
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
Read more Guardian reporting on migraine treatments
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 06:00
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 05:06
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
- Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
- Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 04:59
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 04:00
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 03:00
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 02:43
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”.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:59
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
- Voice referendum explainer; latest voice poll results; help us monitor ads and misinformation
- Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:42
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
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:26
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:14
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:01
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 01:01
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.
Continue reading... 28th September 2023 00:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 23:58
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 23:19
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 23:02
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 22:55
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 22:27
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.”
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 21:53
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 21:40
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 21:26
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 21:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:53
'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'
London apartment block that deviates from plans must be torn down, says council
‘We haven’t been informed’: woman shocked to learn her London flat will be demolished – video
The decision to demolish the Mast Quay flats is a rare triumph for planners

‘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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:29
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:29
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:19
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!”
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:17
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 20:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:42
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.”
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:38
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:30
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:28
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:24
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:07
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:04
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 19:02
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 18:31
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 18:10
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 18:09
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”.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 18:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 17:00
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 17:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 17:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 16:35
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 16:07
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:34
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:27
$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).
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:24
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:16
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:08
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 15:00
A Nepalese ritual and Napoleon restoration: Wednesday’s best photos
The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 14:58
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 14:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:49
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:47
‘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.”
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:39
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:21
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:06
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:02
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

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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 13:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 12:30
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 12:02
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 12:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 11:31
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 11:30
‘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.”
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 11:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 11:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 10:00
‘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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 08:30
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 08:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 08:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 08:00
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
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 06:00
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?
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 06:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 06:00
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.
Continue reading... 27th September 2023 04:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 17:48
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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 13:33
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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 12:30
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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 12:00
'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
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 11:52
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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 11:00
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
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 08:00
‘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.
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 07:00
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
Continue reading... 26th September 2023 06:00
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.
Continue reading... 25th September 2023 13:04
'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'
Continue reading... 22nd September 2023 19:20
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'
Continue reading... 20th September 2023 20:12
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.
Continue reading... 20th September 2023 16:03
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
Continue reading... 20th September 2023 14:01
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.
Continue reading... 20th September 2023 13:07
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.
Continue reading... 20th September 2023 09:00
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.
Continue reading... 18th September 2023 16:34
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.
Continue reading... 12th September 2023 13:48