The Guardian
Could we end migraines for good? – podcast

British cabinet minister Dehenna Davison recently resigned from government, explaining that chronic migraines were making it impossible for her to do her job. Her announcement coincided with a new drug for acute migraines being recommended for use in the NHS. Madeleine Finlay meets Prof Peter Goadsby, whose pioneering research underpins the new drug, to find out about the advances we’ve made in understanding migraines, and whether we might one day be able to wave goodbye to migraines for good

Clips: TalkTV, ITV

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28th September 2023 06:00
The Guardian
Evergrande halts share trading as woes mount for China’ property giant

Suspension comes a month after developer resumed trading and follows its chair reportedly being put under police surveillance

Embattled Chinese property giant Evergrande has suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange only a month after it resumed trading after a 17-month suspension.

Trading in its two other units – the property services and electric vehicle groups – also stopped at 9am on Thursday, according to notices posted by the stock exchange.

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28th September 2023 05:06
The Guardian
US actor Steve Martin backs Australian film on Indigenous art movement

Comedian announced as executive producer on Honey Ant Dreamers, about the evolution of the Papunya Western Desert art movement, to be filmed across the Northern Territory

US actor, comedian and keen Indigenous art collector Steve Martin has been announced as an executive producer of a new feature film that charts the origins of the Western Desert art movement.

Martin, who is one of the world’s top collectors of Aboriginal Australian art, has also been involved in the script development for Honey Ant Dreamers, set to be filmed in 2024 around Papunya, the MacDonnell Ranges and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

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28th September 2023 04:59
The Guardian
Nagorno Karabakh: Why a frozen conflict suddenly exploded

Tens of thousands of refugees have already fled their homes in the disputed region, and more are set to follow. Andrew Roth explains why

After a long blockade – then a lightening-fast offensive – the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh finally fell to Azerbaijan. And this week tens of thousands of refugees have fled over the border into neighbouring Armenia.

The Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, Andrew Roth, was at the border speaking to the people evacuating. One woman told him it was the third time she had had to flee, and how heartbroken she was to have to abandon not just her home, but the place her son was buried. Roth explains the long roots of the conflict and its wider significance.

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28th September 2023 04:00
The Guardian
Paul Dalla Rosa: the 10 funniest things I have ever seen (on the internet)

The Melbourne writer who penned ‘a novel about the internet’ shares why Lana Del Rey bathing with her cats, Bill Gates in slo-mo and the NYT advice column make him laugh online

Last year, I went to write in a cabin in the middle of the New Hampshire woods. There were deer and bobcats and large, expressive racoons. I was excited to be off-grid. But even there, I still received data. My phone reception was better than ever. During the day, I placed my phone in a ziplock bag and stashed it in the unlit fireplace, then, late at night, abjectly clawed it back out. I understood why writers in the past cut modem lines and severed fibre optic cables, but I told myself it was OK to be on the internet as I was writing a novel about the internet, that semiotic deluge we’re all immersed in, which is something so strange and beautiful and wondrous and terrifying.

These are some of the things I return to. Though, if I’m honest, the funniest things I’ve seen aren’t always “ha ha” funny. It’s more that I’m drawn to a weirdness, a certain energy. These are the things that make me laugh.

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28th September 2023 03:00
The Guardian
Indonesia bans e-commerce sales on social media platforms like TikTok

Government says regulation aimed at protecting small businesses from competition

Indonesia has banned goods transactions on social media platforms as it aims to protect small businesses from e-commerce competition.

Calls had grown in recent months for a regulation governing social media and e-commerce, with offline sellers seeing their livelihoods threatened by the sale of cheaper products on TikTok Shop and other platforms.

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28th September 2023 02:43
The Guardian
Canada assassination claim sparks rare consensus in India’s polarised politics and media

News anchors, political commentators and even the opposition furiously condemn accusations India played a role in assassination of Sikh activist

When Justin Trudeau stood up in Canadian parliament last week to announce there were “credible allegations” that agents linked to the Indian government had been involved in the assassination of a Sikh activist in a suburb of Vancouver, it sent reverberations across the world.

Countries from the US to the UK expressed concern at the allegations, urging India to cooperate with the investigation. Inside India, the response was defiant. The government called the allegations “absurd” and politically motivated and attempted to turn the tables, accusing Canada of being a rogue state that is a “safe haven for terrorists”.

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28th September 2023 01:59
The Guardian
Young Australians could turn the tide to make the voice a reality | Barrie Cassidy

History shows us referendums are tough. But the more progressive, issues-based under-40s might just make this one the groundbreaker

There are so many political orthodoxies and shibboleths in Australia discouraging change. Conservatives use them like handbrakes. Progressive parties fear the strength of precedents and instead talk of change, but only so much change. It takes considerable political pressure from within their own constituency to even try for the harder stuff.

One such contention is that you can’t change the constitution without bipartisan support.

As it stands – with history and not the present as the determinant – that is so demonstrably right. Until now we have been a very conservative bunch when it comes to change. Especially at referendums.

There have been 44 referendums since 1901 and only eight were successful.

And here’s the thing. Of those eight, seven gained a majority of votes not only nationally but in all states. In other words, they had to be non-contentious ideas. Substantial, sure. But no-brainers. Proposals such as allowing the Senate and the House of Representatives elections to be held at the same time; a retirement age for judges; allowing territorians to vote in referendums; counting Aboriginal Australians in the census.

The one exception, the one referendum that drew a yes vote without all of the states on side, happened in 1910 when New South Wales alone resisted change.

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28th September 2023 01:42
The Guardian
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 582 of the invasion

Wagner mercenaries return to Donetsk front; Russia launches 44 air strikes in one day

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28th September 2023 01:26
The Guardian
Astronaut and cosmonauts return to Earth after getting stuck in space for more than a year

Trio had to stay longer on International Space Station after their original return capsule was hit by space junk

A Nasa astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts returned to Earth on Wednesday after being stuck in space for just over a year. American Frank Rubio set a record for the longest US spaceflight – a result of the extended stay.

The trio landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan, descending in a Soyuz capsule that was rushed up as a replacement after their original ride was hit by space junk and lost all its coolant while docked to the International Space Station.

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28th September 2023 01:14
The Guardian
Women’s Super League 2023-24 previews No 9: Manchester City

A team studded with England internationals need to kick on and secure European qualification after last season’s near miss

To improve on last season’s fourth place and challenge for the WSL title. If missing out on Champions League qualification on goal difference last term hurt, Gareth Taylor and his players could cite mitigating circumstances. The summer of 2022 proved turbulent at the Etihad campus with four leading City lights exiting stage left and another retiring. While England’s Lucy Bronze and Keira Walsh defected to Barcelona, their international teammate Georgia Stanway departed for Bayern Munich and Ellen White, the Lionesses’ record goalscorer, hung up her boots. By then Scotland’s Caroline Weir had also already left for Real Madrid. Given that context, a top-four place represented respectability.

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28th September 2023 01:01
The Guardian
More aid money spent on clean air than fossil fuels for first time

Clean Air Fund says despite increased spending on air pollution, projects still receive less than 1% of funding

Governments, agencies and development banks have spent more aid money on clean air than fossil fuels for the first time on record, a report has found.

However, such projects still receive less than 1% of international development funding, according to the Clean Air Fund, an environmental charity.

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28th September 2023 01:01
The Guardian
My first time in a float tank: ‘the only part of me I was sure still existed was my head’

In her fortnightly review of fitness and wellbeing activities, comedian Jennifer Wong experiences sensory deprivation in a salty, skin-temperature bath

An hour sounds like a long time to float.

As a first-time float tank user with a love of statistics, I was across all the major numbers before dipping a single toe in the water. I knew, for example, that my toe would go into a double bed-sized pool filled with 400kg of Epsom salts and 1,000 litres of water.

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28th September 2023 00:00
The Guardian
Victor Osimhen on target in Napoli win, Sassuolo end Inter’s unbeaten start

  • Napoli 4-1 Udinese, Inter 1-2 Sassuolo, Cagliari 1-3 Milan
  • Girona go top of La Liga, Real Madrid sink Las Palmas

Victor Osimhen was on the scoresheet for Napoli as the defending Serie A champions earned a welcome 4-1 home win over Udinese on Wednesday.

The Nigeria forward struck in the first half and offered a muted celebration, after a week where his agent has discussed “the right to take legal action” after Napoli posted a bizarre video on TikTok that seemingly mocked the player.

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27th September 2023 23:58
The Guardian
Newcastle earn Manchester United trip as Isak sends City out of Carabao Cup

If Pep Guardiola did not particularly relish receiving a reminder that, sometimes, possession can be overrated, Eddie Howe saw his Newcastle team transformed by the half-time introduction of Bruno Guimarães and Anthony Gordon.

That pair made a mockery of Manchester City’s earlier domination, paving the way for Alexander Isak’s second-half winner to earn Howe’s side a fourth-round trip to Manchester United. Not to mention ensuring that “Gulf derby” bragging rights belong to Saudi Arabia.

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27th September 2023 23:19
The Guardian
Dominik Szoboszlai’s rocket helps Liverpool avoid upset against Leicester

Another moment of brilliance from Dominik Szoboszlai sealed yet another comeback from Liverpool as Leicester’s hopes of an upset were shattered spectacularly at Anfield.

The Hungary captain had been on the pitch for five minutes when he polished a dominant home display with a thunderous drive that kissed the underside of Jakub Stolarczyk’s crossbar en route to goal. The Championship club had taken an early lead through Kasey McAteer but stylish strikes from Cody Gakpo, Szoboszlai and Diogo Jota ensured Liverpool came from behind to win for the fifth time in eight matches.

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27th September 2023 23:02
The Guardian
Nicolas Jackson knocks Brighton out of Carabao Cup to lift gloom at Chelsea

When it finally arrived the goal could not have been more out of keeping with Chelsea’s recent attacking efforts. There was a deft assist from Cole Palmer, who impressed on his first start since joining from Manchester City, but what stood out even more was Nicolas Jackson casting the doubts aside, taking the ball on the run and finding the ruthlessness to send Brighton out of the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Was this really Chelsea? It has not been easy to keep the faith with Mauricio Pochettino’s blunt side. Chelsea, who had gone three games without finding the back of the net, had felt the gloom deepening after losing to Aston Villa. There were even concerns that the men’s team would not be contributing any entries to the club’s goal of the month competition for September.

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27th September 2023 22:55
The Guardian
Glasgow gets go-ahead to open UK’s first drug consumption room

Cities across Scotland considering similar addiction schemes as plans approved for Hunter Street facility

Cities across Scotland are considering setting up their own safe injecting facilities after authorities in Glasgow gave the official go-ahead to the UK’s first drug consumption room.

“All eyes are on Glasgow,” said Allan Casey, Glasgow city council’s addictions convener, after the plans were approved on Wednesday morning by a joint committee of NHS and council officials.

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27th September 2023 22:27
The Guardian
Rivals accuse Trump of being ‘missing in action’ at second Republican debate

Seven candidates faced off at Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, California, with Republican frontrunner again choosing to skip

The absence of Donald Trump played a central role in the second Republican primary debate of the 2024 election season, as seven White House hopefuls tried and mostly failed to shake up a race in which the former president remains the clear frontrunner.

Two of Trump’s rivals attempted to capitalize on his absence by criticizing him for skipping the debate, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute in Simi Valley, California. DeSantis mocked Trump as “missing in action”, saying, “He should be on this stage tonight. He owes it to you to defend his record.”

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27th September 2023 21:53
The Guardian
Meta to launch AI chatbots played by Snoop Dogg and Kendall Jenner

Host of celebrities to embody new assistants aimed at increasing young people’s interaction with AI

Meta is to launch artificial intelligence chatbots embodied by celebrities including Snoop Dogg, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka.

Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement at the company’s annual Connect conference, where he spoke about new AI products at Facebook’s parent company.

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27th September 2023 21:40
The Guardian
Uruguay fight back to deny 14-man Namibia first-ever Rugby World Cup win

  • Pool A: Uruguay 36-26 Namibia
  • Des Sethie sent off as discipline costs outsiders

Uruguay secured their first win at this year’s Rugby World Cup, fighting back to beat Namibia 36-26 in their Pool A meeting in Lyon.

Namibia led 14-0 early on and 23-12 soon after half-time, but were punished for ill-discipline as their bid for a first-ever World Cup win fell short. Des Sethie saw his yellow card for a high tackle upgraded to a red, while Johan Coetzee and the captain Tjiuee Uanivi were also sent to the sin bin.

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27th September 2023 21:26
The Guardian
Lillard joining Antetokounmpo at Bucks in blockbuster trade, say reports

  • Seven-time All-Star requested trade from Portland in July
  • ESPN say Phoenix Suns also involved in trade

The Milwaukee Bucks look like they will have a formidable duo at their disposal with reports they have acquired seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard to play alongside two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Portland Timbers will receive Milwaukee’s 2029 unprotected first-round draft pick, and unprotected Bucks swap rights in 2028 and 2030 as well as Jrue Holiday, Deandre Ayton and Toumani Camara. The Phoenix Suns are also part of the deal and will receive Jusuf Nurkic, Grayson Allen, Nassir Little and Keon Johnson.

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27th September 2023 21:00
The Guardian
US soldier who fled to North Korea in July back in US custody

Travis King transferred across border to China, where he was handed to US embassy and will be returned home

Travis King, an American soldier who fled across the border from South Korea to North Korea in July, is back in US custody, officials said on Wednesday.

According to senior administration officials, King crossed the Chinese border on Wednesday, and Chinese authorities handed him to the US embassy, who then arranged for the army private to be flown to a US military base in the region.

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27th September 2023 20:53
The Guardian
'It's just not right': residents react to demolition order for Mast Quay II tower block – video

Residents at the Mast Quay Phase II tower block and surrounding area in Greenwich spoke to the Guardian about a demolition order for their building from the Greenwich council due to a series of planning breaches. Many of the people residing in the 23-storey housing development initially received the news through journalists and expressed surprise and disappointment with the decision.

Anthony Okereke, the Labour leader of Greenwich council, said developers were 'lining their pockets' by letting the apartments despite issues with planning breaches. The council described the building as a 'mutant development that is a blight on the landscape'.

The developer, Comer Homes, said: 'We are justly proud of our track record of delivering high-quality developments across the UK. In our view the council’s concerns regarding Mast Quay Phase II can be addressed through following normal process and engaging with us on a retrospective planning application'

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27th September 2023 20:29
The Guardian
‘It’s fertile ground’: far right tries to muscle in on France’s World Cup | Raphaël Jucobin

Rugby’s spot in the limelight at a home World Cup comes with divisive attention from all sides of the political spectrum

Even when he’s not playing, all eyes are on Antoine Dupont. With the France captain seemingly closing in on a freakishly rapid return to action after fracturing his cheekbone, the hosts’ hopes for World Cup glory on home soil appear to be back on track. Les Bleus’ star player has inevitably been the face of the competition, his growing renown attracting media attention from all sectors – some of it, though, has been very much unwelcome.

After the opening-night win over New Zealand, the far-right weekly magazine Valeurs Actuelles – which notably backed Éric Zemmour’s presidential bid last year – ran a rugby-focused issue: “La France Rugby”. The front page featured Dupont and actor Jean Dujardin, who starred in the opening ceremony, and read: “Well-behaved supporters, patriot players, exemplary values: the recipe for a well-rooted sport that’s a model to society.”

Raphaël Jucobin is a French rugby and football writer

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27th September 2023 20:29
The Guardian
More than minimalism: designers expand Scandi style at Paris fashion week

From gothic to upcycling, labels are going beyond the neutrals that defined the region

“Scandi” design is often shorthand for a minimal and tasteful aesthetic. But at Paris fashion week this season, designers are showing there is more to the region than understated separates.

Cecilie Bahnsen is becoming known for her ethereal, ultra-feminine designs. The Danish designer’s show on Wednesday continued the theme – with cloud-like dresses in white, black, red and pink. These were mixed with raw denim and knitwear.

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27th September 2023 20:29
The Guardian
Revealed: Europe’s role in the making of Russia killer drones

Exclusive: Kyiv says Iranian drones used by Russia in Ukraine have various European components

Iranian kamikaze drones used in the latest attacks on Ukrainian cities are filled with European components, according to a secret document sent by Kyiv to its western allies in which it appeals for long-range missiles to attack production sites in Russia, Iran and Syria.

In a 47-page document submitted by Ukraine’s government to the G7 governments in August, it is claimed there were more than 600 raids on cities using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) containing western technology in the previous three months.

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27th September 2023 20:19
The Guardian
Walking riddle Brooks Koepka brings much-needed edge to Ryder Cup | Jonathan Liew

While far from universally loved, the American is a guaranteed attention-grabber in a sport which finds itself in turmoil

Brooks Koepka doesn’t like you. Perhaps Brooks Koepka doesn’t strictly know you yet, but for a man of Koepka’s unbendable principles this point would be a mere formality. Perhaps at this early stage of your enmity it is more correct to say he disapproves of you. You are the autograph hunter hassling him after practice. You are the person who left the irritating comment on Instagram. You are the driver who cut him up on I-95. Maybe not you specifically, but someone like you. And let’s be real, it probably will be you one day. Best give him a wide berth just to be safe.

You don’t even need to interact directly with Koepka to get on his wrong side. Earlier this year he was at a Florida Panthers ice hockey game when he became exasperated at one of the home team’s defenders. “Ekblad, you suck!” Koepka shouted from the stands in a video that was lighting up the internet within minutes. “Fucking traffic cone!”

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27th September 2023 20:17
The Guardian
What do homeless people do with cash aid? A new study found out

Canadian researchers show unhoused people don’t waste money on ‘temptation goods’ – and hope to alter public opinion

In 2002, the then San Francisco supervisor Gavin Newsom proposed legislation to cut welfare assistance to nearly 3,000 homeless people living in the city from $395 a month to $59 a month, and divert the budgetary savings toward shelters and other services. It was promoted with the name “Care Not Cash”.

Newsom’s campaign tied the unconditional payments to drug and alcohol abuse. As the San Francisco voter’s guide spelled out: “[H]omeless people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol end up spending their welfare checks on their addictions instead of meeting their basic needs.” The framing worked. The measure passed with nearly 60% of the vote, and Newsom used the publicity to propel his political career to San Francisco mayor and, ultimately, California governor.

Newsom’s framing was just a different iteration of an old message: it doesn’t help to give poor people money. As that thinking goes, the unhoused, Ronald Reagan’s “welfare queens” and those with substance abuse issues will just waste it.

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27th September 2023 20:00
The Guardian
One in six species at risk of extinction in Great Britain, say wildlife experts

State of Nature report paints bleak picture of wildlife in UK but says conservation methods are yielding results

One in six species is at risk of being lost in Great Britain, according to a comprehensive analysis by leading wildlife scientists.

Bird species had the most worrying results in the report, with 43% at risk of extinction, but other much loved species such as turtle dove, hazel dormouse, lady’s slipper orchid and european eel also now face an uncertain future. The report argues that this is largely a result of human activities such as causing habitat loss, accelerating diseases such as avian flu via factory farming, and burning fossil fuels, which has altered the climate.

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27th September 2023 20:00
The Guardian
The Guardian view on disappearances in China: silence sends a sinister message | Editorial

Several senior officials have conspicuously vanished. But it is ordinary people, especially Uyghurs, who are most vulnerable

In 1971, Lin Biao, hailed by China as Mao Zedong’s successor, fell from grace, fled the country and was killed in an aircrash in Mongolia. Despite his prominence, it was weeks before the public was told of his death, and months before any explanation was offered. The recent spate of disappearances from China’s top echelons is hardly as seismic. They have happened in calmer political waters, far from the Cultural Revolution’s turmoil. But they speak to the way that politics still operates in Beijing. The glaring absences of senior officials are eventually followed by a belated narrative of their downfall in the rumour mill and then state media.

When Qin Gang, the foreign minister, vanished from public view in June, it was particularly conspicuous given his diplomatic role. It was almost a month before authorities confirmed that he had been removed from his post. A few weeks later, China’s defence minister, Li Shangfu, also failed to appear at scheduled meetings with foreign officials. Reuters has reported that he is being investigated over corruption in military procurement. The two most senior generals overseeing nuclear and conventional land-based missiles had already been replaced at the beginning of August. One was reportedly taken away by corruption investigators.

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27th September 2023 19:42
The Guardian
GB News suspends Dan Wootton after Laurence Fox’s remarks on show

Broadcaster says it is conducting full investigation after also suspending Fox

GB News has suspended the presenters Dan Wootton and Laurence Fox as the channel struggles to contain the fallout after misogynistic comments made on Wootton’s show.

The rightwing news channel said on Wednesday: “GB News has suspended Dan Wootton following comments made on his programme by Laurence Fox last night. This follows our decision earlier today to formally suspend Mr Fox. We are conducting a full investigation.”

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27th September 2023 19:38
The Guardian
Red Island review – beauty and colonialism in a French childhood in Madagascar

This visually exquisite, tender film about a boy growing up in a military air base on an former colony is a wonderful watch

Film-maker Robin Campillo has surrendered to the flow of memory and given us this wonderful, personal movie, created with tenderness, unsentimental artistry and visual flair, inspired by his own childhood growing up on a French army base in recently independent Madagascar in the early 1970s. It is the story of an imaginative little kid spying and eavesdropping on the private lives of grownups, which are a mystery to him and a mystery to the grownups, too. Red Island elides his own poignant growing pains with Madagascar’s emergence from the infantilised colonial state. It feels like a classic depiction of childhood on film.

Twelve years after its establishment as an independent republic in 1960, Madagascar still permits the presence of the French army to assist the national authorities. This has clearly become a plum posting for France’s military personnel: an island paradise (far more pleasant in their eyes than Algeria or Morocco) in which the actual business of governing, the heavy lifting of what Kipling called the white man’s burden, has effectively been passed on to the former imperial subjects.

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27th September 2023 19:30
The Guardian
Bruce Springsteen postpones rest of tour due to peptic ulcer disease

Singer shelves all 2023 shows with the E Street Band to ‘continue treatment through the rest of the year on doctor’s advice’

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band have postponed the remainder of their 2023 concerts as the singer receives treatment for peptic ulcer disease.

According to a statement released by the New Jersey singer on Wednesday, all of the cancelled shows will be rescheduled for 2024. Springsteen had previously postponed his September shows because of symptoms from peptic ulcer disease, which causes open sores in the esophagus, stomach or small intestine.

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27th September 2023 19:28
The Guardian
‘No one wants to lose their home’: London renters shocked at order to raze their flats

Mast Quay II tenants may need to find new homes after Greenwich ordered demolition of tower complex

Renters at a cluster of new Thameside apartment complex expressed shock on Wednesday after the Royal Borough of Greenwich ordered the “unprecedented” demolition of 204 homes over what it said were a series of planning breaches.

Many residents at the Mast Quay Phase II development in Woolwich first learned the news from journalists after the local authority announced on Monday that the developer, Comer Homes Group, must raze the buildings because of 26 major deviations from the original planning consent. It only opened last year in a borough with a social housing waiting list of more than 20,000 households. The council says the renters may need to find new homes.

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27th September 2023 19:24
The Guardian
Jorge Vilda under investigation as criminal court looks into Rubiales kiss

  • Former Spain manager has been summoned to appear in court
  • Vilda appeared to back Luis Rubiales amid World Cup fallout

The former coach of Spain’s women’s football team, Jorge Vilda, has been put under investigation as the country’s highest criminal court continues to look into Luis Rubiales’s unsolicited kiss.

On Wednesday the court said that Vilda, who was sacked less than a month after La Roja won the World Cup, had been summoned to appear in court on 10 October. The statement did not detail why Vilda is being investigated.

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27th September 2023 19:07
The Guardian
Olivia Rodrigo is scared of birds – and she’s not alone. What’s behind this fear?

Scarlett Johansson is also among the famous names who have what’s known as ornithophobia. But where did it begin?

“Birds are so foreign to us – there’s not one body part that looks like ours,” Olivia Rodrigo recently told Rolling Stone magazine with a straight face. The gen Z pop sensation went on: “Everyone’s all afraid about aliens and shit. They’re like, ‘What are the aliens going to look like?’ I’m like, ‘We have birds on our planet, and we’re not scared of them. We’re fine!’”

Rodrigo is not the only celebrity whose relationship with the avian community is strained. Lucille Ball saw some sparrows in the window on the day she found out her father had died. For the rest of her life, she stayed away from bird-printed art and decor.

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27th September 2023 19:04
The Guardian
French equality watchdog finds 90% of online pornography abuses women

Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers

As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found.

France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed.

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27th September 2023 19:02
The Guardian
Scientists find antimatter is subject to gravity

Tests at Cern refute suggestion that antigravity might apply to antimatter, showing instead it also falls downwards

Galileo put gravitational theory to the test by dropping balls from the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Four hundred years on, scientists have performed a higher tech version of the experiment to demonstrate for the first time that antimatter also falls downwards.

The study, by scientists at Cern, showed conclusively that gravity pulls antihydrogen downwards and that, at least for antimatter, antigravity does not exist.

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27th September 2023 18:31
The Guardian
Palestinian negotiators sceptical over potential Israel-Saudi deal

Despite outward positivity, sources say normalisation deal unlikely to happen any time soon

A potential normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia is being treated with scepticism by Palestinian negotiators, despite outwardly positive signals from Palestinian officials, several sources with knowledge of the talks have said.

Unofficial relations between Israel and the powerful Gulf petrostate have been growing for years. The possibility of a formal diplomatic agreement, however, has come to the fore since the two countries, along with the US, signalled progress on the matter during the UN general assembly in New York last week.

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27th September 2023 18:10
The Guardian
Farewell to groundbreaking Reservation Dogs: ‘Nothing else out there like it’

The acclaimed series, co-created by Taika Waititi, is ending after three seasons, leaving behind an important milestone for Indigenous representation

Reservation Dogs bids farewell with a funeral. That’s the perfect note to go out on for the cheeky, uproarious and profoundly moving coming-of-age comedy about Indigenous teens in Oklahoma, which is streaming its final episode this week.

Anyone who has been following the celebrated Peabody-winning series since it debuted two years ago knows that a funeral can be a joyous occasion – a chance for the tight-knit community in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, played by a sprawling and delightful ensemble cast, to gather and honour a life that isn’t ending so much as discovering a new beginning. There is no sense of finality in Reservation Dogs, because those who pass become spirits, and those spirits tend to hang around, for the jokes and the vibes.

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27th September 2023 18:09
The Guardian
Criminal gangs in UK sending recruits to train as prison officers, union warns

Exclusive: POA says corrupt officers are then used for sole purpose of smuggling in drugs and phones

Organised crime groups are sending associates to train as prison officers with the “sole purpose” of smuggling drugs and phones into jail, the Prison Officers’ Association has warned.

The POA, the union representing prison workers, blamed low pay and said online interviews were also contributing to the prison service “hiring the wrong people”.

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27th September 2023 18:00
The Guardian
Love is in the Air review – Delta Goodrem’s corny Netflix romcom is a saccharine mess

Goodrem and Joshua Sasse lack chemistry as ‘opposites attract’ lovers jetting around tropical Queensland

Love is in the Air marks Delta Goodrem’s first film role since the 2005 high school dramedy Hating Alison Ashley, in which she plays a Sandy Olsson-esque student with holier-than-thou vibes. Goodrem is more salt of the earth and more bloody Strayan as a seaplane pilot in Netflix’s very corny and saccharine romance: a galumphing heffalump of a movie that is best – and perhaps only – enjoyed by devotees of the Sydney-born performer. Most audiences will emerge from this formulaic and hammily acted production feeling like they’ve inhaled a block of cheese the size of a car battery.

Goodrem’s chirpy character Dana has Santa Claus-ish vibes, whizzing around communities off the coast of far-north Queensland to deliver parcels to people in need. I didn’t believe she was a pilot any more than I believe a plump man in a red suit squeezes through chimneys every December. But the protagonist isn’t the only implausible thing about this film: everything and everyone in it feels so very fake and contrived, as if beaming in from a bizarro synthetic world of simulated human emotions and Hallmark sentiment.

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27th September 2023 17:00
The Guardian
Golden geese and a lounging lizard – readers’ best photos

Click here to submit a picture for publication in these online galleries and/or on the Guardian letters page

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27th September 2023 17:00
The Guardian
‘It was like Blade Runner meets Berlin rave’: the Manchester sink estate with the UK’s wildest nightclub

Hulme Crescents was Europe’s biggest housing estate, and soon deemed its worst. But a vibrant squatter community moved in – along with Mick Hucknall – to make a countercultural mecca

‘Hulme was a failed utopian dream on a council estate,” says the DJ Luke Una. “A city within a city. Like nowhere else I’ve ever seen.”

Una lived in Manchester’s Hulme Crescents in the late 80s and early 90s. Constructed in 1972, the vast brutalist estate was the largest public housing development in Europe and could house up to 13,000 people. Intended as a futuristic blueprint for social housing, design and safety flaws became apparent within two years. In 1974, a child died falling from one of the easily climbable balconies. Cockroaches were plentiful, the heating system unaffordable, and residents were soon petitioning to be re-housed.

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27th September 2023 17:00
The Guardian
Former state minister of Nagorno-Karabakh arrested by Azerbaijan

Ruben Vardanyan detained as he tried to cross into Armenia in first high-profile arrest since Azerbaijani offensive

Azerbaijan has detained a former leader of the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh government in its first high profile arrest since launching a lightning offensive last week that it said would lead to a “reintegration” of the territory into Azerbaijan.

Ruben Vardanyan, a wealthy businessman who had served as the state minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh republic, was detained as he tried to cross the border into Armenia on Wednesday morning, as one of more than 50,000 Armenians who have fled the region to avoid incoming Azerbaijani control.

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27th September 2023 16:35
The Guardian
Our night in an igloo bed: Naomi Harris’s best photograph

‘When I told Americans I was Canadian, they used to say, “Oh, do you live in an igloo?” So when I saw this hotel room in Edmonton, I knew we had to book it’

In the summer of 2011, thanks to a grant from Canada Council for the Arts, I spent four months driving from British Columbia to Newfoundland for what became my Oh Canada! project. Having moved from my native Toronto to New York in my mid-20s, I’d spent 14 years in the US, travelling more widely there than I ever had in the country of my birth. So this adventure was an opportunity to discover and photograph Canadians outside the big cities.

My dad tagged along for some of the trip, and I was joined by my mum for a couple of weeks. Neither of us had ever been to Alberta before. We went to a Star Trek festival, visited museums populated by stuffed gophers and creepy dolls, and explored a replica pioneer village. This picture was taken at the Fantasy Land hotel in West Edmonton Mall. People who grew up in Edmonton told me they would rent rooms there for birthday parties or prom nights. There were a lot of themed rooms, including one with an igloo-shaped bed. As soon as I saw that, I knew we had to book it.

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27th September 2023 16:07
The Guardian
Russia reminds Hillary Clinton of her own gaffe in response to dig at Putin

Speaking of Ukraine war, Clinton said ‘too bad Vladimir, you brought it on yourself’, to which Kremlin pointed out 2009 mistake

Hillary Clinton needled Vladimir Putin over Nato enlargement as she returned to the state department for the unveiling of her official portrait on Tuesday night.

By early Wednesday morning, the Kremlin had fired back, reminding Clinton of an old gaffe about US-Russian relations.

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27th September 2023 15:34
The Guardian
UN criticises France’s ban on its Olympic athletes wearing headscarves

Dress codes should not be imposed on women, spokesperson says, after Paris Games ban affecting French athletes

The UN has weighed in on France’s debate about secularism and women’s clothing, saying women should not be forced to abide by dress codes, after the French government said athletes representing France would be barred from wearing headscarves during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“No one should impose on a woman what she needs to wear, or not wear,” Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the UN’s human rights office, said on Tuesday after she was asked whether the ban met the UN’s criteria on human rights.

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27th September 2023 15:27
The Guardian
$5,600 knickers: are these the world’s most expensive underpants?

Made in wool and covered in sequins, this Miu Miu underwear will not only break the bank – it will also probably be really uncomfortable

Name: The world’s most expensive knickers.

Cost: $5,600 (about £4,600).

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27th September 2023 15:24
The Guardian
‘They see Hollywood movies as a right’: the Russians breaking the law to watch Barbie

Despite a Hollywood boycott triggered by the Ukraine war, Russians are still able to access the big releases thanks to a network of illicit screenings

As the war in Ukraine grinds on, civil liberties rapidly evaporate, and a currency spirals ever downward, trips to the cinema may be the least of the average Russian’s worries. Hollywood studios pulled its films out of Russia back in March 2022, but that hasn’t stopped many Russians from enjoying them as a vibrant illegal market for screenings of globally popular films such as Barbie and Oppenheimer has emerged in Russia’s largest cities, including Moscow, St Petersburg and Kazan.

Anton Dolin, who until recently was editor of Iskusstvo Kino, one of Russia’s oldest and most popular film magazines, was forced to leave the country in 2022 after being targeted by pro-war ultranationalists. Speaking from Riga in Latvia, where he is currently living, Dolin says that the popularity of these screenings reflects the attitudes of Russians who don’t agree with the war, and as a result feel that the removal of Hollywood films is another example of the privileges they once enjoyed being taken away as a result. Going to see Barbie, in a sense, represents a reclaiming of the lifestyle they had before the war. “They see watching Hollywood movies as a right,” he says.

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27th September 2023 15:16
The Guardian
Ukraine urges Uefa to reconsider Russia decision and will boycott tournaments

  • UAF condemns Uefa’s plans to readmit Russia under-17 teams
  • England and Poland say they will also not play against Russia

Ukraine has said it will not play in tournaments involving Russian teams after Uefa announced plans to reinstate Russia’s under-17 sides to European competitions.

In a statement the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) urged Uefa to reconsider its decision and urged other countries not to play against Russian teams.

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27th September 2023 15:08
The Guardian
‘Every bottle has a story’: most valuable wine collection ever sold could fetch £41m

Billionaire Pierre Chen selling 25,000 bottles including burgundies valued at £156,000 and a very rare 1982 Pétrus

These are no ordinary tipples. When the largest and most valuable collection of rare wines ever sold comes to market, aficionados are going to need deep pockets: some could go for almost $200,000 (£165,000) apiece.

The 25,000 bottles of wine, including many mythical vintages and names, are just part of the collection of Taiwanese billionaire Pierre Chen. They are expected to be fetch up to $50m (£41m) at separate auctions in Paris, London, New York, Hong Kong and Beaune, considered the Burgundy region’s wine capital.

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27th September 2023 15:00
The Guardian
‘We can win’: New Orleans clergy abuse survivor secures settlement

Settlement closes books on case that produced criminal conviction – and allegations of attempted hush money coverup

The estate of a wealthy Catholic deacon who admitted molesting a child and then died earlier this year has now paid his victim after he had previously tried to back out of a $1m agreement to settle a contentious lawsuit between them.

It is believed to be one of the largest individual sexual abuse settlements ever paid in a case involving a cleric who served in the archdiocese of New Orleans during the organization’s decades-old sexual molestation crisis, though the crime to which the deacon pleaded guilty occurred before his ordination.

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27th September 2023 15:00
The Guardian
A Nepalese ritual and Napoleon restoration: Wednesday’s best photos

The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world

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27th September 2023 14:58
The Guardian
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar review – Wes Anderson’s star-stuffed Roald Dahl yarn

At just 37 minutes, Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel and Richard Ayoade never get beyond the two-dimensional

Wes Anderson’s new short for Netflix is a slight piece of amusement based on Roald Dahl; at 37 minutes long, its brevity perhaps exposes or even creates a flimsiness in his signature style that in a longer film would have more space to breathe and parade itself. And perhaps this could just as easily have been a full-length feature.

It is Anderson’s second Dahl adaptation, after the animated Fantastic Mr Fox from 2009. This is not one of Dahl’s famous children’s tales, but instead from a 1977 collection intended for older teens: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, twisty stories halfway in tone between his young fiction and the cynical, macabre adult pieces with which he started out, and maybe the nearest Dahl came to YA. And yet there’s something gentle and almost anodyne in the denouement – atypical for both Dahl and Anderson.

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27th September 2023 14:00
The Guardian
Solomon Islands prime minister says US must respect Pacific leaders

Manasseh Sogavare hits out at US after skipping Biden summit as $200m in funding for Pacific nations draws criticism for ‘trying to play catch up’

The prime minister of Solomon Islands has criticised Washington, saying the US must respect Pacific leaders, after Joe Biden pledged $200m for the region in an effort widely seen as a push against China’s growing presence.

Biden hosted a group of Pacific leaders at a summit in Washington this week, after a similar meeting a year earlier.

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27th September 2023 13:49
The Guardian
Italian PM steps up crackdown on migrants with deportation decree

Giorgia Meloni sets sights on foreigners who lie about their age to benefit from protection scheme for unaccompanied minors

Foreigners who lie about their age to benefit from a protection scheme reserved for unaccompanied minors arriving in Italy will be deported under a security decree expected to be approved by Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet on Wednesday as part of her far-right government’s crackdown on irregular immigration.

The draft decree, parts of which were published by the Italian press, includes a measure stipulating that foreigners living legally in Italy will be deported if they are considered to be a threat to public order or national security.

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27th September 2023 13:47
The Guardian
‘We feel we’ve earned it’: UK over-50s on switching to part-time work

As record numbers of people over 50 work part-time, three who have reduced their hours explain why

Simon Woodall, 52, a self-employed carpenter and joiner from Plymouth, says he worked “70 hours a week, for 30 years”, until he had a heart attack in June last year.

“The medical staff just said: ‘You have stress-related heart disease, if you keep going, you’re not gonna last very long, no matter what tablets you take or how much healthy food you eat.’ This triggered a wild change of lifestyle, and if I do 30 hours that’s quite a busy week for me now.”

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27th September 2023 13:39
The Guardian
New York is breaking free of Airbnb's clutches. This is how the rest of the world can follow suit | Anna Minton

The company is calling it a ‘de facto’ ban – and it could reshape the housing market in residents’ favour

New York City’s crackdown on Airbnb, which was enforced earlier this month, has been described as a “de facto ban” by the company. The tough restrictions, designed to bring back thousands of rental properties to the housing market for city residents to live in, will be closely scrutinised by politicians in cities worldwide. Many argue that Airbnb’s exponential growth – it is now valued at close to $100bn – is a key factor behind the soaring inflation in property prices and rents that is fuelling a global housing crisis. They will be hoping that interventions like New York’s will show them a way to take back cities across mainland Europe and the UK for people who actually live in them.

With more than 6m properties in 100,000 cities rented out through Airbnb, many politicians are beginning to recognise that the huge number of homes lost to short-term lets booked on digital platforms is inextricably linked to the housing crisis. It is further pushing up already unaffordable rents for people living in cities and in tourist areas with large numbers of second homes that are rented out.

Anna Minton is the author of Big Capital: Who is London for? and reader in architecture at the University of East London

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27th September 2023 13:21
The Guardian
More than 100 people killed after fire breaks out at Iraq wedding

Blaze started after fireworks lit during celebration in Nineveh province, according to local media

More than 100 people have been killed and 150 others injured in a fire at a wedding reception in the district of Hamdaniya in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province, attracting global messages of sympathy.

Survivors said the fire, which swept through the hall in a matter of seconds, was triggered by fireworks that had been set off inside the hall before the bride and groom’s slow dance.

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27th September 2023 13:06
The Guardian
Girl, 11, among six young people taking on 32 nations in historic climate case

Claimants say European countries are breaching their human rights by failing to take adequate action to tackle global heating

An 11-year-old girl from Portugal sat inside the grand chamber of the European court of human rights on Wednesday to face 86 lawyers from 32 nations in the world’s largest climate legal action.

Mariana Agostinho was alongside her brother and sister, and her cousins, two rows back from 17 human rights judges.

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27th September 2023 13:02
The Guardian
How to make cioppino, or San Franciscan seafood stew – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

Not far from something you might find on the Tuscan or southern French coast, this tomato-rich, Italian-American seafood stew is a real showstopper

This beloved San Francisco fish stew will look familiar to anyone who’s dined on the Tuscan coast, and it isn’t a million miles away from bouillabaisse, either – though, unlike that French classic, it’s easily adapted to the species available in our own waters. Richly tomatoey, with a distinctly Italian-American hand with the garlic and herbs, it’s a seafood showstopper without much fuss.

Prep 25 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Serves 4

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27th September 2023 13:00
The Guardian
Poached, caged, shipped in socks: on patrol with the police battling Colombia’s illegal wildlife trade

For decades the plundering of protected species went unchallenged, but new efforts are being made to halt traffickers across Latin America and the Caribbean

The taskforce sets off from a military base on Colombia’s main river at 2am. The operation has all the hallmarks of a drug raid – it is led by armed police and naval officers and is the culmination of two years of intelligence-gathering in the capital, Bogotá. To avoid tipoffs, only a few of them know who the suspects are.

Today’s contraband, however, is not white powder but the spectacled caiman – the smaller, bulbous-eyed relative of the alligator that is endemic to the wetlands and rivers of South America.

Hoping to catch the suspects while they are still at home, the police navigate a boat down the Magdalena River in total darkness, except for the green hues of fireflies.

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27th September 2023 13:00
The Guardian
‘Whether it costs our lives or not’: killing of Canadian Sikh leader reignites historic fight

Decades-long separatist movement gets new fire with ‘credible allegations’ that India is behind murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Yellow and blue smoke filled the air as protesters in Vancouver tried setting fire to a damp Indian flag. As the flame eventually took hold, people in the crowd waved Sikh separatist flags and chanted calls for the expulsion of India’s top diplomat in Canada.

Tuesday’s protest outside a heavily guarded Indian consulate came a week after Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, told parliament his government had seen “credible allegations” that India was responsible for the fatal shooting of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Canadian Sikh leader.

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27th September 2023 12:30
The Guardian
A meat processer killed a 16-year-old. Yet US lawmakers want more child labor | Akin Olla

Adult workers are demanding a fairer slice of corporate profits – so child labor is a way to increase and undercut the labor pool

This July the body of 16-year-old Duvan Tomas Perez “became entangled” in meat processing machinery in Mississippi, according to a statement from Mar-Jac Poultry, the company where the boy was working. Perez was too young to be working there, according to Mar-Jac, which blamed an outside staffing company for failing to verify Perez’s age and identity. Perez was not the first worker to die at the plant in recent years, and he was not the first 16-year-old to die at work in the US this summer.

American legislators should be working to crack down on child labor, here and abroad, but instead, politicians – including Democrats – in at least 11 states have introduced or passed bills that weaken child labor laws. At a time when adult workers are demanding a fairer slice of the increasingly behemoth pie of corporate profits, child labor is a capitalist work-around to increase the labor pool and lower the wages of all those who have to work for a living.

I’m embarrassed to be writing an anti-child labor article in the year 2023, as if this is some Charles Dickens novel leaking gruel and cruel men. It is not as if child labor had ever disappeared, of course; children around the world toil in fast-fashion sweatshops and among the mountains of garbage in other countries but produced by Silicon Valley. This is unfortunately where capitalism is heading, and has always been heading: children competing with their parents for jobs amid the ruins of societies we sacrificed for profit. But for awhile it seemed like child labor might have escaped the empire to live primarily in its colonial subjects.

Akin Olla is a contributing opinion writer at the Guardian US

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27th September 2023 12:02
The Guardian
The hell of compliments – and why I gave them up | Anita Chaudhuri

One in five of us are reluctant to make flattering remarks. After an awkward moment with a stranger, I am among them

Had I read the findings of a new survey about people’s reluctance to give compliments before last week, I might have despaired of my fellow humans. One in five of us, apparently, fear bestowing compliments, particularly concerning a person’s looks, dress sense or work achievements.

What have we come to that we are scared to brighten someone else’s day with our admiration? But, like I said, that was before. As in, before the other day when I had the unedifying experience of having a compliment to a stranger backfire on me.

Anita Chaudhuri is a freelance journalist

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27th September 2023 12:00
The Guardian
German police carry out sweeping raids as neo-Nazi group banned

‘Cult-like, racist’ Artgemeinschaft network accused of trying to spread Nazi ideology to children

Police have carried out raids across Germany as ministers announced a ban on a far-right group described as a “cult-like, deeply racist and antisemitic association” that sought to indoctrinate children with Nazi ideology.

Officers stormed 26 apartments belonging to 39 members of the Artgemeinschaft network in 12 states including Bavaria, Baden-Wüerttemberg and Brandenburg.

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27th September 2023 11:31
The Guardian
What were NFTs? An understandable internet fad, and the next one is just around the corner | Joel Golby

We only loved non-fungible tokens – now all but worthless – during a pandemic peak of online loneliness. What will the next craze look like?

With last week’s report that 95% of them are now worthless, I think it’s just about safe to say that the NFT moment is finally over. Phew. There really was a six-week period at the start of last year when I thought I was going to have to attach my digital soul for ever to a really bad picture of a monkey with a tentacle coming out of its nose and mouth. I kept practising saying, “No, it’s actually quite cool! It’s good. And it only cost me about as much as a car!” in the mirror a lot, with a ghoulish rictus grin.

NFT, as was probably explained to you hundreds of times in the period from January 2021 to about May 2022, stands for “non-fungible token”, and essentially means that you can buy a code that says you own a digital asset, which is then stored on the blockchain, a sort of centralised public transaction ledger. There was a lot of hyped future uses for this technology, but for the most part it was used to buy jpegs of monkeys, or maybe sometimes a lion.

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27th September 2023 11:30
The Guardian
‘Lachlan Murdoch is a Hamlet figure’: Michael Wolff unpicks the real-life succession drama

The author has returned to the Murdoch empire for his latest book, after a bestselling trilogy on Trump. He discusses power, politics, the media and why a person can be a moron and a genius

Immediately before Michael Wolff published The Fall: The End of the Murdoch Empire, the emperor himself, driver of its expansion and its bitter divisions, stepped aside. Last week, Rupert Murdoch announced he was anointing his eldest son, Lachlan, as his successor, which per Wolff’s narrative will have been a bitter blow to everyone, including Lachlan.

Wolff’s latest book joins an oeuvre that is remarkable for its access: in 2008, he wrote a biography of Murdoch, The Man Who Owns the News, for which the mogul gave him 50 hours of interviews. Never mind that it’s the longest Murdoch has ever spoken to a journalist, it’s probably the longest he’s ever spoken to a friend. “We really got along. He’s inexhaustible on the subject of the media, and I, too, am inexhaustible on that subject. We had a very good time,” says Wolff. So long as they were doing business or gossip, that is. “He’s very hard to talk to personally; he can’t reflect on his own past and his own experience. He can talk about his family; he was weirdly transparent about his children. But about himself, what he might be feeling, no.”

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27th September 2023 11:00
The Guardian
Covid hunters: the amateur sleuths tracking the virus and its variants

How a schoolteacher and a dog educator became crucial to the global fight against coronavirus

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the fight against the disease was described by heads of government and public health bosses on primetime television.

Countries would receive daily updates collated from data that had been analysed by the world-leading virologists and academics.

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27th September 2023 11:00
The Guardian
Subway schooling: the Ukrainian children taking class in metro stations

Covid then the invasion meant Kharkiv could offer little in-person education. Now a scheme brings it deep underground

In a cheerfully decorated classroom in Kharkiv, 30km (19 miles) from the Russian border, a screen behind the teacher proclaimed the date to be “21 September: international day of peace”.

The children’s day had begun far from peacefully: just after 5.30am, the air raid sirens sounded and six Russian S300 surface-to-air missiles hit the eastern Ukrainian city.

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27th September 2023 10:00
The Guardian
‘Our world is beautiful’: winners of the largest annual photo competition

The 10 winning images from 509,612 entries have been announced by photo printing firm Cewe. A winner has been chosen from each of the 10 categories all celebrating the ‘Our world is beautiful’ theme

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27th September 2023 08:30
The Guardian
Bon voyage! All aboard the perfect cruise – in pictures

Mounir Raji set off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in search of the ideal holiday – a world where every detail is planned to deliver comfort and pleasure

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27th September 2023 08:00
The Guardian
A moment that changed me: the mystery teenage illness that ruined my life – then saved it

One morning I couldn’t get out of bed, and the tiredness and weight gain kept getting worse. It was a year of bodily trauma that left psychological as well as physical scars

Forty years ago, during the baking “long hot summer” immortalised by the Style Council’s song of the same name, my teenage body started to undergo a mysterious, unwelcome and life-upending transformation. I’d just finished my O-levels: as a treat my mother took me to Paris for a holiday.

One morning during our trip, I couldn’t get out of bed. My body felt as if it were pinned to the mattress by lead weights. There was also an unusual swelling forming at the front of my neck. My mother was concerned, and when the fatigue didn’t pass on our return home to Sheffield, she took me to the GP for a blood test.

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27th September 2023 08:00
The Guardian
‘A huge storm’: polarised Slovakia on a knife edge ahead of elections

Populist frontrunner’s ‘toxic’ campaign has exposed deep divisions and a victory could move country closer to Russia

When Valeria Schulczová launched the new programme of Bratislava’s Hviezdoslav theatre she did not anticipate any great controversy. As director, she had chosen a series of provocative, but not outrageous, productions for the coming season. But Schulczová had reckoned without the febrile politics and deep polarisation of her country before parliamentary elections on 30 September.

The main image advertising the new season suggested a stained glass window, a reference to the Stalinist-era decorations of the theatre, with young people marching below Ukrainian, anti-fascist and rainbow flags.

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27th September 2023 08:00
The Guardian
From the archive: ‘Mama Boko Haram’: one woman’s extraordinary mission to rescue ‘her boys’ from terrorism – podcast

We are raiding the Guardian Long Read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors

This week, from 2020: Aisha Wakil knew many of Boko Haram’s fighters as children. Now she uses those ties to broker peace deals, mediate hostage negotiations and convince militants to put down their weapons – but as the violence escalates, her task is becoming impossible

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27th September 2023 06:00
The Guardian
The Norwegian secret: how friluftsliv boosts health and happiness

The idea of communing with nature is instilled from birth in Norway. I hiked through a rain-drenched forest to try it myself

‘Being outdoors is a natural way of living in Norway,” Bente Lier tells me over the phone. “It’s a very important part of what we call the good life.” Lier is the secretary general of Norsk Friluftsliv, which represents more than 950,000 members of 500 outdoor clubs in Norway. Her words ring in my ears as I trudge through torrential rain in a forest just north of Oslo.

I am here to learn about friluftsliv, a way of being that is part of the Norwegian national identity. The term was coined by the playwright Henrik Ibsen in his 1859 poem On the Heights, although the concept is much older. Its literal translation is “free-air life”, but Ibsen used it to convey a spiritual connection with nature. To modern Norwegians, it means participating in outdoor activities, but also has a deeper sense of de-stressing in nature and sharing in a common culture. Could this outdoor life hold the key to Norwegians’ health and happiness?

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27th September 2023 06:00
The Guardian
Wildfires, war and rightwing extremism: 50 years of Europe in photos, part two

The Guardian’s Europe correspondent Jon Henley and picture editor Guy Lane reflect on a half-century of upheaval

Fifty years ago, Europe was divided into two hostile blocs, locked in a cold war between east and west. In the south, millions still lived under dictatorships. Denmark, Ireland and the UK had just joined a European union – bringing its membership to nine.

In the five decades since, authoritarian regimes have fallen and democracies been reborn. Walls have come down, federations have disintegrated and bloody wars ensued. There have been many crises: political, economic, human.

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27th September 2023 06:00
The Guardian
Overcrowded and understaffed: life in England’s crumbling prisons – podcast

Rats, broken windows and overfilled cells are a daily reality for prisoners in England’s crumbling jails. Helen Pidd reports

When the 21-year-old terror suspect Daniel Khalife managed to escape from Wandsworth prison earlier this month, apparently on the underside of a van, it turned the spotlight on to what was really going on in England’s jails.

The Guardian’s north of England editor, Helen Pidd, has been investigating the state of prisons and tells Nosheen Iqbal she found in some cases a system close to breaking point. There’s chronic overcrowding, appalling conditions and a decimated workforce. Among it all are stories of staff struggling to cope and prisoners’ rehabilitation often more theory than practice.

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27th September 2023 04:00
The Guardian
‘Even Lucifer was using a fan’: Brazil bakes as mercilessly hot spring begins

Having just emerged from its warmest winter since 1961, the country is sweltering amid unforgiving and unseasonal temperatures

A ferocious heatwave was sweeping South America, and samba composer Beto Gago (Stuttering Bob) saw only one thing to do: pop out for an ice-cold beer with his drinking buddy Joel Saideira – Last Order Joel.

“Damn, it was grim around here yesterday,” the 76-year-old musician grimaced as he stood outside his home in Irajá – reputedly Rio’s hottest neighbourhood – with a bohemian’s potbelly spilling out over his lilac shorts.

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26th September 2023 17:48
The Guardian
Barça bounce back, a Juve calamity and madness in Marseille – Football Weekly

Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Nicky Bandini, Philippe Auclair and Sid Lowe for a round-up of the biggest stories in European football

Rate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.

On the podcast today; Barcelona are top of La Liga and look favourites to be there come the end of the season, Real Madrid’s lack of depth is exposed by Atlético and 15 Las Palmas players miss their flight in search of a coffee.

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26th September 2023 13:33
The Guardian
WSL season preview 2023-24 – Women’s Football Weekly

Faye Carruthers, Suzanne Wrack, Robyn Cowen and Sophie Downey round up the latest news across the women’s game and preview the WSL season

We’re back! Has anything happened since we were last with you?

Less than five weeks since the World Cup final and there’s so much to catch up on as we prepare for the 2023-24 Women’s Super League season.

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26th September 2023 12:30
The Guardian
The Breakdown | Progress of Wales and Ireland serves as advert for old-school coaching nous

While Warren Gatland’s team have risen like a phoenix from the ashes, Andy Farrell has his sights set on the ultimate prize

There is still a long way to go but rugby union’s tectonic plates are shifting. What would have been the odds, even four years ago, on four European sides potentially filling all the semi-final slots at a Rugby World Cup? No one, to be clear, is remotely counting out the defending champions South Africa or the flying Fijians but there is a chance that France, Ireland, Wales and England could all make the last four.

Some might even argue, given South African sides now play in the United Rugby Championship, that the Boks are also increasingly part of the northern hemisphere furniture. A slight exaggeration, perhaps, but a number of their coaching staff and players have worked in Ireland and several more are based in England and France. Recent results would suggest Australia, in particular, are increasingly fighting an uphill battle.

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26th September 2023 12:00
The Guardian
'We have suffered': Spain women speak on struggles after Rubiales scandal – video

Spain's Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey have spoken about their struggles and said they are looking forward to focusing on football after weeks of controversy following their World Cup victory. 'We weren't getting enough sleep, we couldn't rest well, we suffered from stress and anxiety,' said Bonmatí. 'Things are getting more calm eventually and now we're 100% focused on football.' The players also spoke about their desire to leave a legacy for women going forward. 'This is a global fight and all the women and players own it,' said Caldentey

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26th September 2023 11:52
The Guardian
Smith or Steward? Panache may trump power at full-back if England meet Fiji | Nick Evans

Fly-half’s display at No 15 against Chile gives Steve Borthwick options depending on who awaits England in the last eight

Whether Marcus Smith appears at No 15 again in the remainder of England’s World Cup campaign is likely to depend on who their quarter-final opponents are. If they meet Wales, then Freddie Steward has to come back in to deal with the aerial assault Warren Gatland’s side will look to launch, but if it’s Fiji I can see Marcus keeping hold of the jersey.

Wales looked so comfortable without the ball against Australia. They dismantled the Wallabies, played nothing in their half, had a big aerial kicking game with Josh Adams and Liam Williams charging down the sidelines, causing havoc and unloading their jackal operators. If that is going to be the case then England need Steward to provide the power required to ride those collisions.

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26th September 2023 11:00
The Guardian
Fighting stereotypes: the unexpected faces of combat sports – in pictures

Boxing and martial arts can provide a sanctuary to everyone from bullied kids to Grenfell firefighters. Aneesa Dawoojee captured their fighting spirit

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26th September 2023 08:00
The Guardian
‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief

IEA’s Fatih Birol says uptake of solar power and EVs is in line with net zero goal but rich countries must hasten their broader plans

The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.

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26th September 2023 07:00
The Guardian
Deja vu’s lesser-known opposite: why do we experience jamais vu? – podcast

There’s a sensation many of us might have experienced: when something routine or recognisable suddenly feels strange and unfamiliar. It’s known as jamais vu, or ‘never seen’. Research into this odd feeling recently won an Ig Nobel prize, which is awarded to science that makes you laugh, then think. Ian Sample speaks to Ig Nobel recipient Dr Akira O’Connor about why he wanted to study jamais vu, what he thinks is happening in our brains, and what it could teach us about memory going right, and wrong

Read Nicola Davis’ report on the Ig Nobel prizes here

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26th September 2023 06:00
The Guardian
Nagorno-Karabakh: how have you been affected by the situation in the region?

We would like to to speak to people affected by the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as those living in Armenia

Following last week’s Azerbaijani military offensive in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, around 3,000 ethnic Armenians have crossed into Armenia.

Hundreds of refugees started crossing over on Sunday after military operations left people displaced.

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25th September 2023 13:04
The Guardian
'Genocide is being committed': Armenians protest after Nagorno-Karabakh violence – video

Protesters in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, have called for help from the international community, saying an Azerbaijani blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh region has led to shortages of food, medicine, gas and other essentials. The demonstrators say the humanitarian crisis in the disputed region is creating 'a real possibility of genocide'

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22nd September 2023 19:20
The Guardian
Zelenskiy calls for Russia to lose UN security council veto power – video

In an address to the UN security council Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has called for Russia to lose its power of veto. He also accused the UN of being ineffective at defending sovereign borders, saying: 'Ukrainian soldiers are now doing with their blood what the UN security council should be doing with its votes: stopping aggression and upholding the principles of the UN charter'

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20th September 2023 20:12
The Guardian
Tell us: have you been through an amicable breakup?

We would like to hear your advice for navigating an amicable breakup

What is the best way to split up? Most of us will have to navigate the end of a serious relationship at some point, whether that’s a marriage with children or a long partnership.

Have you experienced this first hand? What eased the heartbreak? What worked logistically for you and your family – and what didn’t? What advice would you give to others who are separating on how to do so amicably? Please do not write about someone else without their permission.

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20th September 2023 16:03
The Guardian
Protests at UN headquarters as Iran's Ebrahim Raisi addresses delegates – video

The Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, addressed UN ambassadors at the annual general assembly, while protests took place condemning the UN for giving Raisi a platform. While he gave a lengthy speech to delegates, the Israeli ambassador to the UN walked out holding up an image of Mahsa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in policy custody in 2022. Outside, protesters displayed pictures of Iranians killed by the regime

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20th September 2023 14:01
The Guardian
What would you like to see in the Guardian’s coverage of Europe?

As we begin the Guardian’s new digital Europe edition we want to hear from our readers. What are the issues that matter to you?

The Guardian has launched a new digital Europe edition with an expanded presence across the continent.

The new edition will widen the Guardian’s coverage of European affairs with new reporters and specialists in Europe-wide themes such as the environment, culture, community affairs and sport.

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20th September 2023 13:07
The Guardian
Is Finland the best place in the world to be a parent? – video

Finland is a world leader when it comes to early years education. Childcare is affordable and nursery places are universally available in a system that puts children's rights at the centre of decision-making.

Now the country is applying the same child-first thinking to paternity-leave policies in an attempt to tackle gender inequality in parenting. The Guardian's Alexandra Topping travels to Helsinki to find out why the UK pre-school system lags so far behind and whether it really is easier to be a parent in Finland.

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20th September 2023 09:00
The Guardian
Tell us how you feel about your partner’s sleeping habits

We would like to hear about your partner’s sleeping habits and how it affects your relationship

Sleep can be elusive at the best of times, but it becomes more challenging when you share a bed with someone with incompatible bedtime habits.

Does your partner need the light or the radio on to drop off? Do they grind their teeth, snore or talk in their sleep? Do you find it impossible to agree on the right weight of duvet or whether the window should be open or shut? Has it caused friction in your relationship or have you found solutions? We’d love to hear from you.

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18th September 2023 16:34
The Guardian
Beyond the Troubles: the women building hope along Derry’s peace line – video

Northern Ireland still has more than 100 'peace walls' separating Catholic and Protestant communities, 25 years after the Good Friday agreement ended the Troubles. The barriers were meant to be taken down this year. But despite an enduring peace, many residents are not ready for their removal. As the cost of living crisis brings increased strain to communities in Derry, the Guardian spends time with Kyra and Rachel, two young peace builders doing very delicate work to bridge the divide between the two groups. Ultimately, they hope to gain their consent to reduce or remove the walls

The peace barrier initiative is supported by the International Fund for Ireland.

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12th September 2023 13:48