and religious themesThe Austrian artist Alfred Hrdlicka, who has died aged 81, was a controversial, radical figure whose work was driven by his political beliefs and profound sense of humanity. His notoriety peaked in 2008 with the exhibition of his painting Leonardo's Last Supper, Restored By Pier Paolo Pasolini. Although the title alone spells trouble, the picture was initially accepted by the conservative Cardinal Christoph Schönborn for the show Religion, Flesh and Power at the Cathedral Museum in Vienna.
Iowa This article is more than 3 months oldAuthorities rescue nearly 100 goldendoodles from Iowa puppy millThis article is more than 3 months oldThe dogs at Paris Puppies Paradise, who were underweight and living in their own feces, were housed with a rescue organization
Iowa authorities rescued nearly 100 dogs from a puppy mill over the weekend, many of whom were living in their own excrement.
Lost Michigan toddler found asleep in woods using family dog as furry pillowRead moreOn Friday, a deputy from the Boone county sheriff’s office was conducting a welfare check on a missing woman and came across what appeared to be a puppy mill, the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
The ObserverLife and styleEverything you need for an all-night party ... his and hers ViagraIt's the newest recreational drug of choice for young men - bought illicitly in bars and nightclubs. Naomi Harper, 28, and her boyfriend wondered what all the fuss was about. And then they tried it ...At 28 you should be too old to be experimenting with drugs. But I'm at least 30 years too young to be messing about with the blue tablets in the palm of my hand.
Crime fictionIn response to a list of the 100 best crime novels that had only 28 female authors, Ann Cleeves, Val McDermid and Dreda Say Mitchell and other leading writers nominate some alternatives
When the Sunday Times picked its 100 favourite crime and spy novels published since 1945 last weekend, only 28 were by women. “Seeing the chronic conscious and unconscious bias against work by women is enraging,” wrote Marian Keyes on Twitter.
US newsOne in four Americans think Obama may be the antichrist, survey saysPoll asking voters about conspiracy theories reveals alarming beliefs – including 37% believing global warming to be a hoaxAbout one in four Americans suspect that President Barack Obama might be the antichrist, more than a third believe that global warming is a hoax and more than half suspect that a secretive global elite is trying to set up a New World Order, according to a poll released on Tuesday.
Children's booksChildren's booksThe Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - review'This book is a classic that your parents have probably read, but don't let that put you off!'Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden (Vintage Children's Classics)This book can be read by anyone over 9, advanced readers at around 7 or 8.
The Secret Garden is about a particularly arrogant and unpleasant girl called Mary Lennox. At the start of the book, she lives in India, but is forced to leave for her uncle's mansion in England in order to escape a devastating outbreak of cholera.
Autobiography and memoirReviewLight’s rich account of her marriage to the historian Raphael Samuel offers insights into radical London and a progressive way of living
Most memoirs are not really very memorable – like most lives. We live, we do what little we must do, and then we die and are soon forgotten. Even if we achieve great things, or think great thoughts, or are somehow great people, there is no guarantee that our accounting of our great deeds and thoughts will in any way be remarkable.
Reading American citiesBooksThe Pacific Northwestern city offers a range of reads, from jazz era tales to bleak portrayals of modern American life. Here are some of our readers’ favourites
Jon Raymond introduces the literature of Portland
The “idea” of Portland only entered the popular imagination in recent years, chiefly thanks to the comedy TV show Portlandia, as Jon Raymond wrote recently. But this city, known as a haven for vegans, iced latte lovers (yes, flat white fever hasn’t conquered America – yet), beards, fixed-gear bike worshippers and any other hipster stereotype you want to invoke, is more interesting and surprising than this suggests.
The ObserverMarks & Spencer This article is more than 2 years oldThis article is more than 2 years oldM&S and Aldi are at loggerheads over a cake. What’s at stake and what’s behind Britain’s love affair with the confection?
Colin the Caterpillar first darkened M&S’s shelves in the autumn of 1990, mere weeks before Margaret Thatcher stood down as prime minister. It’s too simple to put the timing down to coincidence.
OpinionA-levels This article is more than 5 months oldThe Guardian view on England’s class of ’23: failed by the governmentThis article is more than 5 months oldEditorialThe Whitehall decision to return to pre-pandemic grading was premature, and unfair on a cohort whose education was defined by Covid
The students who this week collected their A-level results overcame a formidable set of challenges. The class of 2023 were plunged into their first formal examinations only this summer, having been awarded their GCSEs by teacher assessment due to the pandemic.
OpinionFilmThe loss of actor Lee Sun-kyun casts a chill shadow over Korea’s film worldPeter BradshawLee, who has died aged 48, was a homegrown star who graduated to global fame in the multi-award-winning Parasite
Parasite actor Lee Sun-kyun found dead in Seoul K-class, K-prestige and K-artistry found their apogee in the movies with Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning 2019 smash Parasite – and this colossally successful South Korean social satire certainly found a place for one of that country’s biggest stars.
A US air force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan in 2018. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty ImagesA US air force MQ-9 Reaper drone sits at Kandahar airbase in Afghanistan in 2018. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFP/Getty ImagesUS military This article is more than 7 months oldUS air force denies running simulation in which AI drone ‘killed’ operatorThis article is more than 7 months oldDenial follows colonel saying drone used ‘highly unexpected strategies to achieve its goal’ in virtual test
Fiction in translationReviewA bleak, bold saga of a desperately poor family in 20th-century FranceBleak is the word. If EM Cioran, the great Romanian philosopher of the bleak, had been a novelist, Animalia is the kind of novel he would have produced. Published by the courageous Fitzcarraldo, this won’t make it on to a list of beach reads. But it is likely to be hailed as a modern classic. You can’t have everything.
From the Guardian archiveBoxingDempsey knocks out Brennan to retain world heavyweight crown – archive, 192016 December 1920: The US fighter delivered a knock-out-blow in the twelfth round of a bloody contest last night at Madison Square Garden Jack Dempsey, heavy weight boxing champion of the world, retained his title in a fight at New York on Tuesday with “Bill” Brennan. The contest was one of fifteen rounds, and Dempsey won with a knock-out-blow in the twelfth.
Klaus Voormann at his studio in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, Germany, in June 2016. Photograph: Ursula Dueren/AlamyKlaus Voormann at his studio in Tutzing on Lake Starnberg, Germany, in June 2016. Photograph: Ursula Dueren/AlamyThe ObserverThe Beatles This article is more than 7 years oldInterviewHow I drew a pop art masterpiece for the Beatles – a snip at just £50This article is more than 7 years oldRobin StummerFifty years on, Klaus Voormann tells the story behind Revolver’s psychedelic coverOpening with a sharp swipe at Harold Wilson’s supertax rate for big earners, it ends half an hour later in a revolutionary mystical soundscape sculpted from LSD and dope, and drenched in technical wizardry the like of which had never been heard before.
Sexual healingRelationshipsI do not enjoy sex at all – and can only masturbate this way. Can I learn to move on?
I am a 22-year-old woman and have been bothered by a sexual issue for a few years. I do not enjoy sex at all (not just penetrative sex ). Even oral sex or stimulating the clitoris does nothing for me. I have been masturbating by squeezing my thighs together since I was very young and, even today, itis the only way I can feel any pleasure sexually.
‘At home, my mother / greets us both with these words: / I love monkeys’ … a traditional Chinese papercut marking the year of the monkey. Photograph: Getty Images‘At home, my mother / greets us both with these words: / I love monkeys’ … a traditional Chinese papercut marking the year of the monkey. Photograph: Getty ImagesCarol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetryA sunny reflection on the obstacles a couple has overcome
US news blogColoradoTranquilized black bear falls safely from tree on University of Colorado campusTo the amusement of onlookers, bear tumbles onto pads set up by wildlife officials, who then released it in the Rocky MountainsNo, this is not a bear bouncing on a trampoline, although it certainly resembles one. This picture in fact shows the animal falling safely from a tree after being tranquilized.
The black bear had wandered onto the University of Colorado campus on Thursday, where it had padded around a university residence hall for some time before climbing a tree.
Jeff Beck – a life in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email The maverick virtuoso rock guitarist has died aged 78. A pioneer with heavier styles, he paved the way for heavy metal, won eight Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist and member of the Yardbirds. We look back at a landmark career
Georgia Kevin Davis's sister: 'They didn't allow us to see him in the hospital' – video Delisa Davis, sister of Kevin Davis, says police in Georgia did not allow her family to visit her brother after he had been shot by a DeKalb County police officer. Kevin Davis remained cuffed to his hospital bed until he died on 31 December. 'He was just a great guy,' Delisa Davis told the Guardian's Jon Swaine.
Massachusetts This article is more than 7 years oldSnake island: Massachusetts to establish colony of venomous rattlesnakesThis article is more than 7 years oldThe plan is to save a species that’s been wiped out in the state – but some residents fear the snakes, which are capable of swimming, will escape the island
A colony of venomous rattlesnakes is to be established on an uninhabited island in Massachusetts in a bid to save a species that has been virtually wiped out in the state.
From the Guardian archivePercy Bysshe ShelleyThe celebrated Romantic poet drowned in Italy on 8 July 1822, although reports of his death did not appear until a few weeks later
24 August 1822
Those who know a great mind when they meet with it, and who have been delighted with the noble things in the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley, will be shocked to hear that he has been cut off in the prime of his life and genius.
TV tonightTelevision & radioThe hugely popular true-crime series tackles a very tricky case. Plus: Suranne Jones picks up the pace in thriller Vigil. Here’s what to watch this evening 24 Hours in Police Custody9pm, Channel 4A harrowing and complex feature-length episode of this true-crime documentary series deals with the alleged rape of a man after a Grindr date. It’s an incredibly tricky situation to unpick – one man says the sex was consensual while the other feels he was assaulted.
The ObserverFictionReviewThis spirited Trinidadian love story about a gravedigger and a medium has echoes of Dickens
A love story, a ghost story, a thriller: Ayanna Lloyd Banwo’s radiant first novel embraces elements of multiple genres, binding them through incantatory language steeped in the rhythms, fables and spirituality of her Trinidadian homeland.
At its centre are two young people wrestling with their destinies. Yejide St Bernard belongs to a long line of women duty-bound to commune with the dead.
The ObserverHomelandInterviewClaire Danes on the end of Homeland: 'It was so nice to play such a badass'David SmithA landmark of 21st-century TV drama is about to finish its 10-year run. Its star reflects on how playing Carrie Mathison – and learning from real spies – has shaped her view of politics
Perhaps the defining image of Homeland, one of the most ambitious US drama series of the past decade, is Claire Danes’s character, Carrie Mathison, a mercurial CIA officer, staring at a video screen and displaying a sixth sense for the vital clue.
‘He turned heads’: Ghana’s most stylish guys – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Kyle Weeks has spent years on the streets of Accra, photographing the young creatives who represent the west African spirit of enthusiasm and hope
Main image: ‘One figure stood out’ … Prince, Accra, Ghana, 2016. Photograph: Kyle Weeks, courtesy of Galerie Gomis: David Hill Gallery Wed 15 Nov 2023 02.
A brown bear roams Ponferrada in images released by the city’s police, who advised ‘maximum care be taken’. Photograph: Policía municipal de PonferradaA brown bear roams Ponferrada in images released by the city’s police, who advised ‘maximum care be taken’. Photograph: Policía municipal de PonferradaSpain This article is more than 1 year oldSpanish police guide bear back from city centre to mountainsThis article is more than 1 year oldResidents of Ponferrada advised to take care after animal spotted by taxi driver in early hours
MusicThey are the greatest of Colombians: Shakira, pop phenomenon, and Gabriel García Márquez, novelist. Naturally, they had to meet - and he, the magical realist, was astonished by her fantastical work-rateShakira flew from Miami to Buenos Aires on February 1, pursued by a journalist who wanted to ask her just one question over the phone for a radio programme. For a number of reasons, he failed to reach her over the next 27 days, then lost track of her in Spain in the first week of March.
Top 10sBooksThese dazzling shows and their dark flipside have inspired novelists from Dickens to Angela Carter – and the true stories are no less outlandish, writes Elizabeth Macneal
The illusion. The tawdry glamour. The delicate balance between illusion and reality, a glittering spectacle and its dark underbelly. And above all, the wonder. It’s little surprise that novelists have been inspired by the circus since it first rolled into town, from Charles Dickens in Hard Times and The Old Curiosity Shop (“Dear, dear, what a place it looked, that Astley’s; with all the paint, gilding, and looking-glass”) to Angela Carter and her magnificent and bawdy invention, Sophie Fevvers.
US newsJoe Tacopina’s outdated tactics have won freedom for accused killers and rapists, but will they work in E Jean Carroll case?
Donald Trump had good reason to believe he found the man to get him off the hook. Joseph Tacopina, a Brooklyn-born former prosecutor, made his name winning freedom for accused killers, rapists and celebrities.
Twelve years ago, he successfully defended an on-duty police officer charged with escorting a drunk woman to her home and then raping her.
OpinionDeath and dying This article is more than 2 years oldAfter a year of great loss, walking in cemeteries can be strangely upliftingThis article is more than 2 years oldEmma BeddingtonFrom the birds in the trees to the fresh flowers laid on headstones, graveyards sustain life in surprising and touching ways
Walking fatigue is everywhere. It is the idea of it, rather than the actual one-foot-in-front-of-another business. Much as I have enjoyed watching my usual route behind the dump and along the cycle path evolve from frozen to liquid mud, spotting the first nitrous oxide cartridges of the year blooming in the undergrowth, I am officially mad with boredom.
Black livesExplorationInterviewDwayne Fields, the first black Briton to reach the north pole: ‘I spotted this polar bear stalking us’Sasha MistlinA familiar face on Countryfile and other TV shows, Fields escaped being shot when he was barely out of his teens. Now 37, he’s determined to keep exploring the world – and open it up for young people
In 2005, Dwayne Fields found himself staring down the barrel of a gun in east London.
Marilyn MonroeHoward Hawks’ eye-catching comedy sees the actor at the height of her talents in a tale with more depth and intellect than even its director knew
Last year’s Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde broke up its parade of visceral suffering heaped upon the woman born Norma Jeane Mortenson with an acknowledgement of one injustice not of the physically invasive persuasion.
Some like it overheated: how Marilyn Monroe is betrayed by BlondeRead moreWe learn that while working on Howard Hawks’ superlative Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (which turns 70 years old this weekend), she received a paltry rate of $500 a week, while her comparatively better-known co-45star Jane Russell raked in a sum-total fee in the amount of $200,000.
Slavery Photograph: Rafael Ben-Ari/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock PhotoSlavery affects more than 40 million people worldwide – more than at any other time in history
by Kate HodalHow many slaves are there today, and who are they?The word “slavery” conjures up images of shackles and transatlantic ships – depictions that seem relegated firmly to the past. But more people are enslaved today than at any other time in history. Experts have calculated that roughly 13 million people were captured and sold as slaves between the 15th and 19th centuries; today, an estimated 40.
US policing This article is more than 1 month oldUS family of 11-year-old shot by police vows to seek justice after officer gets no chargesThis article is more than 1 month oldAderrien Murry, who is Black, was wounded by police after calling 911, and authorities declined to charge the officer involved
The family of an 11-year-old boy who was shot by police after he called 911 and asked for their help have vowed to continue to fight for justice after authorities declined to charge the officer involved.
SEMANTIC ENIGMASWhy is the indentation in a house brick called a frog? Ben Chaston, Hong Kong, China
In the 1930s the bricks were made by hand in slop moulds and the indent required a wooden former in the bottom of the mould box. This looked like a crouching frog and the name stuck despite its reference to the indent. Jack Hill, St Albans, UK
Add your answer ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKafqbK0rc2dqK6dop6ytHvQrpyrsV9leXaDlGxjZm5nboF1eI9pZaGsnaE%3D
Lucenda Plancarte with her reborn doll. Photograph: Daniel Hollis/The GuardianA subculture of lifelike baby dolls is thriving on social media – despite enthusiasts being dismissed as grown women playing mommy
by Kelli KorduckiI’m not sure what I expected a collector of hyper-realistic baby dolls to look like, but Kellie Eldred isn’t it. On the frigid midwinter morning that I arrive at her Ithaca, New York, home, she greets me brightly in leggings and a cropped sweatshirt branded with the logo of a local Pilates studio.
Ask Annalisa BarbieriFriendshipYour childhood neglect is at the heart of this, says Annalisa Barbieri. Try to give that little girl in you what she needs now, rather than hoping your friends will
I have a wonderful husband, happy children, good health and a close relationship with my family. But I’ve always struggled with friendship.
Every time life has changed (new job, change of home) I have a new optimism that this time I’ll get it right.
The simple fixFoodA glorious muddle of lamb, roasted aubergine, Middle Eastern spices and crisp chickpeas
Last year I was at Breddo’s, an extremely good taqueria in London’s Soho, and found myself ordering the crab nachos. They were superb, and reminded me why deviations from “authentic” recipes are not always a bad thing. El pastor, an exquisite street-food staple of Mexico City, is a rendition of the Lebanese kebab. Nachos now fly off the pass at Wahaca, with zingy avocado and tomato salsas and sobrasada.
THE BODY BEAUTIFULTo keep my feet warm I often wear two pairs of socks, a thin pair and a thicker pair (because two thick pairs = feet too big for shoes). Does it make any difference to heat retention which pair I put on first, thick or thin? Bob, Twickenham, England
I would suggest thin one first; as this will create 2 layers of air (created by the layers of sock) closer to the skin and provide a thicker layer of insulating material on the outside.
Top 10sBooksClosed off for half a century by the generals, there is a shortage of writing about this richly diverse country available in English – but there are some gems
Burma is such an enigmatic country that the first question for any writer is what to call it. The nation has been known officially as Myanmar since 1989, when the then ruling junta discarded Burma along with other place names associated with British rule.
OpinionTaylor SwiftWhy obsess over Taylor Swift’s sexuality when there are more openly queer musicians than ever? Rebecca ShawWe are living in a time when we are spoiled with immediately available access to queer artists of any genre. You don’t have to hunt for clues
Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Sometimes a piece of content is perfectly designed to send various parts of the internet into a Tasmanian devil-style (cartoon NOT animal) whirlwind.
The ObserverObituaryConor Cruise O'BrienConor Cruise O'Brien, who has died aged 91, was a natural controversialist, probably the most pugnacious Irish intellectual since George Bernard Shaw. He was a man of so many contradictions that to call him a blend of all these seems utterly inappropriate; rather, they appeared to pull him in many contrary directions at once. He seems posthumously fated to give rise to further controversy, since opinions on his career, his writing, his personality and his public stances vary hugely.
World newsDNA traps scientist's killer 15 years onMan killed researcher to stop her testifying against him over sex attack and was caught by techniques she helped perfectA man who killed a young British scientist to stop her from testifying against him on a sexual assault charge more than 15 years ago has been convicted of her murder.
In an extraordinary twist of fate, the key DNA evidence that helped to convict David Frediani came from the very body of work on which the scientist had been engaged at the time of her death.
The Killers This article is more than 11 years oldKillers saxophonist Tommy Marth found dead after apparent suicideThis article is more than 11 years oldLas Vegas musician, 33, who played on band's second and third albums reported to have died of a self-inflicted gunshot woundKillers sideman Tommy Marth has died of an apparent suicide. The saxophonist was reportedly found in his backyard in Las Vegas on Monday morning. "There's a light missing in Las Vegas tonight,"
OpinionTrump administration This article is more than 5 years oldManners or morals? The choice is easy when the stakes are this highThis article is more than 5 years oldFrancine ProsePeople like the owner of the Red Hen restaurant have a right to express opinions about how government is being conducted
On 22 June, Stephanie Wilkinson, owner of The Red Hen, a restaurant in Lexington, Virginia, asked one of her customers – Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary – to leave.
Other livesObituaryRose HackerAs the "oldest newspaper columnist in the business", Rose Hacker, who has died aged 101, produced journalism with a difference for the Camden New Journal in north London. Her work relied upon a phenomenal memory of years of activity, insights and discussion. Rose's confidently articulated, old-fashioned values of solidarity and collectivity were deeply appreciated by readers, and her socialist feminism shone through all she did.
I was a teenager when I first met Rose, a friend of my mother's, at the Hampstead ladies' pond.
Young peopleLettersSetting the record straight on YTSProfessor Linda Clarke (Letters, 13 February) calls for "a comprehensive scheme of vocational education and training, integrating college, workshop and work-based elements, negotiated and agreed by employers, trade unions and educationalists, and backed up by government regulation", while four "young unemployed people" (Letters, 15 February) say they want "real jobs, not a rerun of the YTS schemes of the 80s".
As director of the European Social Fund project which was funded to design, develop and implement the Youth Training Scheme (YTS), I would like to set the record straight – for what Professor Clarke calls for is a pretty accurate description of what YTS was.
The autocomplete questionsMen's hair This article is more than 6 years oldAre blond men evil? You asked Google – here’s the answerThis article is more than 6 years oldEdward TewEvery day millions of internet users ask Google life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the commonest queriesLet’s get one thing out of the way first: blond men look evil. Blond children, like Mark Lester in Oliver!
2d ago07.28 GMTSummarySteve Smith’s opening punt seemed to fail but Pat Cummins’ rare gamble paid off to give Australia a winning hand against the West Indies on day one of the first Test.
Report:
Steve Smith falls short as opener with Australia in control against West Indies on day oneRead more2d ago07.04 GMTStumps: Australia 59 for 2, trailing by 129 in the first inningsGeoff LemonSo ends a satisfactory day for Australia – sent in West Indies, bowled them out cheaply, last-wicket annoyance notwithstanding, and have made a good start after that target although it hasn’t been at the sort of run rate we’ve been accustomed to with David Warner around.
Film This article is more than 9 years oldObama-Satan lookalike cut from film version of hit mini-series The BibleThis article is more than 9 years old'The devil is on the cutting-room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus … the devil gets no more screen time,' says producer of The Son Of God Quiz: Name that Satan
Controversial scenes in which an actor with a startling resemblance to US President Barack Obama portrayed Satan have been cut from the big-screen version of a hit mini-series about Jesus' life.
FranceOphelia of the SeineThe calmly smiling, beautiful face of this young woman hung in the studios of artists and writers across Europe throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. She inspired Rilke, Man Ray and Nabokov. And eventually ended up as a first-aid resuscitation model. But who was she? Angelique Chrisafis finds outI came face to face with Anne only once. She was reclining by a swimming pool in south-east England.
Pop and rock This article is more than 1 year oldThis article is more than 1 year oldBy teasing fans with new song snippets, artists such as Rosalía are minting hits before the finished single is even out – but will this viral power fade once the industry catches on?
This week, the Spanish pop superstar Rosalía released a new song called Despechá. It’s a zippy, zingy track – a kind of minimalist take on merengue and mambo that finds her rapping and singing about fickle fame and even more fickle boys over bright piano chords and a flinty, industrial beat.
BooksIn a fascinating new book, climber and author Michael Wejchert tells of two couples and a tragedy in remote Alaskan mountains
“It’s beautifully overwhelming,” says Michael Wejchert of the rock, ice and alpine routes he has climbed all over the world. “There’s a moment that anybody who’s climbed in a remote part of the Alaska range can remember where the plane flies away and suddenly the sound of the engine fades and you’re completely alone on a glacier, miles and miles from anywhere and that silence, especially at first, is deafening.
Aris Limassol 0 - 1 Real Betis Aris Limassol Home team scorers Real Betis Away team scorers Ayoze Perez 75 Match stats Possession BET ARI 57 43 Goal attempts 9 Aris Limassol Off target 12 Real Betis 0 Aris Limassol On target 5 Real Betis Corners 3 9 Fouls 11 14 Lineups Aris Limassol 1 Vana 6 Boakye 20 Yago 5 Mouketou-Moussounda 72 Urosevic 23 Struski 37 Szoke 21 Mayambela 14 Gomis 7 Bengtsson 80 Babicka Substitutes 3 Caju (s 26') 8 Brown (s 62') 10 Spoljaric (s 85') 11 Stepinski (s 85') 12 Dimitriou 31 Brorsson 66 Montnor (s 85') 78 Chrysostomou 90 Sofroniou Real Betis 13 Rui Silva 24 Ruibal 6 Pezzella 21 Roca 20 Abner Vinicius 5 Rodriguez 14 William Carvalho 11 Luiz Henrique 10 Perez 7 Ezzalzouli 12 Willian Jose Substitutes 1 Bravo 2 Bellerin 3 Miranda 9 Iglesias (s 79') 17 Sanchez (s 89') 18 Guardado (s 79') 22 Isco (s 72') 30 Vieites 38 Diao (s 72') 39 Sorroche 40 Fernandez ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6fpMGjrculZqaZpJi1br7EnaCrnZOpfHWAj25obW4%3D
US midterm elections 2022 This article is more than 1 year oldKaren Bass becomes the first female mayor of Los AngelesThis article is more than 1 year oldThe Democrat takes over as the second Black mayor in LA’s history, beating a rival who spent over $80m of his own money on the race
The congresswoman Karen Bass was elected mayor of Los Angeles, defeating billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso and becoming the first woman to run the second-largest city in the US.
Floral tributes and candles surround a photograph of Ashling Murphy left at the canal in Tullamore, County Offaly, where she was found dead in January 2022. Photograph: Niall Carson/PAFloral tributes and candles surround a photograph of Ashling Murphy left at the canal in Tullamore, County Offaly, where she was found dead in January 2022. Photograph: Niall Carson/PAIreland This article is more than 2 months oldMan jailed for life after murdering Irish teacher Ashling MurphyThis article is more than 2 months oldJozef Puska, 33, stabbed 23-year-old as she jogged along a canal last year in a case that shocked Ireland
NutritionSeattle woman Naveena Shine drops attempt to live on lightShine went 47 days without food but says financial woes she's enduring are 'message from the universe that it is time to stop'A Seattle woman is to abandon her controversial attempt to live on light on Wednesday after 47 days of surviving on water and tea.
Naveena Shine, 65, had been attempting to go without food for 100 days. She said the "
Local produce at Ortygia market, Syracuse, Sicily. Photograph: AlamyLocal produce at Ortygia market, Syracuse, Sicily. Photograph: AlamyA great little place I knowFood and drinkThe co-curator of the British Museum’s new Sicily exhibition on a slice of old island life
An evocative and strangely nostalgic place that I visit over and over again in Sicily – and get up before 7am for – is the historic food market of Ortigia, the old part of Syracuse, on the east coast.
Fossils This article is more than 5 years oldVery creepy crawlies: 'proto-spiders' with long tails discovered in amberThis article is more than 5 years oldFossil hunters find preserved remains of 100-million-year-old arachnids with tails longer than their bodies
In what can safely be assumed to be horrifying news for arachnophobes around the world, scientists have discovered the beautifully-preserved remains of prehistoric “proto-spiders” that sported tails longer than their bodies.
The ancient arachnid may have used its tail for sensing predators and prey.
Boardwalk Empire episode by episodeBoardwalk EmpireBoardwalk Empire: season one, episode sevenRevenge and the struggle to bury the past are recurring themes for the main characters in a slower-paced episode this weekSPOILER ALERT: This blog is for those who are watching Boardwalk Empire on Sky Atlantic. Don't read on if you haven't seen the seventh episode – and if you've seen more of the series, please be aware that other readers may not have done so …
ShortcutsCoffeeWhere should you head if you're unhappy with the company's policy on corporation tax? Our reporter samples the optionsIt's not a good time for Starbucks. After it emerged that the company had paid less than £7m in tax since 1998, on sales of £3bn, the chain promised to make a couple of £10m payments to the Treasury over the next two years. This has done little to mollify observers angry at a business that seems to treat tax as an optional inconvenience, and whose first response to the negative publicity was cut paid lunchbreaks, maternity benefits and sick leave from its already low-paid workforce.
College sportsLast year Erin Matson led the UNC Tar Heels to the NCAA field hockey title as a student-athlete. Now the 23-year-old has done it again as a coach who’s just barely older than her players
Sleep eludes Erin Matson. It’s been three weeks since the University of North Carolina’s most decorated field hockey player-turned-head coach shepherded her players to an NCAA championship victory in her debut season; the 23-year-old is believed to be the youngest ever college coach to win a national title.
Sexual healingLife and styleI have an active and enjoyable sex life with my husband, but I can’t reach orgasm without a great deal of drama. Should I try to be more restrained?
I am a married woman in my 50s who enjoys an active and enjoyable sex life. Unfortunately, I can’t climax any more without a great deal of drama, including moaning, heavy breathing, even crying or shouting. We have teenage children and I worry about the embarrassment that I might cause them.
The ObserverDocumentary filmsReviewBombay Beach director Alma Har’el blurs the boundary between drama and real life with three stories examining love and faith
Documentary film-maker Alma Har’el follows her extraordinary debut, Bombay Beach, with another picture that weaves together real life with dramatisation to poetic effect. While not quite as focused or poignant as her debut, this film explores love and faith through three very different stories. In Hawaii, William is struggling to come to terms with the fact that the son he adores is not his biological child.
Anatomy of an artworkPaintingVincent van Gogh’s Prisoners Exercising: expressionism at its most despondentThe Dutch master depicts his fragile state of mind, trapped and unable to escape routine
Going down …This 1890 work needs little explanation. Painted while Van Gogh was heavily depressed and in an asylum in Saint-Rémy, it is expressionism at its most downcast.
Right round …The circular trudge of the watched-over men so perfectly captures the mental rat runs the artist felt trapped in; you can almost hear the shuffle-thump of those boots.
The wilderness of Assynt in Sutherland, northern Scotland. Photograph: Mark Greenwood Landscapes/Getty ImagesThe wilderness of Assynt in Sutherland, northern Scotland. Photograph: Mark Greenwood Landscapes/Getty ImagesFishing holidaysFly-fishing doesn’t have to be expensive and exclusive. At its best it’s adventurous, wild and (nearly) free
Why I love wild fishing by Annalisa Barbieri
The Guardian’s product and service reviews are independent and are in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
A porter and a woman at the Kumgangsan hotel on Mt Kumgang. This hotel is known for hosting reunion meetings between families from North and South Korea. Photograph: Tariq ZaidiThese images from a book by Tariq Zaidi offer rare glimpses of the North Korean people’s daily struggles and ways of life
by Tariq ZaidiIn January 2020, North Korea closed its borders. Before that date, people fortunate enough to enter the country were met with strict rules that severely restricted the practice of photography.
The G2 interviewStageInterviewGillian Anderson on therapy, rebellion and 'being weird'Simon HattenstoneShe found fame in The X-Files but is most proud of her roles in The Fall and A Streetcar Named Desire. She talks about turning from an obnoxious teenage punk into a control freak – and why many actors are too scared to come out
Gillian Anderson sweeps in to the room, a tiny, mighty force. She asks for a coffee, spots the fat-free milk and gives a look that would stop a grizzly in its tracks.
Philippines This article is more than 10 months oldPhilippines oil spill: curfew imposed as nearby residents report health problemsThis article is more than 10 months oldOfficials believe MT Princess Empress, which sank last week, is 400 metres below surface off island of Mindoro
Officials in the Philippines believe they have located a leaking oil tanker that sank last week and has since coated nearby shorelines in thick sludge, threatening areas of rich marine biodiversity and sparking reports of health problems among local residents.
Science This article is more than 3 months oldPositively glowing: fluorescent mammals are far more common than earlier thought, study suggestsThis article is more than 3 months oldScientists believe luminescent quality is widespread after finding 86% of species studied had fur that glowed in UV light
Fluorescence in mammals is much more common than previously thought, new research suggests.
A luminous property, fluorescence has been described in recent years in Australian marsupials including platypuses, wombats, Tasmanian devils and echidnas.
Country diaryInsectsKestle Barton, Helston, Cornwall: Sarah Gillespie’s print exhibition captures the mystery of moths and on the day of our visit we are graced by a live specimen of spectacular colours It is intriguing that moths are one of the few animal groups to trigger a recognised psychological anxiety, “mottephobia”. It is surely a reflection of our deep-seated diurnal biases that we visit all manner of affections upon butterflies but withhold them from their nocturnal relatives.
NOOKS AND CRANNIESDo any human societies not follow the convention of nodding the head for yes, shaking for no - and do any animals use it? A sharp upward jerk of the head accompanied, sometimes, by a quiet 'tut' of the lips, most certainly signifies 'no' in Bulgaria. I found it very confusing when I was there. Simon Gilman, London UK
Add your answer ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaKafqbK0rc2dqK6dop6ytHvQrpyrsV9leW15kWpnbGRgZXupwMyl
ScienceFacial scars are attractive to the opposite sexThey give Action Man a certain ruggedness and bestow instant testosterone on movie heroes, and according to British psychologists, facial scars can also make men more attractive to the opposite sex.
Men with mild facial scars were typically ranked as more appealing by women who were looking for a brief relationship, though they were not considered better as marriage material, a study found.
TV and radio blogTelevisionThe quest for the perfect vaginaWhat began as a wander through the wacky world of genital plastic surgery became a passionate documentary about modern femininity'It's the ultimate sales pitch - complete bullshit' ... Lisa Rogers, presenter of Channel 4's The Perfect Vagina
If you'd told me three months ago that I'd let a plastic surgeon examine my froufrou, that I'd show it to another woman (who wasn't a doctor) and then allow an artist to take a cast of my Mary, I'd have laughed you out of the house.
BooksWho are you calling a bitch?It's an insult often thrown at women who are strong, ambitious and outspoken. We'll take that as a compliment then, says Kate FigesFar more unites men and women than divides us, but when it comes to negative stereotypes, women win hands down. Girls are "bossy" and grow into women who "nag", while boys of all ages are "authoritative" and "natural-born leaders". When men go out for a drink together it is considered positive social interaction or "
ObituaryWill CountsPhotographer who captured an enduring image of America's civil rights struggle in his home townIt was the fate of the photographer Will Counts, who has died aged 70 of cancer, to be principally known for a single image. He took it on September 4 1957, outside the central high school at Little Rock, Arkansas. It showed a black schoolgirl named Elizabeth Eckford, impeccably dressed in a white frock and carrying her school files, walking away from Hazel Bryan, a shouting, hate-filled, young white woman standing among other white students.
TV and radio blogDownton AbbeyDownton Abbey: What should happen in the final episode?Reports are rife that the end is nigh for the Crawleys and chums. But if the Yorkshire aristos truly are facing the axe, what plot-clinching twists can we expect for the final episode, and what would you like to see happen?
It strikes me that rumours of Downton Abbey’s demise are much exaggerated. It was reported today that series six – due to air in the UK in September (series five is currently on PBS in the US) – will be the last gasp of the Crawley dynasty.
Global development This article is more than 2 months oldGirls in Africa quitting school over cost of living crisis, says charityThis article is more than 2 months oldCamfed calls for six-year plan to get 6 million girls into school, warning that drop-out rate is limiting children’s chances
Governments and donors need to redouble efforts to encourage girls back to school across Africa after the cost of living crisis pushed many to spurn education for low-paid work or early marriage, a charity has warned.
History books This article is more than 8 years oldHenry VIII voted worst monarch in historyThis article is more than 8 years old‘Self-indulgent wife murderer and tyrant’ tops poll of historical writers, ahead of Edward VIII and Charles I
King John I may forever be known as a Bad King following that seminal history textbook 1066 and All That, but according to history authors, it is Henry VIII who should bear the title of the worst monarch in history.
Mobile phones This article is more than 17 years oldHow I stalked my girlfriendThis article is more than 17 years oldFor the past week I've been tracking my girlfriend through her mobile phone. I can see exactly where she is, at any time of day or night, within 150 yards, as long as her phone is on. It has been very interesting to find out about her day. Now I'm going to tell you how I did it.
The ObserverFood and drink booksReviewJoanna Blythman reveals the dangers lurking within even supposedly healthy convenience food in this outstanding investigationCelebrity chefs sell us the dream of whipping up daily, home-cooked dinners using the freshest ingredients. It pricks our consciences just enough to steer clear of obviously processed food and slip nicely designed meals labelled “fresh”, “healthy” or “natural” into our shopping baskets. The problem, explored by Joanna Blythman in this outstanding investigation into how our food has been manipulated by scientific process, is that those claims are a triumph of obfuscation and spin, dreamed up in nameless factories that are more like oil refineries than “scaled-up domestic kitchens”.
The Beatles This article is more than 2 months oldThe Beatles: ‘final’ song Now and Then to be released thanks to AI technologyThis article is more than 2 months oldSoftware developed for Peter Jackson’s documentary Get Back has been used to separate Lennon’s vocals from a demo tape he left to Paul McCartney
Now and Then, the long-awaited “final” Beatles song featuring all four members, is to be released next week thanks to the same AI technology that was used to enhance the audio on Peter Jackson’s documentary Get Back.
Music'Only five people know I make tunes'Is Burial the most elusive man in music? The dubstep star gives a rare interview to Dan Hancox'I'm a bit like a rubbish super-hero ..." says Burial, shyly. The underground dubstep producer - whose debut LP was one of last year's critical smashes, and whose second is one of this year's most anticipated - makes the comparison because he leads two lives. The young south-Londoner slips anonymously through normal life, with few knowing that he has a separate musical existence as Burial.
Crosswords Set by: Paul Fri 7 Jul 2023 00.00 BST Cryptic crossword No 29,116 Print | PDF version | Accessible version Set by: Paul Fri 7 Jul 2023 00.00 BST Time on your hands? Stay connected and keep in touch with your friends with our new Puzzles mobile app. You can access more than 15,000 crosswords and sudoku and solve puzzles online together. Download and try it for free now. Time on your hands?
FictionReviewWhat could have been a great Afro-German story has been sidelinedAfro-Germans don't usually get a look-in when the narratives of Nazi Germany are told, yet the black presence in Germany goes back to at least the 18th century, and later waves of African immigrants produced German-born offspring who, by the interwar years, numbered several thousand. In this novel, the fictional Hieronymous "Hiero" Falk, around whom the plot revolves, is one of them – a Mischling or "
The classic film I've never seenThe SearchersI’ve always imagined John Wayne as the epitome of gun-toting American racism. And I didn’t expect this white-supremacy parable to change my mind …
See the other classic missed films in this series The best arts and entertainment during self-isolation When people ask me what kind of films I like, I never know what to say. I like everything! Total trash, high art, comedy, horror, British realism, Czech surrealism, Hong Kong action, Hungarian inaction, you name it.
Lost WorldsScienceThe thunder lizard returns - Brontosaurus resurrectedA new analysis restores Brontosaurus to the ranks of the dinosaurs, but why?
For years palaeontologists have been trying to convince the public that Brontosaurus doesn’t, and never, existed but now a new study has been published that returns this name to the ranks of the dinosaurs. So why the sudden turn around? Such a change is in fact a very normal part of the constant updates and revisions that come with the process of taxonomy (identifying and naming new species) though in this case it comes as part of a quite exceptionally detailed study.
A car rally outside the Bata hotel. Photograph: Bata/Radical EssexA car rally outside the Bata hotel. Photograph: Bata/Radical EssexArchitectureIn the 1930s, the Czech shoe giant built a model town for its workers, who bought milk in the company supermarket, eggs at the company farm, and kept their gardens tidy – or else. Has its spirit survived?
In the late 1930s, a family called the Vaclaviks left the Czech town of Zlín, travelled to Africa, then moved to a house in Essex.
Bram Stoker This article is more than 7 years old'Dracula was not from Exeter,' insists Bram Stoker descendantThis article is more than 7 years oldGreat grand-nephew of the seminal vampire novel discounts reports on research that suggested the dark count was based on a west country man, rather than his writings
Bram Stoker’s descendant has rejected reports that claimed his ancestor’s most famous creation, Count Dracula, hailed not from Transylvania but Devon.
A brief survey of the short storyDavid Foster WallaceA brief survey of the short story: David Foster WallaceFor all its elaborate formal tricks, Wallace’s work is marked by a deep desire for authentic connection, to his subjects and to his readers
David Foster Wallace was a maximalist. His masterpiece, Infinite Jest, is a 1,000-page, polyphonic epic about addiction and obsession in millennial America. His journalism and essays, about television and tennis, sea cruises and grammar, always swelled far beyond their allotted word counts (cut for publication, he restored many of them to their full length when they were collected in book form).
The ObserverImmigration and asylum This article is more than 6 months oldChild migrants to be sent back to hotel where 136 vanishedThis article is more than 6 months oldA Brighton hotel where unaccompanied young people seeking asylum disappeared is to be brought back into use by the Home Office
A notorious Brighton hotel from where scores of children were kidnapped is to be reopened by the Home Office to house unaccompanied youngsters again, leaked internal memos reveal.
How to write a book in 30 daysBooks Click here for worksheets relevant to this chapterOnce you have a firm idea of who your main characters are, it's time to start thinking about where they are. This is also the time to start planning the research you'll need to do in order to make your characters, setting and entire story more realistic and specific.
Setting sketchesBefore you start the story, you need to get to know your settings as well as your characters.
US news This article is more than 6 months oldHead of school linked to Amy Coney Barrett’s faith group abruptly resignsThis article is more than 6 months oldThen a professor at Notre Dame, the supreme court justice was on a board that selected Jon Balsbaugh to head the Trinity Schools
A senior administrator of Christian private schools closely linked to People of Praise, conservative supreme court justice Amy Coney Barrett’s controversial faith group, abruptly resigned from his post earlier this year following complaints that allegations of teacher misconduct had been mishandled.
GamesReviewNintendo has not quite created the perfect shooter for people who don’t like shooters, but it is lovely, exciting and very cool
Splatoon – Nintendo’s take on shooting games – is as wonderfully, vibrantly creative as the phrase “Nintendo’s take on shooting games” might suggest. An entirely unique central mechanic removes the usual assault-rifle-toting grunts in favour of shape-shifting squids with a guns full of ink. Your aim is to paint the environment with as much of your team’s colour as possible, taking out rival players as you go.
Ireland holidaysThere’s no need for a car – cheaper rail fares in Ireland have made these six stunning rail trips even more appealing and sustainable
Driven by increasingly expensive car hire and an appetite for sustainable tourism, visitors to Ireland are discovering the lure of public transport. Fares on Irish public transport were cut by 20% in April until the end of this year and halved permanently for those aged 19 to 23, the first such reductions in Ireland since 1947.
Unreal … Infinite Ground plays out in a mysterious, unnamed South American country. Photograph: Stock Connection Blue/AlamyUnreal … Infinite Ground plays out in a mysterious, unnamed South American country. Photograph: Stock Connection Blue/AlamyBook of the dayFictionReviewAn inspector searches for a young man who may or may not be there in this serpentine inquiry into the nature of realityTowards the end of this impressive and finely textured debut, there is a chapter entitled “What Happened to Carlos – Suspicions, Rumours, Links”.
Jennifer Beals … ‘Let me put my hand on the hilt, I will show you the sword is mine.’ Photograph: Jill GreenbergJennifer Beals … ‘Let me put my hand on the hilt, I will show you the sword is mine.’ Photograph: Jill GreenbergThe G2 interviewTelevision & radioInterview‘I’ve had letters from klansmen’: Jennifer Beals on Flashdance, The L Word and fighting to get diverse stories toldZoe WilliamsThe actor, who broke through in 1983 playing a welder who dreamed of being a dancer, reflects on a life of activism, why gen Z give her hope and joining the Star Wars universe
TheatreObituaryTony ChurchA founder RSC member, he played a key role in state- subsidised theatreThe British theatre was transformed in the 1950s and 60s, not so much by its writers as by its actors, and Tony Church - who has died after a long illness, aged 77 - played a crucial part in that process. As a founder associate member of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1960, he went on to become one of its stalwart members and chief advocates.
OhioMontgomery county jail’s population is only 600 people – and all seven deaths happened within days of entering the facility, during pre-trial detention
Days after Steven Blackshear was booked into Montgomery county jail in downtown Dayton, Ohio, in January, a nurse found him shaking, in a fetal position and vomiting. He complained of chest and leg pains and was taken for medical testing. Two days later, he was found dead in his cell, covered only in towels.
The ObserverUK newsBig heads really are smarterScientists find that size does matterBeing a fathead has its compensations. Scientists have discovered that people with large skulls are more likely to fare well in the twilight of their years - at least when it comes to remembering what they are doing.
This striking conclusion is the handiwork of scientists who have uncovered a close correlation between the size of a pensioner's cranium and the results of intelligence and memory tests.
Gina Lollobrigida – a life in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Actor, photographer, sculptor and style icon, Gina Lollobrigida has died at the age of 95. La Lollo’s heyday was the 1950s and 60s and here we look back at her fabulous life
Greg Whitmore
Main image: Gina Lollobrigida in Solomon and Sheba, 1959 Photograph: United Artists/Kobal/Shutterstock Mon 16 Jan 2023 07.
Claudine Gay on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 5 December. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA-EFEView image in fullscreenClaudine Gay on Capitol Hill in Washington DC on 5 December. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA-EFEHarvard UniversityHarvard president resigns amid claims of plagiarism and antisemitism backlashClaudine Gay announces in letter she is stepping down after just six months and returning to position as member of the faculty
Claudine Gay’s resignation letter in full Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University, has resigned amid pressure over her response to questions about antisemitism at US colleges and allegations that she has plagiarized some of her academic work.
FamilySophie Radice was best pals with Heti as a girl, then their parents got together. She describes their special relationshipThe words "step-sister" brings to mind the spiteful harridan of the Cinderella fairytale. Like so many things in fairytales, there is a nugget of truth at the heart of the tale; there are real challenges in living as a sort of sibling with other children, without being actual brothers and sisters. As much as parents want to imagine that their kids are "
Real deal ... A genuine Vincent Gallo in 2010’s Essential Killing. Photograph: Publicity image from film companyReal deal ... A genuine Vincent Gallo in 2010’s Essential Killing. Photograph: Publicity image from film companyFilm This article is more than 7 years oldVincent Gallo sues Facebook after ex-girlfriend sends nude pics to 'fake' profileThis article is more than 7 years oldActor-director files a federal lawsuit against the social media giant for refusing to suspend an account impersonating him
From left, Chris Pine as Caleb, Margot Robbie as Ann Burden, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Loomis, in the film Z for Zachariah. Photograph: Z4Z Film/Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate via APFrom left, Chris Pine as Caleb, Margot Robbie as Ann Burden, and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Loomis, in the film Z for Zachariah. Photograph: Z4Z Film/Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate via APChildren's booksChildren's booksZ for Zachariah: a complex exploration of power and genderJenny Downham explains how Robert C O’Brien’s novel of post-nuclear apocalypse gave her far more than relief from the fear of nuclear war in the 1970s – a life-long belief in the strength of girls and women, and the prototype for her own fictional heroines
Stanford University students give their reaction to the 23-year-old woman’s ‘heartbreaking’ victim impact statement (CBS San Francisco Bay Area) GuardianStanford sexual assault case This article is more than 7 years oldEx-Stanford swimmer gets six months in jail and probation for sexual assaultThis article is more than 7 years oldBrock Allen Turner, who withdrew from the university, was arrested after students saw him lying on top of an unconscious woman outside a frat party
The Affirmation Tower is envisioned as a home for some of the nation’s top Black-owned businesses. Illustration: Heather Polk/The Guardian‘Things remain very much business as usual within real estate’: a Black-run Manhattan skyscraper hits a roadblock
by David Christopher KaufmanA new New York City skyscraper designed by a white architect, built by a white contractor and developed by a white real estate company? Business as usual. But what about a new New York City skyscraper designed by a Black architect, built by a Black contractor and developed by a Black real estate company?
US gun control This article is more than 4 months oldNew Mexico officials call for governor’s impeachment after firearms restrictionThis article is more than 4 months oldDemocratic governor’s emergency order restricts carrying firearms for at least 30 days amid spate of gun violence
New Mexico state representatives Stefani Lord and John Block are calling for the impeachment of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham after Grisham issued an emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque, the state’s largest city.
MediaRonald McDonald gets a makeoverPicture gallery: Ronald or Ronette?She's sexy, she's stylish, she's sophisticated - and somewhat surprisingly, she's Ronald McDonald.
A gender-bending makeover of McDonald's marketing icon in Japan has been hailed a great success after capturing the public imagination and enticing adults back into its outlets to sample a revamped menu.
Traditionally, Ronald McDonald would goof about in oversized shoes and baggy yellow overalls in a frantic and successful pursuit of Hamburgler.
Florida This article is more than 8 months oldThirteen-year-old girl punches shark in Florida to escape attackThis article is more than 8 months oldElla Reed was bitten in the stomach, arm, knee and finger after attack from probable bull shark, but plans to return to the water
A 13-year-old girl escaped a shark attack at a Florida beach Thursday by punching the aggressive, predatory creature.
The teen, Ella Reed, told South Florida’s Local 10 News, was sitting in waist-deep water, alongside a friend, when she was struck by intense, sharp pain.
Wrexham 3 - 2 Salford City Wrexham Home team scorers Elliot Lee 39 Steven Fletcher 88 Jordan Davies 89 Salford City Away team scorers Matt Smith 15 Matt Smith 36 Match stats Possession SAL WRE 48 52 Goal attempts 14 Wrexham Off target 6 Salford City 7 Wrexham On target 4 Salford City Corners 11 3 Fouls 12 8 Lineups Wrexham 33 Okonkwo 34 James 5 Hayden 15 O'Connell 22 O'Connor 23 McClean 30 Jones 12 Evans 38 Lee 9 Palmer 10 Mullin Substitutes 6 Tunnicliffe (s 90') 7 Davies (s 64') 8 Young (s 90') 11 McAlinden 18 Dalby (s 79') 21 Howard 26 Fletcher (s 64') Salford City 1 Cairns 2 Ingram 5 Mariappa 16 Tilt 29 Garbutt 24 Bolton 8 Lund 6 Watt 3 John 14 Mallan 17 Smith Substitutes 54 Luamba 7 Watson (s 55') 13 Wright 32 Shephard (s 55') 36 Dackers 45 Pedro 47 Humbles ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6fpMGjrculZqaZpJi1cICScWlxamE%3D
Environment This article is more than 3 years oldAIA sponsorship is stain on Spurs shirts, say Kick Out Coal campaignersThis article is more than 3 years oldHong Kong-based insurance company holds stake of at least $3bn in coal projects
Tottenham Hotspur may be top of the Premier League for a change, but the climate credentials of its shirt sponsor AIA are among the lowest of any club in the country, according to a new report by fossil fuel divestment activists.
Debbie Harry's glory years – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Debbie Harry’s fame-hungry days with Blondie are revealed in a captivating behind-the-scenes book and exhibition by her former partner and band co-founder Chris Stein.
Chris Stein/Negative: Me, Blondie, and the Advent of Punk by Chris Stein (Rizzoli £35) is out now. Click here to order a copy for £29.
How to cook the perfect ...PieIs steak and ale pie enough to tempt you off the January detox wagon, or maybe even ensure you never climb aboard?I admire people who embark upon a "detox" programme at this time of year. It sounds so glamorously scientific – like one of those shampoo adverts with the cartoon molecules and unpronounceable names – and certainly far more exciting than a plain old diet. But the fact remains that January is a drear month at this latitude, and there's only so much salad one can stomach in the rain before you find yourself reaching for the Creme Eggs.
Dr Rogelio Goiburú guides work at the dig while relatives of the disappeared and local residents look on. Photograph: Nico GranadaDr Rogelio Goiburú guides work at the dig while relatives of the disappeared and local residents look on. Photograph: Nico GranadaParaguaySurvivors of a notorious massacre in 1980 have returned to aid an effort to recover the bodies of murdered farmers
Apolonia Flores drove a spade into the damp red earth, prising out a root left by a recent sugar cane crop.
Sport and leisure booksReviewRichard Moore on an illuminating book that challenges the notion that in sport, practice matters more than innate talent"The more I practise, the luckier I get," said the golfer Gary Player, giving birth to one of sport's most famous aphorisms, one that is cherished by the world's most driven athletes, their coaches and, perhaps dangerously in some cases, their parents.
It is easy to see why it is so appealing.
CitiesYears of gang warfare has turned the spring-breaker destination into a Gotham-style nightmare. Now some of its remaining residents are taking to the streets in a desperate call for peace
Thousands of people dressed in white, carrying white balloons and waving white handkerchiefs, have been parading down the main streets of Tampico, Mexico, recently. But these people weren’t part of a local carnival, art event or other joyous celebration. They have taken to the streets in a desperate call for help.
The ObserverArt This article is more than 10 years old'I never made money from the Green Lady,' says Tretchikoff's modelThis article is more than 10 years oldAs the original goes to auction for the first time, Monika Pon, the woman in the 1950s classic, says it brought her neither fame nor fortuneIt was the face that launched a thousand drab sitting rooms into kitsch popular culture. Chinese Girl, with her otherworldly glow and decorative gold tunic, is one of the most reproduced fine art prints in the world.
MediaObituaryAlan CorenA humorist and wry commentator, he made his name as editor of PunchAlan Coren, who has died of cancer aged 69, was an extremely funny man. Dubbed a national treasure of wit by one critic, in the New Yorker he was even called the natural successor to SJ Perelman - high and unusual praise for a man who had once been criticised as a mere imitator of that magazine's great comic writer.
Blooming marvellous … Adrian Chiles and the skyscraping century plant. Photograph: Courtesy of Adrian ChilesBlooming marvellous … Adrian Chiles and the skyscraping century plant. Photograph: Courtesy of Adrian ChilesOpinionPlants This article is more than 2 years oldMy towering agave plant is in full bloom – but it’s a bittersweet bonanzaThis article is more than 2 years oldAdrian ChilesThe century plant outside my flat grew a monstrous stalk this summer. I have since learned this means its days are numbered – which has painted it in a whole new light
OpinionDogs This article is more than 6 months old‘Puppy yoga’ is on the rise – and as a dog welfare specialist, I’m horrifiedThis article is more than 6 months oldEsme WheelerA new documentary makes distressing claims about the animals’ welfare. If we really love dogs, let’s start acting like it
Humans owe dogs our eternal gratitude for the contributions they make to society – from saving lives in the military and police, to advancing scientific research through the power of their noses, to providing vital assistance allowing people to live fulfilling, independent lives.
50 greatest symphoniesClassical musicSymphony guide: Bruckner's 6thBruckner's "saucy" sixth is the symphony that disproves those lazy received opinions about his music
“He wrote the same symphony nine times.” "His one-dimensional orchestration is all thanks to his training as an organist.” They're "cathedrals of sound.” "They sound like Schenkerian middlegrounds” … and other such clichés. (Full marks if you got the last one, by the way, but I promise that’s what some musical analysts, especially those disciples of Heinrich Schenker, think of the symphonies.
FilmZoe Kazan is no stranger to Hollywood: her parents, boyfriend and late grandfather Elia all found fame in the industry. Now it’s her turn – and she’s doing it differently
Zoe Kazan has been in a lot of movies but, as she tells me on the short walk from a photo studio in Manhattan to an Indian restaurant for lunch, she has been troubled by the paparazzi only once. The actor is in pale dungaree shorts and an embroidered denim jacket, and at 33 is slight and earnest; she could, if she wanted to, still just about carry off bunches.
THE BODY BEAUTIFULDoes beheading hurt? Gail White, Glasgow I once sat with someone who had just had their leg torn off and they had absolutely no idea though there was a dull ache. I suspect the body compensates for the pain by numbing the nerve ends through shock. Anyway, how would you ever ask? Calvin, London UK
The act of beheading via axe was considered barbaric as the axe man would often miss the clean killing stroke.
RelationshipsRelationship splits are even messier in the online age. When must you change your Facebook status? And who gets custody of Netflix? Here’s all the advice you need
You are suddenly single again. Should you steer clear of social media?In the early stages of a breakup, going online can feel like the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, only instead of waiting artillery there are pictures of your ex, ready to blow you to bits.
Notes & TheoriesCancer researchHoney treatment amounts to sweet nothingA "new hope" for cancer sufferers or a jar of exorbitantly expensive honey? How the makers of Life Mel prey on the fear and desperation of patientsPhotograph: Rex Features
Sex sells. But fear, pain and desperation sell even more effectively.
This press release from the creators of Life Mel honey is an object lesson in that despicable dark art. Their target is cancer patients struggling to deal with the horrible side-effects of their treatment:
CountryObituaryKenny Rogers obituaryOne of the great American country singers who had hits with The Gambler, Lucille and Islands in the StreamKenny Rogers, who has died aged 81, was a prolific hit-maker from the late 1960s into the 80s, and with songs such as Lucille, The Gambler and Coward of the County helped to create a bestselling crossover of pop and country material. “I did songs that were not country but were more pop,” he said in 2016.
Technology This article is more than 9 years oldSnapchat videos and pictures stored on a third-party website posted onlineThis article is more than 9 years oldImages from up to 200,000 teenagers leaked on to internet after users lured into saving images on Snapsaved.com
Snapchat leaked pics came from Snapsaved.com, says researcher
Videos and pictures of as many as 200,000 teenagers posted via the Snapchat service and stored on a third-party website have been put online, apparently by the same people who were behind the posting of nude celebrity photos in August.
The ObserverRefereesYellow cards, VAR and no controversy: Rebecca Welch makes history as first female Premier League refereeThere were some boos and half-hearted chants, but she maintained quiet and calm authority when she took charge in Fulham v Burnley
It’s said that the mark of a good performance for a football referee is not being noticed. That was always going to be a tall order for Rebecca Welch, who on Saturday became the first woman to referee a Premier League match in Fulham’s 2-0 home defeat by Burnley.
December 14 2003: Key images of the arrest of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
Saddam's new look
Image of captured former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein displayed at a news conference in Baghdad.
15.12.03: Saddam the prisoner
More pictures from the Iraq conflict
Going underground
In a small orange grove on a farm near the village of Adwar, US soldiers pulled back a tarpaulin to discover the entrance to Saddam Hussein's bolthole.
James Wong on gardensGardening adviceThree deadly carnivores to terrify insects and delight kids
If you are a regular reader, you might just have noticed that I have a slight fondness for exotic plants. Hell, let’s be honest, it’s more of an obsession. Yet I like to think that part of my love of them is not just due to personal bias, but because there is simply no other group of plants that quite captures the imagination of such a diverse group of audiences, which might not otherwise be into horticulture.
Comedy filmsReviewLiv Hill is astonishingly good as a teenage carer whose talent for comedy transforms her troubled life
Tracey Emin, who once told the story of fleeing the stage during a disco-dancing competition as teenager in Margate after men shouted “slag” at her, has got to be an inspiration for this impressive zero-budget social-realist drama set in Margate that features a similar act of cruelty against its teenage heroine. The film begins in kitchen-sink-grim mode, then multiplies in interest as it transforms into the origins story of a female talent – here in standup comedy rather than art.
FashionMorrissey in photoshoot beef with SupremeThe former Smiths frontman is unhappy with New York skatewear label Supreme’s choice of images of him, and its association with a burger brand
Morrissey, fashion photographer Terry Richardson, and skatewear brand Supreme: what should have been a perfect storm of cool has backfired after the former Smiths frontman reacted badly to photographs of himself modelling for the label.
Taking to his fanzine, True to You, over the weekend, he released the following statement: “I apologize [sic] enormously for the enfeebled photograph of me issued this week by Supreme.
Carol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetrySong by Elizabeth I’s court musician is a lullaby in praise of sleep – but might it also be an elegy written ahead of time?
Weep you no more, sad fountains
Weep you no more, sad fountains;
What need you flow so fast?
Look how the snowy mountains
Heaven’s sun doth gently waste.
But my sun’s heavenly eyes
View not your weeping,
That now lie sleeping
History booksReviewThe western-dominated global order is being challenged by history’s losers, in India as in Brexit Britain and Trump’s AmericaNot long after the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the neoconservative American political scientist Francis Fukuyama published The End of History and the Last Man, which declared that liberal democracy was triumphing all over the world and would become the final form of human government, bringing history to an end.
Canada This article is more than 1 year oldCanadian journalist’s memoir accused of depicting sexual assault as consensualThis article is more than 1 year oldFilm-maker Zoe Greenberg says she raised concerns with Penguin Random House Canada over Leah McLaren’s book
A Canadian film-maker who was allegedly sexually assaulted as a teenager has accused the country’s largest book publisher of knowingly releasing a memoir by one of her alleged assailants that depicts the incident as consensual.
OpinionLinkedIn This article is more than 1 year oldFinally, a Viral Post Generator for LinkedIn posts so you can spend more time on #career #goalsThis article is more than 1 year oldJennifer WongWhen comedian Jennifer Wong learned that AI was writing viral LinkedIn posts, she couldn’t resist going on a journey of discovery
I’m so humbled that the Guardian asked me to write an article about the LinkedIn Viral Post Generator.
PlantwatchPlantsWhen it comes to attracting pollinators, buttercup petals hold all the aces. They even provide their guests with heating
Do you like butter? Hold a buttercup under your chin and folklore says if there is a yellow reflection on your skin it means you do. But the real reason the flowers seem to shine with an intense glittering yellow is nothing to do with butter but about advertising the plants to insect pollinators from a great distance.
ShortcutsDenmarkA TV ad campaign by a package-holiday company in Denmark aims to persuade Danes to have sex on holiday in a bid to boost the country's low birthrateHotel rooms are one of life's great aphrodisiacs – at least that's the theory behind a new campaign from Danish package-holiday specialist Spies Rejser. Its latest TV campaign, Do It For Denmark, aims to encourage Danes to go on holiday in the hope that they might procreate while abroad.
Music blogJazz50 great moments in jazz: Duke Ellington develops the 'jungle sound'Ragtime, boogie-woogie, New Orleans blues and the Harlem renaissance … it all went into the rich mix that made up Duke Ellington's groundbreaking 'jungle sound'In the last instalment of 50 great moments in jazz, I looked at how Duke Ellington moved jazz on to a new level during the 1920s. But how did he come to develop his unique compositional style?
Germany This article is more than 5 months oldGerman supermarket trials charging true climate cost of foodsThis article is more than 5 months oldPenny chain raises price of products including wiener sausage, cheese and yoghurt in week-long experiment
A leading discount supermarket in Germany has raised the prices of a selection of its products to reflect their real cost on people’s health and the environment.
In a week-long experiment in all 2,150 branches of the Penny chain, a range of nine products, mainly dairy and meat, will be priced at what experts from two universities have deemed to be their true cost, in relation to their effect on soil, climate, water use and health.
In the pink: the perfect rhubarb and custard tart. Photograph: Robert Billington/The GuardianView image in fullscreenIn the pink: the perfect rhubarb and custard tart. Photograph: Robert Billington/The GuardianHow to cook the perfect ...DessertThese two foodstuffs go hand in hand, and this tart is an excellent choice for Easter. If you still get hold of some bright pink forced rhubarb, even better
Rhubarb and custard go together like cheese and pickle, orFanny and Johnnie: whether it’s served up insteaming, stodgy spoonfuls in the school dinner hall orelegant tartlets in the royal kitchens, it’s a classic double act.
Carol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetryPoem of the week: The Opposite of Confidential by Claudine ToutoungiA chorus of birds takes on the leading role in a poem exploring creativity and freedom of expression
The Opposite of Confidential
Nobody questions the birds.
Their trills are never subject to inspection or
forced to satisfy requirements.
Light-boned libertarians
(the opposite of confidential),
they cannot keep it in.
You will not see them lining up in rows,
Country diaryTrees and forestsWenlock Edge, Shropshire: Winged seeds come spiralling out of the murk to land in the lane
From the corner of my eye I see something move but don’t catch what it is. Then there’s another movement, a dark spinning. I watch sycamore keys come spiralling out of the murk to land in the lane.
There’s an Egyptian creation myth about sycamore. The goddess Hathor, the Holy Cow, sat in a sycamore at sunset and created the earth, everything living on it, and the sun.
The best climate strike signs from around the globe – in pictures Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Millions of people across the globe took part in protests on Friday demanding urgent action on the climate crisis. The strike kicks off a week of environmental activism before the UN climate action summit
Main image: A protester attends a demonstration Friday in Washington DC.
The Guardian picture essayColdplayAdventure of a Lifetime – behind the scenes on the set of Coldplay's new videoGuardian photojournalist Sarah Lee was granted exclusive access to the set of Coldplay’s groundbreaking, Mat Whitecross-directed music video at the Imaginarium, a digital motion capture studio set up by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish in London
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Chick Hicks (Michael Keaton)
To do that, McQueen has to get the better of this ruthless competitor who has bumped and cheated his way into more second place finishes than any other car. Who's who in Cars ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaJ6Zobpws8Clo56qqWS9qq%2FTrqmeZ2BheW59j2tnbGppaoBzgZdvY2loXp3Brrg%3D
Spain This article is more than 4 years oldHe's the daddy, judge rules on two-year Julio Iglesias paternity caseThis article is more than 4 years oldFormer ballerina said her son, now 42, was conceived in week-long affair with the pop star
A Spanish court has ruled that the pop star Julio Iglesias is the biological father of a 42-year-old man whose mother said she had a brief affair with the singer in the 1970s.
The ObserverFictionReviewThe French writer’s latest literary thriller needs more intrigue and fewer metaphorsIn fiction, the line between writing that is thrillingly spare and prose that is merely disappointingly under-fleshed is a wobbly one. Delphine de Vigan’s complex and gripping psycho-literary thriller Based on a True Story trod this line in unexpected, often chilling ways. The narration was perfect – its tight, almost wilful economy somehow sparking an ambiguity in which you, the reader, became complicit.
The ObserverSociety booksReviewJacqueline Rose wants her book to be a clarion call for a new feminism. But it is long-winded, precious and paradoxicalIn non-academic circles, Jacqueline Rose, who teaches at the University of London, is best known as the author of the 1991 book, The Haunting of Sylvia Plath, a feminist analysis of the poet’s work that drove Ted Hughes halfway round the bend. As Janet Malcolm wrote when she revisited the saga in The Silent Woman, her own book about Plath and Hughes, Rose, whose interests include psychoanalysis, is “an adept of a theory of criticism whose highest values are uncertainty, anxiety and ambiguity”.
The ObserverCubaThe remarkable tale of Frank Terpil, former intelligence agent, fugitive from US justice and a 53-year jail term, who has died in Havana
To those not in the know, he would introduce himself as Robert Hunter. An Australian retiree, he said, whiling away his latter years with his notably younger Cuban wife, in a simple bungalow overlooking the Playas del Este, a string of white sand beaches outside Havana.
UK Independence party (Ukip) This article is more than 9 years oldGay donkey rapists and other oddities: how Ukip keeps going off-messageThis article is more than 9 years oldJohn Rees-Evans has joined the ranks of Ukip members whose comments are attracting more attention than the party would like“Just don’t,” Ukip’s chairman, Steve Crowther, recently told party members tempted to express odd views on Twitter. In the light of a “Gay donkey tried to rape my horse” headline generated by a Ukip candidate in Cardiff, Crowther should probably tell them to avoid being filmed on YouTube too.
Google This article is more than 9 years oldGoogle removes results linking to stolen photos of Jennifer Lawrence nudeThis article is more than 9 years oldLinks to sites hosting the hacked photos have started to be removed by Google after copyright takedown requests filed by Lawrence’s lawyers
Google has removed two links to a site hosting stolen nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence after requests by the actor’s lawyers.
The takedown requests were filed under the digital millennium copyright act (DMCA), with her lawyers Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp stating that the stolen photos impinged on Lawrence’s copyright.
Other livesThe EconomistObituaryHelen Mann obituaryMy aunt Helen Mann, who has died aged 93, worked variously as a secretary, model, writer of a children’s guide to London and as a curator of paintings.
Always stylish, she combined immense practicality with an eye for colour and clear lines; she had a talent for creating beautiful spaces indoors and out. Helen turned her hand to arranging flowers for parties and weddings, making curtains and baking bread when money was short, but her time at the Economist magazine from her mid-50s provided her with a professional life and fellowship to which she remained devoted.
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AlgarveWith talk of air bridges opening, the beaches, splendid seafood and ramshackle charms of Olhão will soon be within reach again
Vitálio, 72, tubby and talkative, brushed lustrous hair, opens his barber shop at dawn. There’s a flow of customers blown in on the early tide – their fruit and veg picked and dug, fish hooked and delivered to the market at the end of the alley – and a handful of older insomniacs, here just to hang.