John Torode sacked as MasterChef host after racist language allegation upheld
With the show in crisis, BBC director general Tim Davie said no decision has been made on the next series.
With the show in crisis, BBC director general Tim Davie said no decision has been made on the next series.
The existence of the scheme could not be reported until now because of a court injunction.
The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner analyses the leak of Afghan citizen's data and the fallout.
One of the men's lawyers says felling the Sycamore Gap tree was an act of "drunken stupidity".
Trump says he trusts "almost nobody" in exclusive interview discussing the war in Ukraine, Nato and the UK.
Aged 19, Marten became a disciple of a notorious preacher who allegedly controlled and raped women.
If he wins, Cooper will be the youngest male winner of an acting Emmy. See who are the others up for the TV industry's most prestigious awards.
Chancellor tells the financial industry to change the narrative around consumer investment to encourage growth.
In June, nearly eight million received universal credit, 83.6% of whom were British and Irish nationals.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths' grandparents and mother are all found guilty of charges relating to his death.
The company's future remains uncertain as it posts losses of £1.65bn for the year to March.
Trading standards officers found 115 items, including some that were more than two weeks out of date.
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker, who left in May, is still the corporation's top earner.
Ethan Ives-Griffiths was two when he died from a brain injury inflicted by his grandparents.
The local council says it is pushing ahead with plans to build tunnels to four outlying isles in the archipelago.
The US president signalled a new tone on Nato, voiced his respect for Keir Starmer - and showed his reflective side.
Who are Adam Carruthers and Daniel Graham and what possible motive did they have for their action?
The RSPCA say the dogs were kept in overcrowded conditions with little access to fresh water.
Campaigners welcome the uplift, but argue it still "falls far short of matching inflation".
Some social media users had threatened to delete their accounts after WeTransfer's terms were updated.
Trump asked Ukraine's Zelensky earlier this month if he could strike Moscow and other Russian targets, the Financial Times reported.
Spain's Ministry of Social Rights asks the country's prosecutor's office to investigate Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal after he reportedly hired people with dwarfism to perform at his 18th birthday party.
Clashes were sparked after an alleged attack on a man in his 60s by three Moroccan men.
MPs will vote on François Bayrou's budget plan in the autumn, in a moment of high risk for the government.
Top stories, breaking news, live reporting, and follow news topics that match your interests
President Trump gives an exclusive interview to the BBC.
And, will there be a boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
Newcastle are exploring a move for Hugo Ekitike - but would the French striker play with Alexander Isak or replace him?
World number one Scottie Scheffler questions why he is continually chasing victories in the sport's biggest tournaments.
BBC Sport looks at the numbers behind West Indies' second-lowest Test score of 27.
Five unwanted players from Manchester United remain at the club as pre-season gets under way - what is next for them and the club?
Rory McIlroy begins his quest to win a second Open Championship title on Thursday afternoon, playing alongside Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas.
England captain Leah Williamson says Euro 2025 quarter-final opponents Sweden are "relentless" at major tournaments and "deserve a little bit more recognition".
Jule Brand, Lauren James, Claudia Pina and Delphine Cascarino are all among the scorers of some of the best goals of the group stage at Uefa Women's Euro 2025.
An intimate account of an unprecedented trialIf we believe her parents, Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, a baby girl was born on Christmas Eve, 2022, in the upstairs bedroom of Woodcutters Cottage in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. Her mother knelt against the double bed and gave birth without assistance or complication. The baby spent the first days of her life in the small stone-terraced cottage and then began her travels, mostly carried by her mother in a sling, hidden under a burgundy puffer jacket. She travelled far for a newborn, passing through bus stations and port towns, hotels and cafes, cities and fields, from north to south, west to east. We know she lived for at least two weeks, but we don’t know, and can never know, precisely how she died. She was called Victoria. Continue reading...
Noel Gallagher named a song after it, Marc Almond practically moved in and the Killers had a bathtub reserved for puking in – but was it rock’n’roll, or just a bit tragic?In the early 2000s, a member of the New York dance-punk band Radio 4 was walking upstairs when he realised he’d forgotten the key to his room at London’s Columbia hotel. Rather than walk back down the several flights he’d already climbed, he drunkenly decided to jump all the way down to the reception level. When he regained consciousness, a bemused Courtney Love was staring down at his prone body. As was an irate hotel manager, who swiftly barred the band from staying there for years, before the crumpled musician was scooped up to go and spend a few days in hospital.It was not easy to get barred from the Columbia hotel, but Radio 4 were not the only ones who managed it. Once, at 6am, members of Oasis decided to throw all the furniture in the bar out of the window, piece by piece. When items landed on the hotel manager’s Mercedes, the band had to scarper before the police arrived. It played such a significant part in Oasis’s story that Noel Gallagher wrote a song in tribute to it, Columbia, based on his escapades there back when he was a roadie for Inspiral Carpets. Continue reading...
Commons remain tone deaf as superinjunction lifts lid on data leak and £800m Afghanistan Response RouteI suppose we might have guessed something like this. In August 2021, the then foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, had moaned about the “sea being closed” while on holiday in Crete. The fate of thousands of Afghans who had helped the UK and whose lives were in danger as the Taliban homed in on Kabul came a distant second. For Psycho Dom, it was a simple matter of priorities.So no wonder a government official and/or a soldier had been less than diligent with the names of Afghans at risk. Following by example. Which one of us hasn’t accidentally emailed an entire spreadsheet of more than 18,000 endangered people to someone who might pass on their names to the Taliban? Such an easy mistake to make. Why bother to check a confidential file when you can just press send and go and grab yourself a coffee? Continue reading...
It may not be completely anatomically accurate, but the Victorian copy of the Bayeux tapestry is as much an emblem of its time as the 11th-century original‘We’ve already got one,” sneers a snotty French knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. With that holy grail of British history, the Bayeux tapestry, about to be lent by France to the British Museum, we could say the same. In 1885, Elizabeth Wardle of Leek, Staffordshire, led a team of 35 women in an extraordinary campaign to embroider a meticulous, full-scale replica of the entire early medieval artwork. With Victorian energy and industry they managed it in just a year and by 1886 it was being shown around Britain and abroad.Today that Victorian Bayeux tapestry is preserved in Reading Museum, and like the original, can be viewed online. Are there differences? Of course. The Bayeux tapestry is a time capsule of the 11th century and when you look at its stitching you get a raw sense of that remote past. The Leek Embroidery Society version is no mean feat but it is an artefact of its own, Victorian age. The colours are simplified and intensified, using worsted thread, as Wardle explains in its end credits, “dyed in permanent colours” by her husband Thomas Wardle, a leading Midlands silk dyeing industrialist. Continue reading...
While Mstyslav Chernov was on the Oscars circuit with his first Ukraine war film, soldiers in his latest – made using bodycams – were dying. He explains why he needed to join them in the trenchesIt was in Sloviansk, in the rear of eastern Ukraine’s frontline, that I first met journalist and film-maker Mstyslav Chernov. It was the autumn of 2023 and he was telling me about the film that would later win him and his team an Oscar: 20 Days in Mariupol, a horrifying documentary assembled from the news footage he and his team had gathered there, in the first month of the full-scale invasion. That September day of our interview, though – amid what would turn out to be Ukraine’s disappointing counteroffensive of 2023 – he was making his second film, one that took him to the heart of the combat zone, called 2,000 Meters to Andriivka. It is, if anything, even more powerful than its predecessor: a piece of frontline reporting that truly deserves the name, its footage gathered from soldiers’ own bodycams as well as from Chernov and his small crew on the ground among them. He puts the viewer into the trenches alongside the combatants. It is terrifying, bloody and heartbreakingly sad. You will not emerge from this film unchanged.The soldiers on whom Chernov focuses are members of Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade. They have a mission: to liberate the village of Andriivka, in the Donetsk region, and hoist the blue-and-yellow flag above it. Their sole route to this village is through a narrow strip of forest with flat, open fields either side. The wood, with its sketchy cover, is both their protection and, in many cases, their grave. The painful, dangerous advance through this 2km provides the structure of the film. And yet, for all that the film borrows the conventions of a thriller for its propulsive plotline, it is its tenderness, both in its gaze and in the relationships between the men that it depicts, that really destroyed me. Continue reading...
This isn’t the first time Afghans brave enough to work against the Taliban have been let down by Britain, but it might be the most shamefulThe headline figures are eye-watering. Up to 100,000 Afghans could have been placed at risk after a British soldier, according to the Times, sent the names of 33,000 people who supported British forces to a contact he hoped would help verify their applications for sanctuary in this country. The story behind these numbers is one of real people who had already been living in fear for years, and who have been treated abhorrently by the British state.As soon as it became clear that the information could fall into the Taliban’s hands and lead to these people and those close to them being targeted, the highly secret Operation Rubific was launched. This debacle occurred under the previous Conservative government, which obtained a superinjunction preventing several media organisations that were aware of the leak from reporting on it.Diane Taylor writes on human rights, racism and civil libertiesDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Conservative government used superinjuction to hide error that put Afghans at risk and led to £2bn mitigation schemeWhat we know about the secret Afghan relocation schemeAfghan nationals: have you arrived in the UK under the Afghan Response Route?Conservative ministers used an unprecedented superinjunction to suppress a data breach that required the UK to offer relocation to 15,000 Afghans in a secret scheme with a potential cost of more than £2bn.The Afghan Response Route (ARR) was created in haste after it emerged that personal information about 18,700 Afghans who had applied to come to the UK had been leaked in error by a British defence official in early 2022. Continue reading...
Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, sentenced for act of criminal damage that sparked widespread sadness and angerTwo men who carried out a “moronic mission” to fell one of the most loved and photographed trees in the UK have been jailed.Daniel Graham, 39, and Adam Carruthers, 32, were each given prison sentences of four years and three months for an act of criminal damage that caused the Sycamore Gap tree to crash down on to Hadrian’s wall in Northumberland on a stormy September night in 2023. Continue reading...
BBC show’s producers Banijay UK say Torode’s contract will not be renewed after allegation, which he has deniedJohn Torode will not return to MasterChef after its producers confirmed his contract would not be renewed after an allegation of using racist language.The Australian-born chef, 59, had confirmed on Monday evening he was the subject of an allegation that was upheld as part of an inquiry into the behaviour of his former co-presenter Gregg Wallace. Continue reading...
At the Mansion House dinner she calls for regulators to allow more risk to clear the way for economic growthRachel Reeves has claimed that rules and red tape are acting as a “boot on the neck” of businesses and risk “choking off” innovation across the UK without bold reforms.In a speech to City bosses attending the Mansion House dinner at London’s Guildhall on Tuesday evening, the chancellor heaped further pressure on regulators to allow for more risk in order to boost economic growth. Continue reading...
Updated RSHE guidance says curriculum should be ‘age appropriate’ and lifts strict age limits around teaching genderPupils in England should be taught what the law is on biological sex and gender reassignment, but schools must be “careful not to endorse any particular view or teach it as fact”, according to new government guidance.The updated relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) guidance, published on Tuesday, says schools “should not teach as fact that all people have a gender identity” and must avoid any suggestion that social transitioning offers a “simple solution” to feelings of distress or discomfort. Continue reading...
White House has come under fire for not releasing documents related to late sex offender Jeffrey EpsteinUS politics live – latest updatesRepublican lawmakers have moved to block a Democratic effort to force the release of the so-called Epstein files, a near-mythological trove of undisclosed information about the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein at the center of an internal political war among US conservatives.Democrats had been pressing for an amendment to cryptocurrency legislation that would have forced the release of information and exhibits itemized in a list of evidence held by the justice department from the 2019 child sex-trafficking case against the disgraced financier Epstein. Continue reading...
François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options. Continue reading...
Teenagers suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts on behalf of states, it is understoodSchoolchildren have been arrested by detectives investigating Russian and Iranian plots against Britain, a police chief has said, as he warned hostile state aggression was rising and youngsters were at risk.Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan police’s counter-terrorism unit, said children in their “mid teens” had been investigated. It is understood they were suspected of being hired by criminals paid to carry out acts for Russia and Iran. Continue reading...
Father says 12-year-old was told event in Rugby was ‘not for her as she gets to celebrate being British every day’A diversity day at a secondary school in Warwickshire ended in upset and apologies after a 12-year-old girl wearing a union flag dress was prevented from delivering a speech she had written about British culture.Pupils at Bilton school in the village of Bilton, Rugby, were invited to take part in “culture day”, dedicated to “recognising and celebrating the rich cultural diversity within our school community”. Children were encouraged to wear outfits that reflected their nationality or family heritage to the event last Friday. Continue reading...
People living in vans on the park are the subject of a campaign from those living nearby – and the Green-led council is being forced to actLee James is cowering in the rusting Mercedes Sprinter van he calls home. He is worried sick by the growing campaign to evict van-dwellers like him from historic parkland in the wealthy north-west of Bristol.“I’m not in the greatest headspace today … I wouldn’t have anywhere to go [if I was evicted] … this is my home,” he said in the gloomy interior. “I just wish there was more kindness.” Continue reading...
Maga’s obsession with the files shows how a fringe QAnon conspiracy theory has taken root in the pro-Trump movementThe release of the “Epstein client list” has long been the holy grail for the Maga movement. Supposedly, this list, once released, would incriminate a veritable who’s who of liberal elites complicit in Jeffrey Epstein’s child sex-trafficking operation and expose the moral rot at the heart of the Democratic establishment.The mystery surrounding the Epstein files also became a vehicle for QAnon conspiracy theorists to push their ideas about a “deep state” cover-up of a network of global pedophiles into the broader tent of the Maga movement. Continue reading...
While Severance, The Studio and Adolescence triumphed, this year’s TV nominees also saw some major snubsEmmy nominations 2025: the list of key categoriesI don’t know if you had the time or the energy to watch today’s Emmy nominations on YouTube, but if you did – and you followed along with the comments in real time – then you will know that there was one glaring omission that has sent the entire world into a screaming tailspin of panic and terror. I am talking, of course, about Thanos from Squid Game.For some, Thanos – a purple-haired Konglish-spewing drug-addicted rapper played by the Korean performer T.O.P – was the standout actor of the entire year, in any genre or format. But not only was this a bad result for Thanos, it was a bad result for Squid Game altogether. A show that comprehensively did the numbers for Netflix found itself being locked out of all categories. Still, at least it finds itself in decent company; Black Doves, Netflix’s other wildly entertaining genre series, also found itself snubbed. As was The Handmaid’s Tale, which is admittedly a little less surprising, given the amount of heat it has lost in the years since it debuted. Continue reading...
Giving up alcohol changed my life, but I wanted to know whether cannabis cocktails were too good to be trueMark Zuckerberg, a billionaire, has said he avoids substances like caffeine because he likes “rawdogging” reality. I, on the other hand, do not. I mean, have you seen reality lately?For most of my adult life, alcohol has been my preferred way to take the edge off. But, like a lot of other people, I got older and realized regular drinking was not doing me any favours. Last year, I experimented with “intermittent sobriety”, taking months off here and there. It helped, but it was also easy to slip back into bad habits. Continue reading...
He broke Hollywood in his early 20s, and found it all extremely scary. Now starring in a beautiful TV romance, Sturgess talks love, Walkmans – and why he might have just found his forever screen partnerLike all good love stories, this one starts with a chance meeting and ends with a reunion. It was 2008, pre-Hardy and Hiddleston, post-Bale and Grant; Jim Sturgess was a rising star and the latest handsome young Brit to break Hollywood. Having landed the lead role in casino thriller 21, Sturgess needed a love interest: cue a slew of chemistry tests with a roll call of beautiful young women, a process Sturgess remembers now as “the most exposed blind date you could ever possibly put yourself through, with five producers watching you from afar”.Kate Bosworth got the role, but one actor lingered in Sturgess’s mind: an effervescent Australian called Teresa Palmer. “When you do those chemistry tests, they put you through it, so we spent the whole day together,” Sturgess says. “I was really hoping she was going to get the part, because we got on really well. She’s Australian, I’m English, and we were both in Hollywood going, ‘Where the hell are we?’” Continue reading...
North America’s only native caffeinated plant was big among beverages in the 18th century. Is Ilex vomitoria about to make a comeback?Name: Yaupon.Age: Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) is North America’s only native caffeinated plant. It was long used by Indigenous people pre-colonisation. Continue reading...
It was a week of lows and highs for the tech billionaire after the CEO of X resigned and its AI chatbot declared itself a super-Nazi – followed by scoring a contract of up to $200mHello, and welcome to TechScape. This week, Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter, saw its artificial intelligence chatbot Grok go Nazi. Then its CEO resigned. In the past three years of Musk’s ownership of the social network, it feels like X has weathered at least one public crisis per week, more often multiple. Continue reading...
Deeply unpopular in France, President Macron relishes the international stage, where he projects himself as the leader best placed to handle Trump. Seven years after our last encounter, I joined him as he prepared for battleNuuk, the capital of Greenland, is a small jumble of orange prefab buildings and low grey apartment blocks nestled on a stony outcrop on the edge of the ocean. There are no trees, but there’s a hill topped by the statue of Hans Egede, the Danish-Norwegian missionary who evangelised the world’s biggest island in the 18th century and which, as such, is threatened with removal by Inuit anti-colonialists. It was at his feet that I awaited the helicopters bringing back the Greenlandic prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron – referred to throughout this trip as “PR”, short for président de la république – from their excursion on the ice. Continue reading...
Britain’s political and media class advocate policies that leave disabled people hungry and dirty. Why are we expected to settle for this?There is a longstanding practice in UK politics and media to force disabled people to fight for their basic rights – a kind of gladiatorial scrap in which the Colosseum is replaced by the set of Good Morning Britain.With the government’s welfare reform bill just passed by MPs, this has felt all the more stark. In the last week alone, the leader of the opposition, Kemi Badenoch, has used a speech to declare she does not “believe” that one in four people are disabled, as if the Equality Act were based on vibes. “Twenty-eight million people in Britain are working to pay the wages and benefits of 28 million others,” she went on. “The rider is as big as the horse.”Frances Ryan is a Guardian columnist. She is the author of Who Wants Normal? The Disabled Girls’ Guide to Life Continue reading...
When threatened with US tariffs, Europe was initially bullish. But the influence of nationalist leaders sympathetic to Trump has caused a splitDonald Trump’s trade policy has been labelled “Taco” – “Trump always chickens out” – by his critics. But when it comes to his latest trade war with the EU, it’s Brussels that risks chickening out. The US and the EU have been negotiating for months on an agreement. This week Trump made the shock announcement that the US would hit the EU with punitive tariffs on goods at a crippling 30% rate from 1 August. This was in addition to separate steel and aluminium tariffs, and cars at even more punitive rates.Blindsided Brussels negotiators calculated the economic damage, and ministers talked about retaliation. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, warned that “all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests” would be taken. But so far, despite the tough words, the EU is holding back.Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...
The decision to take Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone off iPlayer was not necessary – and has opened it up to further accusations of biasFor a genocide to occur, everything that people think is wrong has to first be turned on its head. There have been endless examples of this gruesome phenomenon in the past 21 months; Monday’s report on the BBC’s scrapped documentary about the plight of children in Gaza is just the latest instance.Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone was a rare example of the unbearable experiences of Palestinians being properly investigated by Britain’s public broadcaster. But within the media, this documentary has become a bigger scandal than the suffering of Palestinian children.Owen Jones is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
Large parts of Dartmoor have been denuded of wildlife, harmed by farming and a mess of government schemes that are costly in every wayBritain’s uplands are dying. What should be some of the very best places for nature are the absolute worst. Across vast tracts of some of our most beautiful landscapes, life is rapidly ebbing away. Where once there was purple heather, bilberry and buzzing insect life, there are now over-grazed, sheep-infested ecological disaster zones. For a nation of nature lovers, it’s a disgrace.One of the very worst areas is the Dartmoor commons. These exemplify everything that is wrong about England’s upland management. In a recent Natural England survey of Dartmoor’s protected sites, only 26 out of 22,494 hectares (55,583 acres) were found to be in an ecologically favourable condition – that’s 0.1%. All the blanket bogs and all the heathland surveyed are in an appalling state, and in many places these once wonderful habitats are in decline.Chris Packham is a naturalist, broadcaster and campaigner Continue reading...
Forget polishing your CV – you’re better off working on your connections. That’s the depressing reality when every vacancy attracts thousands of applications, all written by AIIt’s only when you meet a couple of people who have just landed a job that you realise how long it’s been since you heard of that happening. I was chatting to two nearly-graduates last week, who both had something to go on to, and fair play, they were chemists, and I’ve never met one of those before. It’s possible they always saunter into work.The story you hear far more often from graduates is that it’s a wasteland – that every new post has 2,000 applications, all identical because they’re AI-generated anyway, and it’s an AI bot that reads the damn things, so it wouldn’t be able to tell a personal touch even if there was one. Applying for work is like throwing your hat into a ring that’s on fire: your chances of success are mythically small and your hat – or, if you prefer, your self-esteem – will be destroyed in the process. Continue reading...
He may be insecure and lack any obvious qualifications, but he’s also extremely devoted to Donald Trump. And isn’t that what really matters?‘Once upon a time, in the land of the free, there lived a wizard called Kash the Distinguished Discoverer.” That piece of verbal wizardry is the opening line of a children’s book trilogy called The Plot Against the King (aimed at children aged three and above) by a Mr Kash Patel. The first book, published in 2022, is like Harry Potter for conspiracy theorists. Kash helps King Donald battle Hillary Queenton and a “shifty knight”, who have been spreading lies about the king working with the Russionians. In the final book in the trilogy (The Plot Against the King 3: The Return of the King) a couple of villains called Comma‑la‑la‑la and Baron Von Biden make an appearance.Not so long ago, publishing deeply weird books about the president while also promoting wild QAnon conspiracy theories would get you put on some kind of watchlist. Now it gets you a top job as the guy in charge of watchlists. Patel is not just a children’s book author; he is also the director of the FBI. His chief qualification for the role appears to be his extreme devotion to President Donald Trump. He certainly didn’t have any FBI experience before getting the job as head of the agency.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
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Israel’s military blamed the deaths of six Palestinian children on Sunday on a technical error. But a staggering toll continues to mountOn Sunday, an Israeli strike killed six Palestinian children – and four adults – as they queued for water in a refugee camp. The deaths of children may be the most terrible part of any war. It is not only the suffering of the innocent and powerless, and the unimaginable pain of surviving parents – as dreadful as those are – but the knowledge of lives ended when they had barely begun, of futures that should have stretched long into the distance severed in an instant.As shocking as Sunday’s deaths were, they are commonplace in Gaza: a classroom-worth of children have been killed each day since the war began. What marked them out was that so many deaths happened at once and publicly; and that Israel’s military felt obliged to acknowledge its responsibility – though without any great contrition. It claimed that a “technical error with the munition” caused it to miss its intended target and added that it “regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians”.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
The dramatic Lord’s Test between England and India showcased the glories of the game’s traditional formNever try to explain Test cricket to an American. In sport, Americans value brevity, drama, a guaranteed resolution. Draws are anathema and ways must be found to avoid them. Two enterprising journalists once took Groucho Marx to an MCC game at Lord’s and he pronounced it “a wonderful cure for insomnia”.What Groucho would have made of the “timeless” Test in Durban in March 1939 – it had been going on for 10 days before England, close to victory, decided that they had to catch the boat home – doesn’t bear thinking about. George Bernard Shaw summed it up perfectly: “The English are not a very spiritual people, so they invented cricket to give them some idea of eternity.”Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
French federation puts forward hosting 2027 warm-upMeeting before second Test over new Lions modelA British & Irish Lions tour of France could move a step closer next week when executives hold talks over “a new business model” in Melbourne before the second Test of the series against Australia.Abdel Benazzi, the vice-president of the French federation (FFR), held informal discussions with Lions executives in Dublin before the warm-up match against Argentina, and he will travel to Australia next week to further press his nation’s claims of facing the touring side again, having previously done so in 1989. France have emerged as leading contenders to face the Lions in a warm-up match before the tour of New Zealand in 2029 and, according to Benazzi, could also fulfil the same role before the inaugural women’s tour in 2027, also to New Zealand. Continue reading...
Fast bowler displayed all the attributes which set him apart from others to deliver optimism for rest of series and Ashes The electric return of Jofra Archer in England’s tight victory against India at Lord’s set straight a couple of narratives that arose during his four-year absence from Test cricket. It is often said that a player’s stock can rise when they are sat on the sidelines – yet sometimes, in some quarters, the reverse can also be true.Chief among them was a reminder that England possess a special fast bowling talent here, Archer displaying the attributes that set him apart from others. As the man himself confidently put it regarding the 89.6mph beauty to Rishabh Pant that angled in, nipped away and gave the snappers the stumplosion they craved: “I guess it was just a matter of when, if I kept bowling like that. I can’t imagine many left-handers getting away with it.” Continue reading...
‘We earned the right to be there and will show support’Palace in Conference League after ownership breachFurious Crystal Palace supporters have demanded that Uefa reverses its decision to demote the FA Cup winners from the Europa League to the Conference League next season as they staged a protest march outside Selhurst Park on Tuesday evening.It was confirmed last week that Uefa’s club financial control body had concluded Palace breached its multiclub ownership criteria, with the south London club expected to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport against a decision that their chair, Steve Parish, described as “probably one of the greatest injustices that has ever happened in European football”. Continue reading...
Owners had doubled prices ahead of tournament‘Revised and adjusted’ menus follow criticismA Portrush restaurant chain has been forced to back down on huge price increases after complaints from visitors to the Open. The Ramore Restaurant Group suffered a combination of furious online backlash and ridicule after hiking the price of a chicken pasta dish from £14.95 to £27.95 for Open week.AI generated images online showed local heroes Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke cleaning dishes, alongside commentary suggesting this is what they would have to do to pay a restaurant bill. Continue reading...
Boxing great made two symbolic political gestures in London with his bout against Daniel Dubois only days awayOn Monday afternoon, in central London, Oleksandr Usyk looked resplendent on an open-topped black bus as he prepared to send loaded messages to Daniel Dubois, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. High in the air he held three fingers on his right hand to signify his intention to become a three-time undisputed world champion. It was a typical sporting gesture and underlined his determination to defeat Dubois at Wembley Stadium on Saturday night and follow his earlier achievements in winning all the belts as a cruiserweight and then, last year, becoming the first boxer to unify the world heavyweight division this century.Usyk remains the WBA, WBC and WBO champion but boxing politics forced him to vacate his IBF title soon after he beat Tyson Fury in their magnificent first world title unification fight 14 months ago in Riyadh. He looks ready now for the dangerous challenge of Dubois, the new IBF champion, but Usyk’s arrival in London was a timely reminder of the far more significant role he plays in Ukraine. Continue reading...
England captain lauds ‘incredibly powerful’ clubmatePraises influence of retired Jill Scott in England campLeah Williamson has described Arsenal teammate Stina Blackstenius as an “incredibly powerful footballer” as the pair prepare to go head-to-head in the Euro 2025 quarter-final between England and Sweden.“She’s a great player and she has been for many years now,” said the England captain. “Her experience speaks for itself. We were celebrating her success at Arsenal, but not so much now. We’ll see. Stina is an incredibly powerful footballer and very intelligent with her runs. She’s a hard player to play against in that respect.” Continue reading...
Twenty-five years since Olympic glory, the perennial underachievers try again with a last-eight clash with ItalyThe perennial underachievement of the Norway women’s national team is one of football’s great mysteries. How can a side packed with some of the world’s finest players continually make early exits at tournaments, fail to look cohesive and even endure a chastening 8-0 defeat against England at Euro 2022? How can great talents such as Barcelona’s Caroline Graham Hansen, Chelsea’s Guro Reiten and the Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg not thrive together in their national-team kit?Stop there. Hold that thought. Something is stirring. Norway topped Group A at Euro 2025 with three wins from three and face Italy on Wednesday in the quarter-finals. Is this the summer when Norway will deliver on their potential, offered not just by Graham Hansen, Reiten and Hegerberg but Arsenal’s Frida Maanum and players from Manchester United, Atlético Madrid and Lyon? And with an English head coach in the former Wales manager Gemma Grainger. Continue reading...
Local and travelling fans have been captivated and most problems could have been avoided with more spending or careThe headline in SonntagsBlick Sport reads: “Lia hier, Lia da, Lia überall.” It is not metaphorical; Switzerland’s Lia Wälti is literally here, there and everywhere. From billboards and tram stops to produce packets and tourism adverts, the Arsenal midfielder is the poster girl of Euro 2025, the captain, the Champions League winner, the fulcrum of a team who captured the heart of the country as they set up a blockbuster quarter-final with the world champions, Spain.There were raised eyebrows when Switzerland was announced as the host country. The largest stadium is the 38,512-capacity home of Basel, St Jakob-Park, where the opening game and final are being played. It felt like a step back from the 74,310-capacity Old Trafford, which hosted the opening game in 2022, and Wembley, which hosted 87,192 fans for the final between England and Germany. Continue reading...
Despite their group-stage exit, Nina Patalon’s side have made history and changed perceptions back homeAs Poland were on their way to a historic Euro 2025 win over Denmark the commentator on national TV encouraged people to visit the website of a Polish FA campaign called “Girls’ Team”, which is designed to help young girls find a team to train with. There was such a rush to the website the server broke down.That would have been unthinkable only a few months ago but the Polish team that played in their first Euros, scored their first goal and secured their first win at the tournament have changed the perception of women’s football in the country for ever. “One of the key goals was to leave the best possible impression and to get little girls interested in the sport,” said the coach, Nina Patalon, after the 3-2 win against Denmark. “That was our biggest responsibility at our first Euros.” Continue reading...
Future looks bright for UK cycling thanks to early-career riders bringing a brave, attacking approachFor more than a decade, the interest in British riders racing in the Tour de France was focused on familiar names – Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas – but now a new generation of English-speaking talent is making its mark on the world’s biggest race.Ben Healy, West Midlands-born but with Irish heritage, has been the revelation of the Tour so far, and was fully rewarded for his unrelenting efforts with the yellow jersey of race leadership on the Bastille Day stage to Puy de Sancy. Continue reading...
Our cartoonist on the US president’s central role in the final of a tournament that seemed like it would never endBuy one of David’s cartoon in our Print ShopDavid’s new book, Chaos in the Box: buy it now Continue reading...
There are questions around the race contenders’ teams but Wout van Aert’s form could be key for the Danish challengerThere is always a sense of phoney war in the run-in to the Tour de France’s first stage in the high mountains, and at least one debate of the opening 10 days of this year’s race fits that context to a T. Has Jonas Vingegaard’s Visma-Lease a Bike team at times been towing the bunch deliberately in order to ensure that Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey? It’s a gloriously arcane question, the kind that only comes up in the Tour’s opening phase, but it distracts from a point that could be key in the next 10 days: how the two teams manage the race will probably be decisive.Firstly, a brief explainer. The received wisdom in cycling lore is that holding the yellow jersey early in a Grand Tour can be as much a curse as a blessing, because the daily media and podium duties cut into recovery time. Hence the thinking goes that Visma might have been chasing down the odd move purposely to keep Pogacar in the maillot jaune, so that he will be answering media questions and hanging about waiting to go on the podium, while Vingegaard has his feet up. Only Visma’s management know if this was the case, but what is certain is that the febrile atmosphere between the two teams will intensify from here on in. Continue reading...
Spaniard left QPR last month by mutual consentFoxes had also spoken to Gary O’Neil and Chris WilderLeicester have confirmed the appointment of Martí Cifuentes to fill the vacancy left by Ruud van Nistelrooy after relegation from the Premier League last season.The Spaniard, 43, left QPR last month having been placed on gardening leave in April at the tail end of a Championship campaign that resulted in a 15th-placed finish in the 24-club division. Rangers finished seven points above the relegation places and Cifuentes left by mutual consent last month. Continue reading...
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino returned to work yesterday, NBC News reports; Trump says attorney general handled Epstein case ‘very well’ amid Maga base furorDonald Trump has said that Democratic senator Adam Schiff “has engaged in a sustained pattern of possible mortgage fraud” and “needs to be brought to justice”.In a post on Truth Social this morning, Trump said Schiff, who holds a seat in California, had listed his primary address in Maryland “to get a cheaper mortgage” from 2009 until 2020, when he listed the property as his second address. Continue reading...
Authorities admit ‘we don’t know how many we lost’ as local officials receive death threatsAt least 134 people have now been confirmed to have died during the Texas Hill Country flooding on 4 July, according to an ABC News report.Crews are continuing to search for the 101 people still missing. Continue reading...
US president said to have discussed providing Patriot missiles and long-range Tomahawks but no agreement has been reachedUkraine is waiting for further details of the “billions of dollars” worth of US military equipment promised by Donald Trump on Monday, amid confusion as to how many Patriot air defence systems will be sent to Kyiv.At a meeting at the White House with the Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, on Monday, Trump said an unnamed country was ready to immediately provide “17 Patriots” as he said a “very big deal” had been agreed for European allies to buy weapons from the United States and then ship them to Ukraine. Continue reading...
Exclusive: For roughly 100 days, Thomas says he faced harsh detention conditions, despite agreeing to deportationThomas, a 35-year-old tech worker and father of three from Ireland, came to West Virginia to visit his girlfriend last fall. It was one of many trips he had taken to the US, and he was authorized to travel under a visa waiver program that allows tourists to stay in the country for 90 days.He had planned to return to Ireland in December, but was briefly unable to fly due to a health issue, his medical records show. He was only three days overdue to leave the US when an encounter with police landed him in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) custody. Continue reading...
Jamie Dimon cautions against interference as treasury secretary says process to replace Jerome Powell has begunThe boss of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, has defended the “absolutely critical” independence of the Federal Reserve chair, as Donald Trump continues to demand immediate cuts in interest rates.The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Tuesday that a formal process for choosing a successor to the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, had already begun – despite the fact that his term does not end until next May. Continue reading...
Growing number of campaigners urge government to ensure green investment is not done ‘on backs of the poor’What is a wealth tax and would it work in the UK?A growing number of climate groups are campaigning for the introduction of a wealth tax to ensure the transition to a sustainable economy is not done “on the backs of the poor”.Last week campaigners from Green New Deal Rising staged a sit-in outside the Reform UK party’s London headquarters as part of a wave of protests targeting the offices, shops and private clubs of the super-rich across the UK. Continue reading...
Ministers call for hosepipe bans as East and West Midlands enter drought, joining Yorkshire and north-westFour areas of England are now in drought as the East and West Midlands have joined Yorkshire and the north-west.Continuing hot and dry weather was a hazard to crop production and wildlife, ministers said, as they urged water companies to put hosepipe bans in place to conserve water as levels deplete. Continue reading...
NO2 and PM2.5 levels down significantly since 2015 but climate crisis may be driving rise in harmful surface ozoneThe UK’s air pollution has dropped since 2015, scientists have found, but they have warned that dangerous levels are still reached too often.Researchers found that nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is mainly produced by traffic, fell by 35% on average at monitoring sites. Fine particles called PM2.5, which are small enough to get deep into lungs and are caused by burning wood and driving cars with internal combustion engines, dropped by 30%. Continue reading...
With a bottlenose population threatened by fishing gear, boats and pollution, campaigners on South Korea’s Jeju island are lobbying to extend legal status to the vulnerable cetaceansIt is a beautiful sunny day on the island of Jeju in South Korea and as the boat cuts through the water all seems calm and clear. Then they start to appear – one telltale fin and then another. Soon, a pod of eight or nine dolphins can be seen moving through the sea, seemingly following the path of the boat.But as they start to jump and dive, fins cutting through the air, it becomes apparent that one dolphin is missing the appendage, his body breaking the surface but without the telltale profile of his companions. His name, given to him by a local environmental group, is Orae, which literally translates as “long”, but in this context means “wishing him a long life”. Continue reading...
Hundreds of mechanical engineers stopped work in protest over ‘management practices’ at construction siteHundreds of workers at the Hinkley Point C nuclear construction site in Somerset have staged a wildcat strike in protest against alleged bullying by the project’s supervisors.A group of mechanical engineers numbering in the low hundreds stopped work on Tuesday without the backing of their trade unions amid deepening woes within the 26,000-strong workforce over the conditions on the site. Continue reading...
Clive Foster aims to ‘confront uncomfortable realities’ and expand his remit to help those faced with discriminationThe newly appointed Windrush commissioner has promised to expand his remit to fight for marginalised communities who have experienced discrimination in housing, education, employment and policing.At a launch event on Wednesday, Clive Foster will tell the immigration minister, Seema Malhotra, that he does not intend to perform a public relations role for the government. Continue reading...
Ex-home secretary questions Farage party’s sales pitch and says councils could struggle if they mismanage key servicesReform UK might have to choose between presenting itself as a new and radical political party or as a home for “disgruntled former Conservatives” who lost their seats at the election, James Cleverly has said.Cleverly, the former home and foreign secretary, who stood to replace Rishi Sunak as Tory leader, also argued that Nigel Farage’s party could suffer if the councils it now runs struggle to properly manage key everyday services such as bin collections and social care. Continue reading...
Union had raised concerns about hundreds of assembly line jobs at defence company’s factory in LancashireThe British weapons manufacturer BAE Systems has said it is confident of receiving further export orders for the Typhoon fighter jet, a development that would secure the future of several hundred jobs at its factory in Lancashire.The company is hoping for as many as 150 more orders for the jet, with up to two-thirds of those expected to be assembled in the UK. It comes after Unite, a union representing manufacturing workers, raised concerns over the future of the assembly line at Warton. Continue reading...
UK, France and Germany say without firm commitment from Iran by 29 August they will reapply embargos that were lifted 10 years agoThe EU will start the process of reinstating UN sanctions on Iran from 29 August if Tehran has made no progress by then on containing its nuclear programme, the bloc has announced.Speaking at a meeting of his EU counterparts, the French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said: “France and its partners are … justified in reapplying global embargos on arms, banks and nuclear equipment that were lifted 10 years ago. Without a firm, tangible and verifiable commitment from Iran, we will do so by the end of August at the latest.” Continue reading...
Wehrmacht officer gave relic to German citizen whose family contacted Italian heritage officials after his deathAn erotic mosaic panel stolen from Pompeii by a German Nazi captain during the second world war has been returned to the site of the ancient Roman ruins.The relic, which depicts a pair of lovers and dates from between the middle of the last century BC and the first century AD, had been among the heirlooms of a deceased German citizen who received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain responsible for the German military supply chain in Italy during the war. Continue reading...
A New York doctor faced a $113,000 penalty from Texas after being accused of shipping abortion pills across state linesA New York county clerk again rejected an effort by Texas to fine a New York-based doctor accused of shipping abortion pills across state lines, in a case that could tee up a US supreme court showdown between states that protect abortion access and those that ban it.On Monday, the acting Ulster county clerk, Taylor Bruck, rejected a court filing by Texas’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, which sought to collect a $113,000 penalty against Dr Margaret Carpenter. Paxton had sued Carpenter in December 2024 over allegations she shipped abortion pills to a Texas woman in defiance of the state’s ban on virtually all abortions. When Carpenter did not show up to a court hearing earlier this year, a judge automatically ruled against her and ordered her to pay the fine as well as stop mailing pills to Texas. Continue reading...
Israel targets state forces entering south of Syria after sectarian clashes, while other strikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley leave 12 deadIsrael has launched bombing raids against two of its neighbours, hitting government forces in southern Syria and what it said were Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon.In Syria, the strikes hit forces loyal to the transitional government that had been sent south to the province of Sweida, which is near Israel. Syrian state media also reported Israeli strikes on Tuesday in the nearby province of Deraa. Continue reading...
The lockdown PE favourite has joined forces with the Hey Duggee team to turn himself into an animation. And now he’s on a mission to get the government to make Activate compulsory viewing in schoolsJoe Wicks is doing some burpees. He is being his usual Joe Wicks self, shouting matey encouragement as his lustrous hair bobs up and down in time. If you watched PE With Joe, his daily lockdown-era YouTube series, it will be familiar. However, there is one important distinction. Wicks is now exercising in a void, surrounded by fuzzy little aliens. Welcome to Activate, his new frontier in getting children moving.“Obviously, PE With Joe had so much impact, and I’m so proud of that,” Wicks says over Zoom. “But I had this niggling feeling that I couldn’t do this for ever. I can’t visit every school because thousands and thousands apply for me to visit every year.” Continue reading...
Photographer David Levene gained access to the ballet company as they prepared for Ballet Coffret, ahead of a UK tour this month where they will also be performing Giselle at the Royal Opera House. We spoke to one of the principal dancers, Yui YonezawaThe three pieces of Ballet Coffret range from 1910’s Stravinsky-composed classic The Firebird by Michel Fokine through the mid-20th century Etudes by Harald Lander to William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude from 1996. Levene captured the training, preparations and performances of the National Ballet of Japan (NBJ) over three March days in Tokyo, as well as shadowing ballerina Yui Yonezawa and visiting the New National Theatre’s ballet school.Principal dancer Yui Yonezawa prepares for Ballet Coffret in Tokyo, Japan Continue reading...
Inoffensive adventure story updates Dora the Explorer as she goes in search of the legendary golden sun that will grant one wishIf you have a bunch of eight-year-olds over for a sleepover and you’re looking for something to stick on the TV, you could do worse than this straight-to-streaming live-action adaptation of the animated show Dora the Explorer. It’s a follow-up of sorts to Dora and the Lost City of Gold from 2019, with a new star in the shape of Samantha Lorraine, and aimed at slightly older kids than the cartoon. There are action sequences looted from Raiders of the Lost Ark that had my eight-year-old squealing at the screen, though as it’s determined to be undemanding and inoffensive, it’s got that plasticky quality that middling kids’ films tend to have.Lorraine plays Dora, a teenage explorer who’s grown up in the Amazon, raised on her grandfather’s stories about the Incas. For years, Dora has been searching for clues to find Sol Dorado, a legendary golden sun that will grant one wish, joined by her cousin Diego (Jacob Rodriguez). The scriptwriters deserve credit for resisting the temptation to bolt on a love interest; instead, we have cousin Diego in the role conventionally given to a female character: the pretty but non-essential sidekick. Continue reading...
Ex-lovers reunite over the music they used to share in Mix Tape. Plus, Doon Mackichan guests in biting comedy show Transaction. Here’s what to watch this eveningTuesday, 9pm, BBC Two“You don’t forget the first mixtape a boy makes you.” Cracking music soundtracks this four-part will they/won’t they story, starting with New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle, as teenagers Daniel (Rory Walton-Smith) and Alison (Florence Hunt) first talk sheepishly at a Sheffield house party in 1989. Twenty years later, Daniel (Jim Sturgess) has stayed put and is a music journalist, while Alison (Teresa Palmer) is a successful novelist in Sydney. Both have families, but as they remember the mix tapes they shared and unanswered questions, is a reunion on the cards? Think One Day (incidentally, Sturgess starred in the film version) except grittier. Hollie Richardson Continue reading...
British film about the relationship travails of a 30-year-old would-be actor falls flat and feels datedIt is a truth universally acknowledged that there was some drop-off in quality between the first incomparable Bridget Jones film and its sequels, but this cheap would-be spiritual successor will have you crawling after even the worst Bridget film begging for forgiveness. Ghosted hews close to the template, to the point of feeling like a tribute act – but unfortunately not the kind of tribute act that sells out arenas but the kind that plays down the Dog & Duck of a Saturday night.Mercy (Jade Asha) is unhappily single, on the hunt for Mr Right, and hoping to improve her career (ideally from waitress to international acting superstar). Part of the film’s problem is that Bridget Jones’ Diary is of its time, and to hear a 30-year-old supposedly modern and progressive heroine in 2025 complain that she is a decade older than the majority of singles definitely feels dated. Thirty in 2025 is not the same as 30 in the 1990s, and it’s peculiar to watch someone today bemoan it as the end of their youth. Continue reading...
Scott Eastwood and Robert De Niro also star in this confusing film about an ex-soldier sent to penetrate a cult compoundMake no mistake: this action thriller is a mangled, dreary, unlovely mess and so much less than the sum of its parts – despite relatively blameless supporting turns from Robert De Niro and John Leguizamo. There’s a more culpably hammy performance from Jamie Foxx, who rocks a ginormous, weirdly contoured afro so bizarre that it’s almost worth the price alone. (He is also one of many executive producers on the project.) But Foxx’s tonsorial effort is not enough to counteract the fact that this is a pretty lousy film, only worth it if you like “sneerwatching”.None of the big names mentioned above play the lead here. Instead, the hero is one Nash Cavanaugh (a name that sounds generated by an AI bot), as incarnated by a typically lumpen Scott Eastwood. Cavanaugh is a former soldier who was once drawn into the cult created by Foxx’s Leon Prudhomme, also known by his much cooler cult leader moniker, the Bokushi (“pastor” in Japanese). It turns out Prudhomme was originally bankrolled by De Niro’s Ashburn, a shady government agent who had hoped to create a mercenary army. But the Bokushi has instead created his own private Jonestown, full of other ex-soldiers sold on his self-help preaching about how PTSD need not define them, or something like that. What makes him so charismatic is never well defined, but presumably the veterans must be smitten with his R&B-inflected gospel crooning with a special backup band – a vanity moment that’s pure cringe. Continue reading...
A mystic who turned visions into beautiful chants, Hildegard von Bingen has inspired everyone from Grimes to David Lynch. Musicians including Julia Holter explain the hold she has on them‘And behold! In the 43rd year of my earthly course, as I was gazing with great fear and trembling attention at a heavenly vision, I saw a great splendour in which resounded a voice from Heaven saying to me, ‘O fragile human, ashes of ashes, and filth of filth! Say and write what you see and hear.”These are the words of 12th-century polymath Hildegard von Bingen (or Hildegard of Bingen), recalling the divine intervention that set her on the path to becoming one of history’s earliest and most influential composers. Continue reading...
The controversial, rabble-rousing strain of punk known as Oi! is once again giving voice to a nation’s working-class and disaffected youth. Luminaries of this new ‘Cold Oi’ scene explain the music’s eternal, anthemic appealWearing washed 501 jeans, buzzcuts, boots and braces, punks and skinheads are packed into a small and sweaty venue. They’re pogoing to power chords and shouting along to the terrace-style chants coming from the stage.But this isn’t London’s 100 Club in 1978, it’s a gig by French band Syndrome 81 in the suburbs of Paris in 2025. They sound like a surprising but appealing mash-up of Cockney Rejects and the Cult. And they are part of a new wave of French Oi! punk bands who are blending scrappy, working-class angst with a firm nod to the country’s synth-soaked coldwave past. Continue reading...
Joining Grace on this week’s episode of Comfort Eating is Lulu. Lulu was belting out songs to crowds before most of her classmates had mastered their times tables. By 15, she’d swapped school for showbiz and kicked off a six decade career with a bang – her first single Shout landed her in the charts and on the path to global stardom. She’s duetted with legends, succeeded at Eurovision, survived the Bond franchise, and re-emerged time and again – not just still standing, but still selling out. Now in her seventies and on the road again promoting a tour and her second memoir, Lulu and Grace discuss her dad’s job in a meat-market, eating snails for the first time, and why KitKats are the perfect tour bus snackNew episodes of Comfort Eating with Grace Dent will be released every Tuesday Continue reading...
Brace yourself for the staggering tale of Travis, who has both real and bot wives. Plus, the wickedly gossipy duo of Graham Norton and Maria McErlane are backThis staggering tale of people falling in love with AI chatbots is baffling, tragic and terrifying. It’s full of jaw-dropping moments, as hosts Hannah Maguire and Suruthi Bala speak to Travis who “married” a bot despite already having a real-life spouse. There’s also the vulnerable teenager whose “companion” spurs him on to an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II (which ends with him being charged with treason). Alexi DugginsWondery+, episodes weekly Continue reading...
The longtime chronicler of the spy agency on his Legacy of Ashes follow-up and what keeps him up at nightIt may seem perverse to pity the Central Intelligence Agency. The powerful spy organization’s history is rich with failures and abuses – from the Cuban missile crisis to the post-9/11 torture program to its role in the overthrow of a long string of democratically elected leaders. But among the many consequences of Donald Trump’s open hostility toward America’s intelligence community is that no less a CIA critic than Tim Weiner now sounds like a defender.To understand why, Weiner – author of the unsparing history of the agency, the 2007 bestseller Legacy of Ashes – suggested a thought experiment in a recent interview: imagine spending years as an intelligence officer, working diligently to subvert the Kremlin, only to watch the US stand with Russia, Iran and North Korea, as it did in February when it voted against a UN resolution condemning the invasion of Ukraine. In that moment, Weiner said: “You come to the realization, if you hadn’t already: ‘My God, the president of the United States has gone over to the other side. He has joined the authoritarian axis.’” Continue reading...
A fascinating account of the Nobel laureate’s pioneering work as an editor at Random HouseWhile a great deal has been written about Toni Morrison’s fiction, her work as a senior editor at Random House is less well known. Dana A Williams, professor of African American Literature at Howard University, sets out to fill this gap, offering an impeccably researched account of Morrison’s stint at Random House between 1971 and 1983, against the backdrop of the Civil Rights and the Black Arts movements. Reflecting ideas generated by that convergence, Morrison’s novels – described by the Nobel committee, when they awarded her the prize in literature in 1993, as giving life to an essential aspect of American reality – were driven by an unwavering belief in the possibility of African American empowerment through self-regard. Williams’s interest lies in showing how Morrison’s editorial career was informed by the same invigoratingly insular ethos. Whether writing or editing, her work was aimed at producing “explorations of interior Black life with minimal interest in talking to or being consumed by an imagined white reader”.Morrison saw early on how that kind of insularity could be wielded as both a weapon and a shield. Addressing the Second National Conference of Afro-American Writers at Howard in 1976, she urged the audience to recognise that “the survival of Black publishing, which […] is a sort of way of saying the survival of Black writing, will depend on the same things that the survival of Black anything depends on, which is the energies of Black people – sheer energy, inventiveness and innovation, tenacity, the ability to hang on, and a contempt for those huge, monolithic institutions and agencies which do obstruct us”. These words could well have been repurposed as a mission statement for her editorial career, which, as Williams points out, consisted of “[making] a revolution, one book at a time”. Change was coming in America. Morrison’s contribution would be to work towards change in the overwhelmingly white world of publishing: “I thought it was important for people to be in the streets,” she said during an interview for the documentary Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am, released in 2019. “But that couldn’t last. You needed a record. It would be my job to publish the voices, the books, the ideas of African Americans. And that would last.” Continue reading...
As the Irish author turns 70, we rate his best works of fiction – from his latest, Long Island, to his emotionally wrenching ‘masterpiece’This dispatch from what we might call the extended Colm Tóibín universe is set near the same time and in the same place as his earlier novel Brooklyn (one character appears in both books). It’s the story of a widowed woman who struggles to cope with life after love. If it lacks the drama of some of Tóibín’s other novels, the style is impeccable as ever, with irresistibly clean prose that reports emotional turmoil masked by restraint. There is no ornate showing off. “People used to tease me for it, saying: ‘Could you write a longer sentence?’” Tóibín has said. “But there’s nothing I can do about it.” Continue reading...
This ambitious tale of solidarity and sisterhood in Florida has moments of poetic clarity, but falls short of the author’s dazzling debutWriters sometimes talk of giving birth to their books, but probably very few are also working as doulas. It’s an experience that clearly informs Leila Mottley’s new novel, The Girls Who Grew Big, in which the struggles of pregnancy and motherhood loom large. Mottley’s work as a doula comes in addition to writing a bestselling debut novel, Nightcrawling, and featuring on Oprah’s Book Club; she was also youth poet laureate of Oakland, California, in 2018. But not much seems beyond the reach of the youngest ever writer to be longlisted for the Booker prize, back in 2022. The pity is that her considerable energy hasn’t translated into a more satisfying second book.The Girls Who Grew Big tells the story of a gang of teenage mothers and the impromptu community they form in the humid disarray and general dysfunction of Padua, a fictional small town in the Florida panhandle. Led by their de facto leader, Simone, the Girls are a scrappy, ostracised handful of outsiders, variously rejected by their families and harshly judged by locals. Down on their luck and often abandoned by the adults in their lives, they resourcefully become a collective, based in the back of Simone’s truck. Continue reading...
Adults over the age of 50 represent nearly a third of US gamers and are becoming more visible in the mainstreamMichelle Statham’s preferred game is Call of Duty. It’s fast and frenetic, involving military and espionage campaigns inspired by real history. She typically spends six hours a day livestreaming to Twitch, chatting to her more than 110,000 followers from her home in Washington state. She boasts about how she’ll beat opponents, and says “bless your heart” while hurtling over rooftops to avoid clusterstrikes of enemy fire. When she’s hit, she “respawns” – or comes back to life at a checkpoint – and jumps right back into the fray.The military shooter game has a predominantly young male user base, but Statham’s Twitch handle is TacticalGramma – a nod to the 60-year-old’s two grandkids. Her lifelong gaming hobby has become an income stream (she prefers to keep her earnings private, but says she has raised “thousands” for charity), as well as a way to have fun, stay sharp and connect socially. Continue reading...
Minecraft and other creative games are becoming recognised as powerful means of self-expression and mental health support, including for traumatised Ukrainian refugeesOleksii Sukhorukov’s son was 12 when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. For months, the family existed in a state of trauma and disarray: Sukhorukov was forced to give up his work in the entertainment industry, which had included virtual reality and video games; they became isolated from friends and relatives. But amid the chaos, his boy had one outlet: Minecraft. Whatever was happening outside, he’d boot up Mojang’s block-building video game and escape.“After 24 February 2022, I began to see the game in a completely different light,” says Sukhorukov. I discovered that Ukrainian children were playing together online; some living under Russian occupation, others in government-controlled areas of the country that were the targets of regular missile attacks; some had already become refugees. And yet they were still able to play together, support one another, and build their own world. Isn’t that amazing? I wanted to learn more about how video games can be used for good.” Continue reading...
PC, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2; Iron Galaxy Studios/ActivisionThis remake is a nostalgia fest of grabs, spins, flips and skids – and a stiff, even occasionally humiliating test of skillIt’s almost insulting how easily this skating-game remake pushes my millennial nostalgia buttons. The second that Ace of Spades comes on over a montage of skaters on the title screen, I am forcefully yanked back to the early 00s, when I spent untold hours playing one Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game or another in the gross bedrooms of my teen-boy friends. More than 20 years later, I can almost smell the acrid lingering odour of Lynx body spray.In 2020, the first couple of Tony Hawk’s games were polished up and re-released as the first wave of Y2K nostalgia hit. The two games were packaged up as one, with consistent controls and a new look that preserved the grungy feel of the originals, and the same is true for 3+4: levels, skaters and parks from both 2001’s THPS3 and 2002’s THPS4 rock up here alongside newer stars of the sport (including Riley Hawk, son of the eponymous skating celebrity – I found this oddly touching). Continue reading...
The games’ runaway success introduced a whole generation to hopped up US punk and metal. Bands including Less Than Jake, the Ataris and AFI pay tribute to a gaming megastar who loves them backWhen millions of parents bought their kids a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater game in the late 90s and early 00s, they couldn’t have understood the profound effect it would have on their children’s music taste. With bands from Bad Religion to Papa Roach and Millencolin accompanying every failed spin and grind, these trick-tastic games slyly doubled up as the ultimate compilation CD.While the Fifa games have an equally storied history with licensed music, those soundtracks feel impersonal – a who’s who of whichever artists EA’s associated record labels wanted to push at the time. Pro Skater’s soundtrack, by contrast, felt like being handed a grubby and slightly dog-eared handmade mixtape, still battered from its last tumble at the local skate park. Continue reading...
A new season at London’s Southbank Centre is inspired by Emma Warren’s book Dance Your Way Home, about the potency of communal movement. She and other artists involved explain why the dancefloor is their happy placeEmma Warren, author of Dance Your Way Home and co-curator of the festival: I remember someone asking me, ‘Where’s your happy place?’ I said it’s in the middle of the dancefloor. They thought that was funny, as most people would think of somewhere solitary, in nature, under a tree, but I was like, no, my happy place is in the squash, surrounded by a lot of people, where your movement is connected to everybody else’s.Dance Your Way Home is at the Southbank Centre, London, from 23 July to 29 August Continue reading...
From photo-editing apps to ‘Instagram face’, technology has radically altered the way we see ourselves. Ahead of a new exhibition at Somerset House, our critic considers the meaning of art in a digital ageIt’s the artist Qualeasha Wood who tells me about Snapchat dysmorphia, “a term coined by plastic surgeons who noticed there was a shift in the mid 2010s when people started bringing in their AI-beautified portraits instead of a celebrity picture”. To resolve your Snapchat dysmorphia, you get your real face remodelled to look like the ideal version of you that artificial intelligence has perfected on your phone screen.There is a fundamental problem with this, says Adam Lowe, whose Factum Foundation in Madrid is at the forefront of art and technology, digitally documenting artworks and cultural heritage sites around the world. When you have surgery to look like your best self as shown on a flat screen, the results in three-dimensional reality can be very odd indeed. You can feel Lowe’s sadness at the way plastic surgery botches human restoration in pursuit of screen perfection: “I have to look away,” he says. Continue reading...
From checkpoint photos to a bullet-ridden car door memorialising the killing of five-year-old Hind Rajab, a new show highlights the shared resistance between Irish and Palestinian artistsThere are no tanks or tear gas, no shattered apartment blocks or bloodied limbs. Just eyes – heavy and charcoal-drawn – staring in stillness and silence. They don’t accuse. They don’t beg. They simply watch. Peering out of pale, formless faces – a quiet demand to acknowledge their very existence.This is Gazans’ View of the World, a stark monochrome piece by Palestinian artist Nabil Abughanima, one of more than 50 works now on display at Metamorphika Studio in Hackney, London. Together, they form Dlúthpháirtíocht – the Irish word for “solidarity” – an exhibition that spans continents, memories and borders, binding Palestinian and Irish histories into a single frame. Continue reading...
Molly McGuiness is treating audiences to a buffet, sketch troupe Simple Town bring fast-paced fun and Jessica Barton plays Mary Floppins … Here are half a dozen essential acts at the festival“There should be a buffet at every comedy gig,” says Manchester-based Molly McGuinness – and luckily for us, she’s making that happen for her Edinburgh debut. Her laugh-packed sets, served with snacks and a warm conversational style, are inspired by the standup of Caroline Aherne. “I like it to feel as if I’m talking to a friend,” she says. Slob began as a turning-30 existential crisis about reaching your potential, but when a rare disease left McGuinness in a coma, everything shifted. She will share the “bizarre and surreal” experience of coma-induced delirium, tender reflections on “the sweetness of the nurses” that cared for her, and a blossoming love story. “A lot of people feel like a slob, but we’re doing the best we can,” she says.Monkey Barrel, 28 July–24 August Continue reading...
Apple shows dominated this year’s TV nominations while the British Netflix hit scored 13 nodsEmmy nominations 2025: the list of key categoriesSeverance and The Penguin lead this year’s Emmys nominations while the breakout drama Adolescence has also made an impressive showing.Apple’s chilly workplace thriller has received 27 nominations for its second season, leading the drama categories while the tech giant’s new comedy The Studio has broken Ted Lasso’s record for most nominations received by a freshman comedy series. The Seth Rogen-led Hollywood satire picked up 23 nods. Continue reading...
He was a teen singer with his dream career. But then his life fell apart. Anthony Kavanagh talks about sex work, addiction and the years he spent being forced to hide his sexualityNobody could say that Anthony Kavanagh does not know how to laugh at himself. The day he was fired from his record label, he trudged across London in the rain, walking and walking, as the realisation sank in that he was no longer a pop star. Soaked, he went into a pub and the woman behind the bar offered him a grubby tea towel to dry off. Washed-up indeed, he thought.His memoir, Pop Scars, is sprinkled with darkly comic takes on what his life had become after 90s pop stardom. Known as Kavana, he had a Top 10 hit in 1997 with his cover of Shalamar’s I Can Make You Feel Good. “I’ve always somehow been able to find the humour, even at some of the darker times,” he says. Continue reading...
Tina Barney’s decades-long exploration of the bourgeois set her family belonged to reveals the strange rituals and claustrophobic banality of rich people’s everyday lives Continue reading...
After surviving the whirlwind of Doctor Who, the actor returns to the stage in ‘horny Elizabethan drama’ Born With Teeth. He and co-star Edward Bluemel discuss bust lips, hot pants and queering the Bard’s story ‘I think of it as a very sexy, dangerous game of Elizabethan cat and mouse.” Ncuti Gatwa is describing his new project with the Royal Shakespeare Company, a two-hander about William Shakespeare and fellow playwright Christopher “Kit” Marlowe. In Born With Teeth, Will and Kit collaborate on a play about Henry VI – for “collaborate”, read flirt, fight and ruminate betrayal.Gatwa plays Marlowe and Shakespeare is Edward Bluemel; the pair last worked together on TV’s Sex Education. Bluemel followed that series about horny teens with playing a vampire (A Discovery of Witches), an MI6 agent (Killing Eve) and a brooding lord (My Lady Jane), while Gatwa was cast as one of the Kens in the Barbie movie and starred in a little thing called Doctor Who. Continue reading...
Nowhere should be out of bounds just because you have a plant-based diet. Seasoned travellers explain how to stay happy and hunger-free, whether you’re trekking in Thailand or on a mini-break in BerlinThis spring, I spent five weeks travelling around Mexico – my longest time away from home since becoming a vegan two and a half years ago. It was a learning experience: lots of incredible vegan food, gallons of fall-back guacamole and the odd cheese-related disaster. This is what I found out about being a vegan on holiday, and the advice I received from more seasoned vegan travellers. Continue reading...
Don’t bother with bought-in bottles, which are often too sweet. It’s easy to make your own, say our cooks – just remember, it’s all about balance …Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.comMost stir-fry sauces are sweet, dense and cloying. Any lighter, fresher alternatives?Louis, Falmouth If Julie Lin, author of Sama Sama: Comfort Food from my Malaysian-Scottish Kitchen, were to hazard a guess, it would be that Louis is buying shop-bought sauces: “They’re always sweet and dense,” she says. “There’s a phrase we use in Malaysia, agak agak, which means to season until you know that it’s good for you.” And that’s only ever going to come from making it yourself, which for Lin often means her “master wok” sauce. To make a bottle, she combines 75g white sugar, three teaspoons of MSG, and 75ml rice-wine vinegar, and whisks until the sugar dissolves. Stir in 300ml light soy sauce and 100ml dark soy sauce, followed by 50ml sesame oil. Pour that into a sterilised jar or bottle, give it a shake and keep for a month at room temperature. That’s then ready to go, or customise it with, say, chilli or garlic, because one stir-fry sauce is not going to fit all. While the basic master wok number is a good shout for stir-frying noodles, rice or vegetables, however, “if you’re going for a lamb stir-fry, for example, you’ll probably want to add some cumin, garlic and maybe make it more vinegary.”For Justin Tsang, author of Long Day? Cook This: Easy East Asian Recipes with a Twist, it’s all about balance: “The perfect stir-fry sauce has to be salty, sweet and umami, but it shouldn’t be one more than the other; it should work in harmony.” If your sauce is bordering on too sweet or dense, anything “a bit tart or fruity” will work wonders: “That could be some sort of acid, such as lime juice to finish, or vinegar, or a splash of sharp Worcestershire sauce,” says Tsang, who has also been known to add HP Sauce to the mix. Alternatively, get to know your onions: “Using the finest grater on a box grater, grate a white onion into an almost-pulp, then mix into your sauce, along with a splash of vinegar – that will cut through any sweetness and make it lighter.”Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.com Continue reading...
Tasting the good and the bad for the Filter; summer spritzes for aperitivo hour; and the perfect fans for keeping cool• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereMy favourite scene in the film Ratatouille is when Remy the rat tastes strawberries and cheese. Closing his eyes, he takes a bite … and it’s fireworks. Like Remy, I’m a food lover: I’m a chef and recipe developer, writer and campaigner for a better food system, and have worked on farms and in kitchens, from River Cottage to Noma, for 25 years.Recently, I’ve been testing different supermarket staples for the food filter. Tasting 10 of each, I’ve rated everything from kimchi (as an avid fermenter, my favourite so far) to mayonnaise – 70 products in all. Vanilla ice-cream (coming up next week) was my least favourite: at least 50% of it was ultra-processed rubbish not even worthy of the name. It gave me stomach ache.The best men’s suits under £400: 14 favourites for every occasion (and how to style them)The best period pants, tried and tested for comfort, style and absorbencyPanda Hybrid Bamboo mattress review: a stylish, supportive hybrid that keeps cool on balmy nightsThe best camping stoves for cooking like a pro in the wild, tested Continue reading...
We asked teachers for their all-time favourite end-of-year gifts, from the surprisingly useful to the deeply meaningful• From biscuits to plants: 20 easy gifts so good we buy them on repeatWhat do you buy the person who has helped to mould the mind, life and future prospects of your beloved child every school day for the past year? No pressure.We spoke to 17 teachers from around the country to find out what they would really like as end-of-year gifts. Many of them receive alcohol and chocolates on repeat, but from plants and tote bags to flying lessons (yes, really), here’s what they might actually like to receive. Continue reading...
Forget soggy sandwiches! From pocket-sized burners to multi-hob wonders, these camping stoves came top in our tests• The best camping mattresses and sleeping mats for every type of adventureA reliable camping stove makes all the difference to food alfresco, allowing you to cook a stew in the evening and then warm up in the morning with a hot cup of coffee. The great thing about these stoves is that they’re essentially portable hobs, meaning anything you can cook on the stove at home can be whipped up in the great outdoors by sticking a pot or frying pan on top.There’s a dizzying variety on offer, ranging from dinky ultralight burners that fit into your pocket to big stove-tops with multiple hobs, grills, wind protectors and a lid – the latter are like bringing along your cooker from home. Most run on gas, such as propane and butane, although I’ve also included charcoal options for traditional types. I’ve tested some of the best portable stoves, for everyone from ultralight wild campers to families who need to cook dinners for the masses.Best camping stove overall: Dometic Cadac 2 Cook 2 Pro£99.99 at Robert DyasBest grill:Primus Kuchoma portable grill £154.95 at WildBoundsBest for family camping:Campingaz Camping Kitchen 2 Multi-Cook Plus£160 at Go OutdoorsBest for wild campers:Petromax Atago stove£179.95 at Mountain WarehouseBest for backpacking/best mini stoveMSR Switch system stove£114.75 at WildBounds Continue reading...
Struggling to sleep and work in the balmy months? Chill your space – and avoid energy-guzzling air con – with our pick of the best fans, from tower to desk to bladeless• Warm weather essentials: 42 ways to make the most of the sunshineOur world is getting hotter. Summer heatwaves are so frequent, they’re stretching the bounds of what we think of as summer. Hot-and-bothered home working and sweaty, sleepless nights are now alarmingly common.Get a good fan, and you can dodge the temptation of air conditioning. Air con is incredibly effective, but it uses a lot of electricity … and burning fossil fuels is how we got into this mess in the first place. Save money and carbon by opting for a great fan instead.Best fan overall: AirCraft Lume£149 at AirCraftBest tower fan: Dreo Cruiser TF518£99.99 at AmazonBest travel fan: Morphy Richards Air Flex USB fan£39.99 at AmazonBest evaporative cooler:Swan Nordic air cooler£69.99 at Amazon Continue reading...
This might just be summer’s winning recipe – ridiculously easy and delicious flavours for barbecue seasonI present to you my new favourite summer burger, which has been on our menu at home ever since its arrival in my kitchen. It’s one of those recipes where the ease is almost embarrassing. How can something so delicious be so straightforward? The burgers themselves are a simple food processor job; if you don’t have one, use chicken mince and make sure you really mix in the curry paste and courgette by hand. The accompaniments are also key: the lime-pickled shallots, the abundance of herbs and the creaminess of the mayo all work so well together. Turn up to a barbecue with a tray of these and I guarantee you’ll be dishing out the recipe in no time. Continue reading...
A great speedy bowl meal that is wholesome, tasty and a success with all the familyThese were an absolute hit with my children, albeit minus the cashews, and as any parent with toddlers who refuse to let their food touch other food will know, that’s a breakthrough. It’s well worth making the whole quantity here, because any leftovers are perfect for fried rice the next day – just make sure you cool the rice after making it, then refrigerate immediately and reheat until piping hot the next day. Continue reading...
Japan’s limited-edition Baby Body Burger packs in 1,876 calories and tips the scales at nearly 680g. Will it defeat our reporter?Japan can legitimately claim to be home to some of the best food on the planet. But it usually has little appetite for supersizing it.That changed on Friday with Burger King’s gargantuan but curiously named Baby Body Burger, tipping the scales at nearly 680g (1.5lb). As part of a collaboration with the Japan Sumo Association, whose July wrestling tournament has just started, the burger checks in at 1,876 calories. Sumo wrestlers would only need about four of these to get their average daily caloric needs; a mere mortal would need just one to one-and-a-half. And, at ¥2,590 (£13.05), it’s nearly twice the price of a one-patty Whopper with cheese. Continue reading...
A teacher in London and a student in Margate had differing views on feminism and intimacy outside of marriage – could they find some common ground over sex workers?Jo, 38, LondonOccupation Teacher Continue reading...
Dad was in hospital in Spain; Mum couldn’t speak Spanish and didn’t know how to contact me, so I reached out to an expat community on FacebookRead more in the kindness of strangers seriesOne week before I was due to fly to Sweden to see my son get married, I got a frantic, jumbled message from Mum. My elderly parents were desperate to attend the big wedding but as they were both in their 80s, they’d decided it would be more comfortable to take a cruise ship from Australia to Europe than to fly. They’d set off two months before the rest of us.Mum’s message asked me to call her. “We’re being thrown off the ship,” she wrote. “Your father’s in an ambulance – I think it’s pneumonia. We’re somewhere in Spain.” Continue reading...
While both working in Fiji, Will Hamilton was certain he and Stef were more than an aid-world fling. Then Covid came and the pair were separated for nine monthsFind more stories from The moment I knew seriesAt the end of 2019 I was 15 months into a contract working in Fiji. The project was coming to an end and I was ready to head back to the UK when Stef showed up and changed everything.Working in international development, especially in more remote locations, means those in the sector tend to gravitate towards each other. Whenever a new crop of personnel show up, everyone gets together. It was Stef’s third night on the island when we all descended on a local curry house in Suva to welcome her and the other volunteers. I arrived straight from work in a rather fetching sulu (Fijian sarong) and sandals. I was seated next to Stef and sparks flew instantly. She was clearly super bright, very funny and matched me in stacking away large quantities of chicken tikka butter masala (it’s a thing and it’s very good). We made plans to meet the following day and quickly began spending a lot of time together. Continue reading...
Rebecca, 70, a company director, meets Michael, 71, a supporting artist (extra)What were you hoping for? An interesting and sparky guy who had similar tastes and interests, and a sense of fun. Continue reading...
From checking documents and what you may need to carry to factoring in motorway tolls and how to pay themIf you are driving your own car to mainland Europe this year, there are plenty of things to think about in addition to how you are going to fit all your stuff in the vehicle. Continue reading...
And Three failed to make any of the right connections over a reported fraudI placed an order for a new phone with O2, with which I have had an account since 2003.After the handset was dispatched, a text from O2 told me it was thought to be a fraudulent order, the package was recalled mid-transit and my account was locked. Continue reading...
A surge in messages from fraudsters about automatic renewal at a higher price has prompted Amazon to email 200m users to warn themAs a frequent Amazon shopper you pay £95 for an annual Prime subscription, so when an email arrives warning the price is going up you are quick to react.But the email, which includes a button to click on to “cancel” the subscription, is a scam and sent by fraudsters trying to steal your account login and payment details. Continue reading...
Vicky Reynal’s clients come in looking to discuss finances. But the therapist says our money habits can reveal much about our desires and relationshipsI am surprised that Vicky Reynal, a financial psychotherapist, is soft and reaffirming when I meet her. Perhaps I shouldn’t be – she is a therapist, after all. But something about her line of work, helping people untangle their issues with money, had primed me to expect someone more brisk, more clinical.I think of how many business executives she meets with, how prohibitively expensive her time must be, and how strong her boundaries probably are. I even panic at the thought of logging into our Zoom meeting one minute late, because time, after all, is money. Continue reading...
Getting fit can be more difficult as you grow older, but a few tweaks to aerobic and resistance training can have a positive impact and reduce the risk of disease‘Your muscles become less responsive to exercise with age,” says Professor Leigh Breen, an expert in skeletal muscle physiology and metabolism at Birmingham University. “It’s not as easy to gain muscle and strength as when you were younger.”But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. “The idea that exercise becomes pointless past a certain age is simply wrong,” he says. “Everyone responds to structured exercise. You may not build as much visible muscle, but strength, cardiovascular health, brain function and protection against non-transmittable disease all improve.” Continue reading...
Do you scream when you stub your toe? Could you play a grand final with a shattered jaw, or work all day as your belly fills with blood? When it comes to suffering, perspective is everythingSome say it was John Sattler’s own fault. The lead-up to the 1970 rugby league grand final had been tense; the team he led, the South Sydney Rabbitohs, had lost the 1969 final. Here was an opportunity for redemption. The Rabbitohs were not about to let glory slip through their fingers again.Soon after the starting whistle, Sattler went in for a tackle. As he untangled – in a move not uncommon in the sport at the time – he gave the Manly Sea Eagles’ John Bucknall a clip on the ear. Continue reading...
Private clinics offer reduced doses of GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro to clients outside usual market, but some people are waryA slim woman standing in a kitchen injects herself in the abdomen. Another jogs. A third kneels on a yoga mat drinking water. The shots are intercut with a doctor telling the viewer: “Usually it’s for people who don’t actually have that much to lose – it’s a bit of a gentler way to get to your target weight.”The promotional video is from a private clinic in Leicester offering “microdosing”, the latest trend in the weight loss jab revolution. Continue reading...
Are people applying layers of products, masks and tape to their faces at bedtime following a beneficial beauty trend, or is the practice problematic?The women in the videos begin by liberally applying layers of skincare products. Then come the sheet masks: two under the eyes, one across the whole face, and perhaps another for the neck. A silk bonnet is placed over the hair, a chinstrap wraps the jaw and, as a final touch, a cartoonish, lip-shaped sticker is placed over the mouth, sealing it shut. And that’s the simplified version.Welcome to the tyranny of #morningshed, the viral TikTok trend in which creators apply multiple, increasingly absurd layers of skincare products, masks and accessories before bed, hoping to uncover a flawless complexion when they peel them away the following morning. We aren’t talking about the (comparatively simple) serums and essences that made up the once-popular 12-step Korean-inspired routines. Now, it’s chinstraps to “lift” the jawline, hydrogel masks infused with “ultra-low molecular collagen” to smooth, and adhesive tape applied to the skin to restrict wrinkling. I was going to liken it to Patrick Bateman’s morning routine in American Psycho, but having rewatched that scene, his gel cleanser, exfoliating scrub and face mask ritual feels decidedly lower maintenance. Continue reading...
Time to sign out of your Work Bag, sling a straw basket bag over your shoulder and feel your pulse slow downIs there any point putting an out of office on your emails when you go on holiday any more? “I won’t have access to emails.” Yeah, right. Sorry, you aren’t fooling anyone: no one goes on holiday without their phone in 2025. Your office know perfectly well that if you don’t answer emails, they can still reach you by text or direct message. Even, theoretically, by actually calling you, although obviously that won’t happen because that’s another thing that no one does in 2025. Tweak your out of office message as much as you like – you might as well stick your fingers in your ears.No, the best way to set your brain to holiday mode is by signing out of your Work Bag. Swapping the bag you take on your daily commute for a free-and-easy alternative is more effective as a psychological gear change than logging out of your emails. In day-to-day life, I change handbags as rarely as possible, the potential for leaving keys in an inside pocket and getting locked out being just too real. But when you get home after work and you aren’t going back for a week or two, there is something very pleasing about marking that moment by throwing away leaky pens, marvelling at how you managed to accumulate 14 hairbands, and then shaking the bag over the bin and feeling disproportionately thrilled when a pound coin falls out. Stashing the bag – with your office pass inside – is very out of sight and out of mind. Continue reading...
Nightdresses are set to follow pyjamas out of the bedroom as daywear, with sales up on the UK high streetIn the first episode of Lena Dunham’s new Netflix sitcom Too Much, viewers might be taken with cameos from Dunham, Jessica Alba and the model Emily Ratajkowski, or the burgeoning romance between Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe. But – as far as fashion is concerned – it’s nighties that have a starring role.Early in the episode, Stalter wears a short frilled red nightie, with her dog in a matching design. Later, she wears a white frilled floor-length design, and it’s clear the item is something of a signature. If it’s a cute quirk for a character, it’s also in line with wider trends. Continue reading...
Fashion firms make the most of marketing dream as actors, musicians and footballers turn out at WimbledonOn Saturday, all eyes will be on United States’ Amanda Anisimova as she takes on Poland’s Iga Świątek in the Wimbledon women’s finals.But this week there has been another rally taking place off grass. Continue reading...
The vacation aesthetic is now altogether more low-key. Take a deep breath and put those fringed palazzo pants downDoes your kaftan have a sequin trim? Adorable! Does your holiday tote bag have a shell bag charm? Cute. Does your maxidress have pom-poms dangling from it? Um, OK, I’m sure it’s lovely, but let’s take a moment here, shall we? Are you completely sure you need to coordinate your beach jellies with your candy-striped shorts and cropped top? Look, I’m going to come out and ask the question here. Have our holiday wardrobes got a bit … overexcited?I don’t want to be a killjoy. But there is a fine line between a cheerful holiday aesthetic and looking as though you bought the entire contents of your suitcase while on a sangria-fuelled shopping spree at Gatwick. Beguiling though all this stuff is, there is a point where tomato-print sundresses and sandals with ric-rac lacing stop looking delightfully Dolce, and start looking a tiny bit overwrought. Take a deep breath and put those fringed palazzo pants down. Continue reading...
The Via delle Valli is a series of 50 trails aiming to tempt mountain-lovers away from the region’s hotspots and towards lesser-charted countryThick white cloud hangs outside the windows of Rifugio Segantini, a mountain hut 2,373 metres up in the Italian Alps. But it is shifting, revealing glimpses of the majestic Brenta Dolomites before us: a patch of snow here, a craggy peak there. The view is tantalising, and a couple of times I have run outside in a kind of peekaboo farce to see the full display, only for it to pass behind clouds again.The refuge – cosy, wooden-clad and packed with hikers – is named after the Italian landscape painter Giovanni Segantini, who was inspired by these mountains. His portrait hangs on the walls and his name is embroidered on the lace curtains. A simple stone building with blue and white shutters in Val d’Amola, the refuge is dwarfed by its rugged surrounds, with Trentino’s highest peak, the snow-capped 3,556-metre Presanella, as a backdrop. The entries in the guestbook are entirely by locals. Continue reading...
Where his family once farmed on a wild fringe of the Lycian shoreline, one man has built his dream retreatAged seven or eight, planting onions on his father’s land above Kabak Bay, Fatih Canözü saw his first foreigner. Before the road came in 1980, his village on the jagged coast of south-west Turkey’s Lycia region was extremely remote, isolated by steep valleys and mountains plunging into the sea. It took his family two days to get to the city of Fethiye on winding donkey tracks, to sell their apricots, vegetables and honey at the market. Despite his shock at seeing the outside world intrude for the first time, Canözü remembers thinking even then that tourism was the future.Four decades on and having trained as a chef, Canözü has not only built a restaurant and 14 tourist cabins in Kabak, he has married a foreigner too: a former Middle East correspondent from England, who came here to research a novel and ended up falling in love. Now they are raising their family on this wild fringe of Anatolia’s Turquoise Coast, a region that Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founding father of the Republic of Turkey, is said to have called the most beautiful in the country. Continue reading...
Slovakia is gaining an international reputation as a hot spring haven, offering affordable and high-quality spa treatments in breathtaking buildings‘Centuries ago people used to say, ‘In three days the Piešťany water will either heal you or kill you.’” My guide Igor Paulech is showing me around Spa Island – a hot-spring haven in the middle of the Váh River that runs through Piešťany, Slovakia’s most prestigious spa town. Just an hour north of Bratislava by train, the town and its spa-populated island are packed with grand art nouveau and art deco buildings.There’s a faint aroma of sulphur in the air as Igor paces ahead, past peacocks and ponds full of lilies, imparting his home town’s history. The hot water that springs from beneath the island sandbank has created what we’re all here for: a blueish medicinal mud that’s rich in hydrogen sulphide and sulphur. Continue reading...
If you’ve ever been tempted by naturism, there is nowhere better to try stripping off than the idyllic, car-free Île du LevantThe trail hugs every curve of the cliffside. On my left, the Mediterranean Sea swirls beside craggy rocks, while flowering plants unfurl on my right. A quarter of France’s coast is lined with similar sentiers des douaniers (customs officers’ paths), which were once used to patrol the sea. The difference on this trail is that I’m wearing nothing but my backpack.Off the coast of the southern French resort town of Hyères, Île du Levant is home to the only naturist community of its kind, the Domaine Naturiste d’Héliopolis. For 93 years, this rustic Eden has lured free-spirited lovers of nature and authenticity, as unabashedly naked as Adam and Eve before they ate the forbidden fruit. On every visit, I’ve found that when people shed their clothes, they shed their pretence. Unlike traditional naturist retreats where nudity is de rigueur, Héliopolis is peppered with clothing-optional spots. This makes it the ideal place for travellers to dip their toes into the naturist way of life. Continue reading...
My father wanted me to feel satisfied with my purchase. He also thinks I’m stupid with salespeople, liable to say and pay too muchI was nine when Dad first gave me the advice that would be a golden thread, a parable of wisdom conveying all his hard-earned knowledge in a few words.He had just finished a long week at the mixed business we owned in the city, and we were at Menai Marketplace in Sydney’s south for a very special purchase. I was desperate for a PlayStation 1. I pointed at the Big W price tag and asked: “Dad, is this expensive?” Continue reading...
Just like humans, plants benefit from cleanliness: sterilise your tools and pots, wipe down leaves to remove dust, and check for pests or diseaseWhat’s the problem? I’ve heard “plant hygiene” mentioned, but I’ve no idea what it actually means.Diagnosis Good plant hygiene is the gardening equivalent of washing your hands – simple, essential, yet often overlooked. Neglecting plant hygiene can lead to the spread of pests, diseases and infections. Using dirty scissors, pots or tools can transfer fungi, bacteria or pests from one plant to another. Similarly, letting dust build up on leaves can restrict photosynthesis. Continue reading...
Guardian feature writer Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett recently wrote about the growing cohort of parents whose children are on the waiting list for an autism or ADHD diagnosis, and are turning to the internet to buy melatonin to help them sleep. She tells Madeleine Finlay about their experiences and what is driving them to the hidden market. Paul Gringras, a consultant in paediatric sleep medicine and neurodisability, and lead of sleep medicine at King’s College London, also explains why melatonin can be helpful for neurodivergent children and why he is concerned about the increasing number of parents looking for it online‘I feel like a drug dealer’: the parents using hidden-economy melatonin to help their children sleepWhat you should know about melatonin for sleep problems in children – International Pediatric Sleep Association Continue reading...
Mayonnaise still makes me feel like I’m dying, but I’ve learned to love parmesan. And at least I’m making an effortI’ve always been a fussy eater. As a child, I ruined many family dinners because my overly particular palate meant I would simply refuse to eat a range of dishes. Certain ingredients would make me heave and throw tantrums. My brothers loved lasagne, but it rarely made the dinner table as I couldn’t stand cheese, and bechamel triggered a phobia of white sauces (mayonnaise is my No 1 hate). And don’t even think about making tuna sandwiches around me: the smell alone would make me burst into tears.I often joke that being a fussy eater has made me feel more like a second-class citizen in this country than my blackness or my sexuality as a gay man. And I’m only being half unserious. Fussy eaters are often derided, belittled for only enjoying chicken tenders and fries, with questions about why we can’t just “grow up” and get over our aversion to certain foods. Continue reading...
Commercial pilots George Hibberd and Todd Smith grapple with the reality of their dream jobs, torn between childhood ambitions of flying and the impact of their industry on the world beneath them. From the cockpit, they witness first-hand the climate crisis unfolding below and decide to take drastic measures. As part of Safe Landing, a community of aviation workers who want the industry to do better for the climate, they begin to transform their eco-anxiety and guilt into action. With an estimated 1.2 million passengers in the sky at any time, they ask when will society confront the urgent need to reimagine aviation - before it's too lateTo read more on how former Easyjet pilot George Hibberd thinks the aviation industry can be transformed, click here. Continue reading...
The anonymous writer has seen horror after horror in the 21 months since he was driven from his home in Gaza City. How has he kept going? And does he have any hope left?On the morning of 7 October 2023, the author of the Guardian’s Gaza diary woke up planning to play tennis. “This year I decided to take care of my mental and physical health,” he wrote in his first entry, published six days later. “This means no stress, no negative energy and definitely more tennis.”Instead, with the news full of how Hamas had broken out of the territory, killing 1,200 people, he found himself scrambling desperately for the documents showing he owned his apartment in Gaza City, in the north of the strip. “If our building gets bombed, I need evidence that this apartment belongs to me,” he wrote. Continue reading...
Aristocrat and her partner had means to provide for Victoria but put her in danger in attempt to evade authoritiesConstance Marten and Mark Gordon convicted over daughter’s deathBy the time baby Victoria died, she and her parents had been reduced to living in a tent in the middle of winter on the South Downs with insufficient clothing and basic supplies.Constance Marten and Mark Gordon claimed they had no choice but to make their daughter live like this. In the end, she died. But that was not through a lack of money. They could have accessed large sums from Marten’s trust fund to provide whatever their daughter needed. Indeed, before they spent a single night in that tent, they spent thousands on taxis to take them around the country, and on hotels and holiday lets to live in. Continue reading...
Family of Paul St Hilaire Sr to take council to high court next month to reinstate van on King William WalkWhen he was growing up, Paul St Hilaire Jr thought his dad was the next best thing to Willy Wonka: no one else’s dad sold ice-cream for a living.“I remember sitting in the van, eating my Mr Whippy and feeling superior to children queueing up outside,” St Hilaire Jr remembered. Continue reading...
We want to hear how people are dealing with the temperatures amid the third UK heatwave so far this summerThe UK has experienced its third heatwave of the summer, with the UK Health Security Agency issuing amber heat health alerts across parts of England over the weekend.Last month was the warmest June on record in England and the second-warmest for the UK, according to provisional Met Office figures. Continue reading...
We want to hear from people about their housing costs after data showed a rise in spending on housing costs as a proportion of household income for private renters in EnglandPrivate renters in England are spending an increasing proportion of their income on housing, according to the latest official data from the English Housing Survey.In 2023-24, the proportion of gross household income spent on housing costs for private renters rose to 34% on average, climbing from 32% for 2022-23. Continue reading...
We would like to hear about – and see pictures of – the tree that means the most to you and whyThe Woodland Trust has announced its 10 nominees for the UK tree of the year. The shortlist includes The Knole Park Oak in Kent – believed to have inspired an epic poem in Virginia Woolf’s novel Orlando – and a cedar tree climbed by the Beatles in Chiswick, west London.Now we would like to hear about the tree that means the most to you and why. You can share your reasons – and pictures – below. Continue reading...
We want to hear from grandparents in the UK about the ways in which they look after their grandchildrenWhether you do the school run every morning or have your grandchildren to stay for the odd night so that their parents can paint the town red – or catch up on sleep – we want to hear from grandparents in the UK about the ways in which they look after their grandchildren.A recent article in The Atlantic posited that older Americans might be doing more grandparenting than ever – and might be reaching their limit. Yet there is also a reputation that “boomers” are too busy playing golf, sipping cocktails and “laughing while their millennial children are suffering” to put in any grunt work with their offspring’s offspring. Continue reading...
Alex Fraser of the British Red Cross on the agreement on migrant Channel crossings announced by Keir Starmer and Emmanuel MacronWith the much-anticipated Channel crossings deal with France, the government has an opportunity to build on the UK’s proud history of offering sanctuary to people who desperately need it, and to save lives (Starmer hails ‘groundbreaking’ deal to return small-boat migrants to France, 10 July). As the prime minister noted, it is entirely right to provide a haven to people in the most dire need, and international collaboration is key to solving the global problem of displacement. But for the pilot to be successful, the UK government must keep these three things front of mind.First, the scheme must be open to all people in need of protection – and the process must be quick and simple. This will mean a fairer, safer alternative to Channel crossings, so that no one falls into the hands of smugglers. Continue reading...
Readers respond to an article by George Monbiot on how rightwing people and parties use humour to promote toxic ideasGeorge Monbiot manages to achieve something quite remarkable: an essay on the corrosive potential of humour that ignores the decades-long tradition of the left wielding satire like a broadsword (How does the right tear down progressive societies? It starts with a joke, 10 July).Did we all dream Spitting Image, Saturday Night Live, Have I Got News for You, Ben Elton, or Jo Brand’s “battery acid” quip about Nigel Farage? The left practically invented modern political satire as we know it – and rightly so. Holding power to account through ridicule is not only legitimate but essential. But suddenly, when humour points the other way, it becomes seditious? Dangerous? Please. Continue reading...
As the mother of an autistic child, I was stopped in my tracks by John Crace’s suggestion, writes Suzanna NolanI usually enjoy John Crace’s frank views and commentary, but was stopped in my tracks when he said the bill for special educational needs and disabilities (Send) provision was rising “thanks both to better diagnosis and to some parents gaming the system” (Labour picks on kids as Farage reaches for his human punchbag, 7 July).Sadly, when the government is challenged as to why it is not providing thousands of children with an adequate education, it often resorts to victim-blaming, implying that parents are exaggerating their children’s difficulties, and I’m astonished that John has regurgitated such nonsense. Continue reading...
Toxic lead exposure | Careers advice for beard-wearers | Clean-shaven teachers | In awe of Jasprit Bumrah | Two SoupsI am glad that the government has moved to protect birds and wildlife from toxic lead exposure by banning lead ammunition (Report, 10 July). It would be great if its next move could be to try to protect the estimated 200,000 children in the UK who have asymptomatic and undiagnosed lead exposure that will cause them lifelong health and cognitive impairments. At present we have a passive surveillance system that misses 99% of cases.Lee CrawfurdSenior research fellow, Center for Global Development• When working for the same civil service department as Ian Arnott (Letters, 14 July), my husband was told by a senior manager that if he wanted to “get on” in his career he should “lose the beard”. He didn’t – and he didn’t.Dianna HagertyDeal, Kent Continue reading...
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A weekly email from Yotam Ottolenghi, Meera Sodha, Felicity Cloake and Rachel Roddy, featuring the latest recipes and seasonal eating ideasEach week we’ll send you an exclusive newsletter from our star food writers. We’ll also send you the latest recipes from Yotam Ottolenghi, Nigel Slater, Meera Sodha and all our star cooks, stand-out food features and seasonal eating inspiration, plus restaurant reviews from Grace Dent and Jay Rayner.Sign up below to start receiving the best of our culinary journalism in one mouth-watering weekly email. Continue reading...
Kick off your afternoon with the Guardian’s take on the world of footballEvery weekday, we’ll deliver a roundup the football news and gossip in our own belligerent, sometimes intelligent and – very occasionally – funny way. Still not convinced? Find out what you’re missing here.Try our other sports emails: there’s weekly catch-ups for cricket in The Spin and rugby union in The Breakdown, and our seven-day round-up of the best of our sports journalism in The Recap.Living in Australia? Try the Guardian Australia’s daily sports newsletter Continue reading...
The best new music, film, TV, podcasts and more direct to your inbox, plus hidden gems and reader recommendationsFrom Billie Eilish to Billie Piper, Succession to Spiderman and everything in between, subscribe and get exclusive arts journalism direct to your inbox. Gwilym Mumford provides an irreverent look at the goings on in pop culture every Friday, pointing you in the direction of the hot new releases and the best journalism from around the world.Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
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