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.