England overpower Canada to win Women's World Cup
England produce a performance full of power and ferocity to defeat Canada at Twickenham and win the Women's Rugby World Cup for a third time.
England produce a performance full of power and ferocity to defeat Canada at Twickenham and win the Women's Rugby World Cup for a third time.
The Labour conference is set to be dominated by questions over how to respond to Nigel Farage's party.
Ahead of Labour's annual conference, Laura Kuenssberg talks to ministers, MPs and advisers about Starmer's position.
The president says the latest move to send troops to a major US city is "necessary" to protect immigration detention facilities.
The Duke of Sussex describes media reports about his recent meeting with his father as "false".
Sergei Lavrov has been highly critical of Western countries and Israel in his speech at the UN General Assembly.
Tens of thousands had gathered at a campaign event for actor-turned-politician Vijay in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
The incident is believed to involve carbon monoxide and seven others, including emergency staff, were treated.
Israel is continuing its offensive against Hamas, after PM Benjamin Netanyahu told the UN Israel “must finish the job” in Gaza.
The chancellor calls for an 'ambitious' deal as she looks to boost growth ahead of the 26 November Budget.
Scrum-half Natasha Hunt says the scale of England's World Cup final victory - and the size of the Twickenham crowd - was "unimaginable".
England have won their third Rugby World Cup title with a commanding 13-33 performance over Canada in front of an 81,885 person home crowd in Twickenham.
England's triumph was spawned from a camp that focused on togetherness and living in the moment
Three beginners take on the challenge of turning their talent into social media traction in three months.
The painstaking investigation by a dedicated team of war detectives also tracked down living relatives of the men.
Families are elated by news of the first treatment for Huntington's disease - but when and how will the NHS fund it?
Work by the four artists nominated for this year's award will go on show in Bradford this weekend.
As the US president pushes a crackdown on left-wing groups and openly targets political foes, critics ask where he's taking America
More documents related to the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein have been released by lawmakers in the US.
Authorities say the pair died off the coast of northern France after about 100 people set off by makeshift boat.
Drones were detected near its largest military facility, with possible sightings also reported in Germany, Norway and Lithuania.
Junior Ryan Coleman was reported missing on 20 August and his remains were found a month later.
The Trump administration asks the court to clear the way for the order, which has faced a series of legal challenges.
The FBI Agents Association says the terminations - not yet confirmed by the bureau - violate the agents' rights.
Astronauts of Nasa's first crewed mission to the Moon for more than 50 years hope their journey inspires a new generation.
The IDs will not have to be carried day-to-day, but they will be compulsory for anyone wanting to work.
Teenagers have been targeting shops in Shirley, Hampshire, with antisocial behaviour - leaving the owners feeling "helpless".
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England produce a performance full of power and ferocity to defeat Canada at Twickenham and win the Women's Rugby World Cup for a third time.
Oliver Glasner's thrilling Crystal Palace side are on the march as they brutally expose Liverpool's weaknesses, says chief football writer Phil McNulty
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim sees a step forward followed by another one back with defeat at Brentford.
England have won their third Rugby World Cup title with a commanding 13-33 performance over Canada in front of an 81,885 person home crowd in Twickenham.
Rory McIlroy lets his frustration with the crowd show before hitting a brilliant approach shot on the 16th to help seal his foursomes match with partner Tommy Fleetwood on day two of the Ryder Cup.
Digital ID to be compulsory for all UK adults under government plans.
We get an inside view on new claims by Trump linking autism, paracetamol and pregnancy
Harrison, who has died aged 88, wrote copiously for the stage, both as an ingenious translator and dazzlingly original dramatistFrom TS Eliot and Ted Hughes to Carol Ann Duffy and Simon Armitage, numerous poets have written a few plays. However, Tony Harrison’s collected plays run to six volumes, comprising 19 full-length dramas. Many of them are translations from Greek (The Oresteia, from 1981, is the most actable version of the trilogy by Aeschylus) or French (he did an astonishing rhyming version of Molière’s The Misanthrope in 1973). But, as Harrison’s theatre career developed, he also wrote original plays, of which The Trackers of Oxyrhynchus (1990) and Square Rounds (1992) stand as the best new verse dramas written in English since Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral in 1935.The English versions of foreign dramas were a dividend from the extraordinary education in classics and languages available to a working-class child at Leeds Grammar School in the 1950s, before he extended his knowledge of Latin and Greek at Leeds University. Continue reading...
After Charlie Kirk’s killing, the US president has unleashed an assault on free speech. Some conservatives are questioning his razor sharp U-turnIt has taken barely two weeks for Donald Trump to turn the horrific killing of Charlie Kirk to his political advantage, unleashing an unprecedented peacetime assault on free speech and a free press on the back of the assassination.Since Kirk’s death, the president and his top team have:forced a private media company to suspend late-night TV star Jimmy Kimmel for inaccurate comments he made about Kirk’s suspected shooter;threatened other TV networks with losing their licences should they say things Trump doesn’t like;vowed to prosecute “hate speech” that is fully protected under the first amendment;declared antifa a terrorist organisation in an indiscriminate attack on political ideology;and told journalists covering the Pentagon that they will have their access revoked unless they agree to restrictions on their reporting. Continue reading...
A new coat is a major investment – Jess Cartner-Morley shares her tips on how to find the perfect one. Plus, stylish and practical picks for men and women• How to master transitional dressing: 17 clever buysAutumn has a way of sneaking up on us. We eke out the last dregs of summer until one day we realise that we are still carrying sunglasses around, when what the weather actually calls for is a scarf. At which point, it is time to focus on what will be the most important piece in all of our wardrobes for the next six months – the coat.A good coat is much more than an extra layer. It is the piece that sets the tone for your whole outfit. It is the hardest-working player in your wardrobe, the one that you turn to day in and day out, the piece that has to coordinate with everything else you wear, the garment that needs to be tough enough to cope with being pulled on and off multiple times a day. Continue reading...
Humans have helped save the great apes from extinction, but are now the biggest threat to their survival as they compete for land in east Africa’s Virunga mountains• Photographs by Badru Katumba for the GuardianIt is sunrise on mount Muhabura, an inactive volcano on the Ugandan-Rwandan border, and Dr Benard Ssebide is in a rush to find a family of mountain gorillas before the tourists arrive. A mass of ferns, vines and thistles encroaches on the path, and the guides hack through brambles with machetes. Above, the forest whistles in the wind, glowing in the morning light.“The higher you go, the more the mountain pushes back,” Ssebide says, pausing for breath. Continue reading...
A super-sunny summer has led to a bumper crop for Britain’s cider makers. Make the most of it with these delicious recipesMonths of hot weather have produced a record-breaking year for apples in the UK, with the harvest coming in bigger and earlier than ever. That means it’s also going to be a record-breaking year for cider.According to the National Association of Cider Makers, the warm summer has also delivered apples “full of rich flavours and natural sweetness, perfect for cider making”. In orchards across the UK, boughs are breaking under the weight of the ripening fruit. Thatchers Cider has begun its earliest apple harvest in the company’s 121-year history. At Sandford Orchards near Exeter, they’re installing extra tanks to keep up with production. Continue reading...
Ministers and medical groups have acted quickly to limit fallout after US president made unproven link between paracetamol and autismWes Streeting, the UK health secretary, was in a government car heading back into central London from a flag-raising to mark the UK’s recognition of Palestine when he saw the news. “He was aghast,” an aide said. Streeting was reading on his phone that Donald Trump had just warned women not to take Tylenol – known outside the US as paracetamol – during pregnancy.The US president had alleged without evidence that the common painkiller caused autism in children. “Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump said about a drug also known as acetaminophen. Continue reading...
Final: Canada 13-33 EnglandEllie Kildunne shines for largest crowd in women’s rugby historyIf this were a movie, the scriptwriters would be shoo-ins for an Oscar, the plot centred on a dominant team who overcame the heartbreak of losing two back-to-back Rugby World Cup finals to complete an eight-year redemption arc and become world champions again at last.Before Saturday’s final, England had lost once in 63 games and that blot on their record stained everything. But no more. They are world champions for a third time and this one may taste all the sweeter for being played out in front of a world-record crowd of 81,885. The result will have apermanent effect on the sport in England. Continue reading...
Ukraine’s president says Kremlin checking Europe’s capacity to protect its skies following new drone sightingsVladimir Putin will expand his war in Ukraine by attacking another European country, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted, and accused Russia of recent drone incursions that he said were an attempt to test Nato’s defences.Speaking in Kyiv after his meeting with Donald Trump at the UN in New York, the Ukrainian president said Russia was preparing for a bigger conflict. “Putin will not wait to finish his war in Ukraine. He will open up some other direction. Nobody knows where. He wants that,” he said. Continue reading...
Siobhain McDonagh urges parliament to pass renters’ rights bill to stem no-fault evictions in England‘Total panic’: the effect of no-fault evictions on renters in EnglandA Labour MP has called for the government to start building prefabricated homes in England to address the “terrible things” happening to a generation of homeless children.Dame Siobhain McDonagh, who helped found an all-party parliamentary group aimed at supporting record numbers of families in temporary accommodation after being “completely overwhelmed” by the amount of cases in her constituency, said the situation was “devastating”. Continue reading...
A letter to the prime minister on the eve of the Labour conference warns of ‘critical need’ to abandon the policyTeaching unions have written to the prime minister asking him to scrap the two-child benefit cap ahead of Labour’s annual conference, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday.In a letter to Keir Starmer, the unions described the policy as “cruel” and said it must be fully abandoned as part of the government’s delayed child poverty strategy, expected to be published before Christmas. Continue reading...
Son of Lindsay Foreman expresses ‘real concerns’ after mother put on drip and stepfather, Craig, ‘constantly ill’The family of Lindsay and Craig Foreman, a British couple detained in Iran on espionage charges, have said their health is deteriorating in prison.The pair, both 52 and who previously split their time between Spain and England, were seized in Kerman, central Iran, and taken into custody in January while on an around-the-world motorcycle tour. Continue reading...
Unidentified drones spotted at the countries’ biggest military bases, Karup in Denmark and Orland in NorwayUnidentified drones have been spotted over major military bases in Denmark and Norway, the latest in a series of sightings some officials have hinted might be linked to Russia.Drones were spotted on Friday night flying over Danish military sites including Karup, its largest base, while nearby Norway was also investigating “possible sightings of drones” early on Saturday near its biggest military base, Orland. Continue reading...
Victims include eight children at election campaign gathering in Tamil Nadu led by popular actor and politician At least 36 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a stampede at a rally for a popular actor and politician in India.The health minister in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Ma Subramanian, told the Associated Press late on Saturday that the victims, including eight children, were dead by the time they arrived at hospital. Continue reading...
⛳ Ryder Cup updates from Bethpage Black⛳ Ewan Murray’s day-one report | Hole-by-hole guide⛳ Official live scores | Email Matt with your thoughtsMatt Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young send their drives at 2 down the middle. Ludvig Åberg finds the green with his approach but the ball spins back into the fringe. Bryson should learn something about how receptive the greens are, but doesn’t, spinning America’s second back into the thicker stuff behind the fringe. Slight advantage to Europe here, with the not inconsiderable caveat of the hot-in-form Young taking Team USA’s next shot.Back on the 1st tee, Rory McIlroy is roundly abused in the pantomime style. He throws back a couple of theatrical kisses to the gallery. A cheeky smile. All good knockabout fun. Everyone enjoying it. He takes the first shot of match two … but with the adrenalin pumping, lashes his drive into the gallery down the left! We’ve not seen anyone over there yet. McIlroy and his partner Tommy Fleetwood were excellent yesterday; their opponents here, Harris English and Collin Morikawa, not so much. But English starts well by finding the semi-rough down the right of the fairway. Advantage USA. Continue reading...
The couples take to the floor for the first time! But who will strut their stuff – and who will have two left feet? Join us for every step of the wayRoll pre-titles VT, with the celebs making their way to the ballroom.Refill your libations and take your sparkly sofa seats. We’re about to go live to Elstree Studios for the first time this year… Continue reading...
Jess Michaels says authorities are ‘completely ignoring’ hers and dozens of other victims’ statements about Epstein’s traffickingJess Michaels was in the prime of her life. It was 1990 and Michaels was working as a professional dancer. A colleague in Brooklyn needed a roommate and Michaels took her up on the offer, moving to New York City.Michaels’ career swiftly took off; she even landed an 18-month contract in Japan. “I worked with MC Hammer,” Michaels said, recalling that she also worked as a backup dancer in an Aretha Franklin video. “I was thriving.” Continue reading...
After the man who killed her father is found dead in his cell, Maz Saleem reflects on living with loss and choosing not to hateNeo-Nazi murderer and bomber Pavlo Lapshyn did not get to serve out the 40-year term of his sentence. He was found dead in his cell at Wakefield prison on Tuesday, 12 years after being jailed. The circumstances of his death have not yet been publicly confirmed.The Ukrainian national was 37. He was convicted at the Old Bailey in October 2013 of murdering Muslim man Mohammed Saleem, 82, in April of that year. Continue reading...
Here’s why some women feel like there’s little hope in the current dating pool of men – if they’re still in the market for oneBy 2030, 45% of prime working age women in the US, defined as women aged between 25 and 44, will be single according to Census Bureau historical data and Morgan Stanley forecasts – the largest share in history.Hundreds of those women, from across the US, shared with the Guardian why they were single, how they felt about it and what they would be looking for in a future partner if they were still in the market for one. Continue reading...
On a tour of Birkenstock factories in Germany, we delve into fashion’s greatest paradox – the shoe that wows with a focus on functionWhen two brothers called Johannes and Johann Adam Birkenstock began making shoes in a tiny hamlet near Frankfurt in the 1770s, they could never have imagined what they were starting.History doesn’t record much about the first shoemaking Birkenstocks, who can be traced to a document written in 1774, the year after the Boston Tea Party. But 251 years, eight unbroken generations and many Johanns, Johanneses, Carls and Karls later, the company that emerged from that first family business has become one of the most rampagingly successful footwear brands on the planet. Continue reading...
With a little help from a coffee expert, we sift through supermarket dark roast options• Everything you need to make great coffeeMost supermarket coffee disappoints: often stale and over-roasted, and with unpleasant notes of rubber and burnt ash. That said, as someone who prefers a lighter roast coffee (that is, bright, fruity and acidic), I was pleasantly surprised by some of the brands I found among all the dark-roasted offerings that dominate our supermarket shelves.I focused on fresh coffee that’s sold ready-ground for general use in cafetières, filters or moka pots (depending on the grind size, some leaned better towards one method than another, which I’ve noted where necessary). Ideally, however, coffee should be freshly ground for purpose, with a fine, sandy grind for moka pots, and a coarse, gritty one for filters and cafetières. I judged each coffee on flavour, provenance, sustainability and value, while bearing in mind that its quality depends on every stage of the production process, from growing and selection to fermentation, drying, roasting and storage. Coffee also carries a huge social and environmental weight, which makes certifications such as Fairtrade and organic, as well as independent social and ecological initiatives, so important. Continue reading...
Positioned on the border and with a 98% Russian-speaking population, Narva faces a test of its unity and resilienceIt was perhaps inevitable that a proposal to build a military base on the outskirts of Narva, Estonia’s third largest city, located directly on the country’s border with Russia, featured in this week’s TV debate among the candidates vying to be mayor.Just days earlier, three MiG-31 Russian fighter jets had entered and stayed in Estonia’s airspace above the Gulf of Finland for 12 minutes, prompting the Estonian government to call rare article 4 consultations with Nato allies over a risk to “territorial integrity, political independence or security”. Continue reading...
For many Israelis, Netanyahu’s warning to get used to growing isolation confirmed what they already suspected of his prioritiesMoshe Abutbul, a 39-year-old bible teacher in Sderot, the southern Israeli city by the perimeter of Gaza, thinks life is OK, even “good”. Autumn is on its way which means his small home is less stifling. He enjoys his work. His four children are well; so too is his wife, an English teacher. As for Israel’s growing international isolation, he is unbothered.“We are a peace-loving country, but we have to defend ourselves,” he says of Israel’s offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians and devastated swaths of the territory. “Is Israel isolated? I don’t know. Life goes on. It is OK. Life is good,” says Abutbul. Continue reading...
Offers encouraging people to move can mean ‘free money’ and access to best-paying savings accountsSavvy saver: seven cracking ways to start or build up your savingsSwitching your current account can get you some “free money” that you can use to boost your savings.Some big names have offers aimed at encouraging people to defect to them. As well as a cash payment, they are also offering access to their best-paying savings accounts. Continue reading...
Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days Continue reading...
Paul Thomas Anderson takes on Thomas Pynchon in his new film, while Bradford hosts the often controversial annual art contestOne Battle After AnotherOut now Clocking in at nearly three hours, this loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland from director Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread, There Will Be Blood) stars Leonardo DiCaprio, and sees a former revolutionary on a quest to rescue his daughter from the hands of an old enemy. Continue reading...
Here’s how to follow along with our coverage – the finest writing and up-to-the-minute reports Continue reading...
Steven Knight takes on Dublin’s booze dynasty with sex appeal, while the London singer-songwriter goes from strength to strength with her second album. Here’s the pick of the week’s culture, taken from the Guardian’s best-rated reviews Continue reading...
Shaggy-haired secret weapon Ellie Kildunne settles England’s early nerves against Canada for a feelgood triumph that will echo down the yearsThey think it’s all over. And finally, for England’s women, it is now. The last time the Red Roses lifted the World Cup was 11 years ago and defeat on home turf in front of a world-record 81,885 crowd would have been beyond devastating. Hence the tears of relief and shared collective joy at the final whistle as they finally brought the big one home.Among other things this trophy has brought them the validation they dearly wanted and, in truth, needed. Since the introduction of full-time professional contracts in 2019, the Red Roses have won 74 of the 76 matches they have contested. The number of registered female participants in Canadian rugby would barely fill half of England’s towering citadel. Continue reading...
⚽ Premier League updates from 8pm BST⚽ Sign up for Football Daily | Crystal Palace 2-1 Liverpool13 min That Spurs lorner leads to another, which leads to a Wolves throw-in on the far side.12 min The Spurs crowd appeal for a penalty when Udogie’s cross hits the arm of Doherty in the area. It was tight to his body to a corner is all Spurs will get. Continue reading...
Sunderland continued their dream start back in the Premier League as Omar Alderete’s first-half goal elevated them into the Champions League places but for Nottingham Forest, for whom qualifying for Europe was not enough for Nuno Espírito Santo to keep his job beyond the season’s first international break, the wait for Ange Postecoglou’s first win in charge at the City Ground stretches to five games.Postecoglou took an understandably low-key approach to entering the City Ground dugout for the first time as Forest manager before the game, but it was the Sunderland fans who were celebrating come full-time after Alderete, their Paraguayan defender signed for £10m from Getafe in the summer, headed in the winning strike. Continue reading...
The holy grail continues to elude Ruben Amorim. Call it progress, consistency, momentum. Or just back-to-back Premier League victories for the first time. The manager had taken encouragement from last Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Chelsea, even if United had almost located their own feet with heavy gunfire in the closing stages.It needed to be a platform. And yet, as so often, United followed one step forward with two in the opposite direction. The question beforehand had concerned which United would turn up because nobody can ever be sure, least of all Amorim. Continue reading...
Could things get any better for Crystal Palace? Now the only unbeaten side left in the Premier League having stretched their run to club record 18 matches thanks to this dramatic late victory over champions Liverpool, Palace are about to embark on their first European tour when they face Dinamo Kyiv in the Conference League on Thursday and have a manager that is proving to be a bit of a genius.Arne Slot’s expensively assembled side thought they had kept up their run of rescuing late points when Federico Chiesa equalised Ismaïla Sarr’s opener. But the winning goal came from another substitute as Eddie Nketiah’s volley in the seventh minute of stoppage time recorded their first victory against Liverpool here since November 2014 and sent the home supporters wild. While Marc Guéhi put in another faultless performance against the club that came so close to signing him earlier the month and even provided the assist for Nketiah’s clincher, above all this was a triumph for the system that has been implemented by Oliver Glasner since he arrived in south London 18 months ago. On this form, Palace are a match for anyone. Continue reading...
Favourite stumbles but reels in Brussels for ApplebyBow Echo extends unbeaten record in Royal Lodge StakesThe two Group One juvenile events here on Saturday were won by two-year-olds that promise to add to their haul of top-level races at three, but perhaps the strongest portent of the 2026 season came in the opening race, as Bow Echo extended his unbeaten record to three races in the Group Two Royal Lodge Stakes.Bow Echo is a solid 12-1 chance for next season’s 2,000 Guineas on 2 May – the Classic could be his next race – but it was the confident, perma-smiling presence of Billy Loughnane in his saddle that could become a motif for next summer. Continue reading...
Durham collapse to 85 all out and are relegated as Hampshire survive the drop by one point on a dramatic final day of the county cricket season“Good morning, James; good morning, all. Congratulations to Rosy and the Aldreds. Graduation is always a lovely day and as staff we love seeing the students and their parents celebrating.Thank to Tanya and all her deputies for another splendid season on the blog and, of course, to all the BTL-ers, even Brian. Continue reading...
Renee Slegers conceded her Arsenal team are already under pressure having dropped four points in their opening four WSL games after Lucy Parker’s late equaliser for Aston Villa. It was the second week in a row the Gunners have dropped points, following a goalless draw at Manchester United last Sunday.“We’ve lost four points and that’s not what we’ve wanted,” Slegers said. “We need to learn from this and learn very fast. We had more possession and solutions, but we didn’t have enough urgency in and around the box. When the game is 1-0 the opposition always believe they can get back in it.” Continue reading...
Atlético Madrid are alive, the Metropolitano interrupting all the singing and the bouncing to erupt one last time when, deep into added time at the end of a derby day they will never forget, Antoine Griezmann slipped the ball under Thibaut Courtois to score their fifth. Yes, five, any fatalism blown away. So much for boring, so much for the title race being over already, so much for Real Madrid’s invincibility; this was a destruction that puts Diego Simeone’s side six points from the top – a gap, no longer an abyss – and it was thoroughly deserved.When that last one went in, it seemed almost absurd to recall that Atlético had been 2-1 down, that a familiar fear had hung here. This was fun instead. For almost the entire second half it had been certain too: there had been no doubts, just enjoyment, total control imposed through total conviction. Continue reading...
Consider the annihilation of agricultural land alongside the genocide – and grasp the chilling totality of this attempt to eliminate all lifeA landless people and a peopleless land: these, it appears, are the aims of the Israeli government in Gaza. There are two means by which they are achieved. The first is the mass killing and expulsion of the Palestinians. The second is rendering the land uninhabitable. Alongside the crime of genocide, another great horror unfolds: ecocide.While the destruction of buildings and infrastructure in Gaza is visible in every video we see, less visible is the parallel destruction of ecosystems and means of subsistence. Before the 7 October atrocity that triggered the current assault on Gaza, about 40% of its land was farmed. Despite its extreme population density, Gaza was mostly self-sufficient in vegetables and poultry, and met much of the population’s demand for olives, fruit and milk. But last month the UN reported that just 1.5% of its agricultural land now remains both accessible and undamaged. That’s roughly 200 hectares – the only remaining area directly available to feed more than 2 million people.George Monbiot 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...
Thanks to social media, we’re now living in a subtitled world - even when that means divided attentions and error-strewn captionsI used to think there were two types of people: the ones who only use subtitles when necessary, and the unappreciative philistines who use them for no good reason. I was willing to die on this hill, arguing that they distracted from the purity of the audiovisual experience: the cinematographer’s attention to detail, the glimpse of a tear in an actor’s eye, the punchline of an expertly timed joke, and so on.But I have been forced to recognise just how alone I am on this hill: in 2021, a survey found that 80% of 18-25-year-olds used subtitles all or some of the time, while a new survey run by streaming service U found that 87% of young Britons are using subtitles more than they used to. There is no longer a debate about subtitles: among my peers, “two types” of people have given way to “mostly one type”. (Meanwhile, the 2021 survey found that less than a quarter of boomers used subtitles, despite the latter generation experiencing more hearing difficulties overall.)Isabel Brooks is a freelance writer Continue reading...
A concern for women’s health is absolutely not at the heart of it – rather, this is yet another way to control womenDonald Trump is a man with no medical training. However, that’s never stopped the very stable genius from inflicting his unhinged health views on the rest of us, has it? Back in 2020, for example, Trump memorably mused that injecting disinfectant could help fight the coronavirus – which forced the maker of Dettol and Lysol to put out an urgent statement explaining that this was a very bad idea.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
There have been hyped policies before about local funding, but unlike ‘levelling up’ this project could lead to actual change The government has launched its Pride in Place strategy, which sees significant investment in disadvantaged communities across the country. It is also, says the newly minted housing, communities and local government secretary, Steve Reed, “putting working families in control of their lives and their neighbourhood”. This follows the English Devolution and Community Empowerment bill, which ploughs a similar furrow, legislating for, among other things, communities’ right to buy and ensuring sports venues are automatically listed as assets of community value.The strategy is being broadly understood as Labour’s answer to Boris Johnson’s much-touted “levelling up”. The investment, Keir Starmer has said, will “get rid of the boarded-up shops, shuttered youth clubs and crumbling parks that have become symbols of a system that stopped listening”. Neighbourhoods and high streets are the place where the “change” promised by Labour’s winning manifesto must first manifest. It’s not all about the fastest-growing GDP in the G7: the strategy starts by asserting that the government’s “measures of success cannot just be shifts in national statistics but must include change that people see and feel in their local community”.Morgan Jones is the co-editor of Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy Continue reading...
The ‘just walk out’ innovation promised frictionless shopping – but these days, maybe we all need a bit less tech in our livesAmazon Fresh, the till-free grocery shop that uses “just walk out” technology, is closing all 19 of its stores in London, just under five years after opening its first outlet. If you’re unfamiliar, the premise of the store is that shoppers identify themselves at the entrance, walk in, select the items that they want, and then a combination of AI, sensors and computer vision determine the items in their basket and process an automatic payment via a customer’s Amazon account when they walk out.If that sounds weird and disorienting then I can assure you – having visited an outlet out of pure curiosity and having left distressed – it is. Among the reasons given for the venture’s failure, from location choices to struggling to differentiate itself in the market, one financial analyst has suggested that till-less technology “always felt a little awkward”. When I visited I wasn’t totally clear on how to get in or, frankly, how to get out. A sense of panic overwhelmed me as I wondered if the sensors would process me changing my mind about an item and putting it back on the shelf, or charge me for it. Would I be prosecuted if, say, a large box of cereal blocked the sight of a tin of sardines and thus escaped the sensors?Jason Okundaye is an assistant newsletter editor and writer at the Guardian. He edits The Long Wave newsletter and is the author of Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain Continue reading...
The Meta CEO fumbled a demo of his AI Ray-Bans, giving us hope that the robots might be too dumb to take overAs humanity inches closer to an AI apocalypse, a sliver of hope remains: the robots might not work.Such was the case last week, as Mark Zuckerberg attempted to demonstrate his company’s new AI-enabled smart glasses. “I don’t know what to tell you guys,” Zuckerberg told a crowd of Meta enthusiasts as he tried, and failed, for roughly the fourth time to hold a video call with his colleague via the glasses. Continue reading...
Having already attacked judges, lawyers, media companies and universities, the president has set his sights on civil societyAs a former federal prosecutor, I know that prosecutors should be guided by the facts. But in his determination to hound George Soros, Donald Trump wants prosecutors to become agents of his personal vendetta, facts be damned. That is the conclusion to be drawn from the instructions issued by one of Trump’s senior justice department officials to a group of US attorney’s offices across the country, telling them to investigate Soros’s foundation.This is the latest step in Trump’s implementation of the autocrat’s handbook, with the aim of chipping away at the checks and balances on presidential authority. Having already attacked judges, lawyers, media companies and universities, Trump now sets his sights on civil society. Soros, a longtime and extraordinarily generous funder of progressive causes around the world including in the United States, is Target Number 1. Trump shares this fixation with the likes of Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán, Europe’s most prominent autocrat, who for years has used Soros as a scapegoat for widespread and growing dislike of his corrupt, self-serving rule.Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (1993-2022), is a visiting professor at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. His book Righting Wrongs: Three Decades on the Front Lines Battling Abusive Governments is published by Knopf and Allen Lane Continue reading...
My fellow journalists are putting their lives in danger every day, but we refuse to surrender to a regime that threatens Europe’s own securityMy cell is painted green, the same colour we once used in the newsroom. Two benches and a table are bolted to the floor. Nothing moves. The bed is narrow, but I haven’t fallen out yet. When I was free, but already expecting arrest, I used to joke that prison would give me the time I always lacked – finally, I could read. But here in Rustavi Women’s Colony No 5, I have almost lost my eyesight. So now I write in encroaching darkness, about the darkness that is falling across my country, Georgia.The only window in my cell sits high up near the ceiling. On my 50th birthday, my friends and colleagues assembled on a hill opposite the prison to hold up posters and balloons. I climbed on to a chair but couldn’t quite see. I watched their greetings on the news later.Mzia Amaghobeli is the co-founder of independent Georgian media outlets Batumelebi and NetgazetiDo 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...
With his authority ebbing, Sir Keir Starmer offers continuity. Andy Burnham promises rupture. The choice is between Anglo-American orthodoxy and European-style interventionismSir Keir Starmer’s authority is fading. His poll ratings, and Labour’s, are disastrous. Key lieutenants are departing. With Labour conference looming, the talk is less about governing than about whether Manchester mayor Andy Burnham is positioning himself for the top job. In this context, Sir Keir’s speech on Friday to fellow centre-left leaders deserves close attention. It was continuity dressed as renewal: capital behind the wheel, social policy just along for the ride.Tellingly, Sir Keir invoked “abundance” – the buzzword of American supply-side liberals and title of Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson’s eponymous book. In Washington, it is the banner for centrists who pin prosperity on deregulation, rapid infrastructure rollout and market-led growth, with redistribution an afterthought. Sir Keir rebranded it “social democracy”. This was some chutzpah: a rallying cry from a civil war inside America’s Democratic party dressed up as Britain’s progressive future.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 bicentenary of the pioneering Stockton and Darlington line is a moment to celebrate a form of travel which shaped our cultureWhen Robert Stephenson and Co’s Locomotion No 1 arrived in Stockton on 27 September 1825, the first rail vehicle ever to transport passengers, it was met by a seven-gun salute and a crowd bowled over by the spectacle. “It was found to be quite impossible to restrain the enthusiasm of the multitude,” reported a mildly concerned Durham County Observer journalist.This weekend the celebrations are likely to be slightly less wild, as the bicentenary of the pioneering Stockton and Darlington railway line (S&DR) is marked. But they will undoubtedly be heartfelt. A replica of the pioneering engine is to recreate the inaugural journey, with viewing tickets sold out along the route and a big screen following its progress in Darlington’s town centre. A set of commemorative stamps is being issued, which feels appropriately old school. And coming in on time, the National Railway Museum in York – a magnet for visitors from the day it opened in 1975 – is reopening after a multimillion-pound refurbishment.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...
Joan Walley on why ceramics remain essential to the national economy, Dave Proudlove on green energy and Josiah Wedgwood’s marketing genius, and Sebastian Lazell on a lack of support from the government’s industrial policyYour editorial raises the question of whether Staffordshire’s potteries can survive (21 September). The answer has got to be “yes”.The real question is: will the government grasp the immensity of the situation we face? It needs to urgently focus its industrial strategy on short-term transitional support for intensive users of energy like the ceramics sector, to help them towards emissions reductions targets. It also needs to work with the industry and local MPs to secure investment in research, design and skills for the long term. Continue reading...
Anyone who is neurodivergent needs understanding and support, without being made to feel that they are using their difference as an excuse, says Sue MarshallIn your article (You be the judge: should my housemate stop brushing her teeth at the kitchen sink?, 18 September), both Raquel’s prosecution and the jury’s verdicts made me feel so sad, as it seemed as if there was so little understanding of what ADHD means to the person who lives with this condition.As the mother of an adult son who has been diagnosed with ADHD, I have learnt a lot about ADHD from courses (including the excellent online Open University course), various books and podcasts and from listening to my son when he talks about how life feels and works (or sometimes doesn’t work) for him. Continue reading...
The contents of a will should be well known to the deceased’s executors and solicitor (if there is one) beforehand, writes Graham MullanShane Hickey’s article on dealing with a deceased person’s property (Sort as you go and don’t rush: six steps to clearing out a loved one’s home when they die, 17 September) talks about what should happen “before the will is read”. There is no such event as a formal “reading of the will” except in Agatha Christie novels and TV melodramas. The contents of a will should be well known to the deceased’s executors and solicitor (if there is one) beforehand, and can be acted on immediately.Indeed, it may have to be if it makes any statements about funeral wishes. Oh, and all wills in the UK become documents of public record after probate is granted and can then be “read” by anyone – unless the deceased is a royal, of course, and the family are worried about oiks learning their business.Graham MullanBristol Continue reading...
Superlative gherkins | Areas of outstanding natural beauty | Frisson | Private NumberI was surprised to see that your article (‘The crunch? Spot on’: the best supermarket gherkins, tasted and rated, 13 September) didn’t include the Lidl own-brand option, which are lovely, whether you want full-size gherkins or crunchy cornichons. Despite this glaring omission, I do agree with Tom Hunt’s rating of the Sainsbury’s gherkins, which are inedible.Saskia NeibigNewcastle upon Tyne• In Sy’s weekend crossword (20 September), a number of clues refer to areas of outstanding natural beauty. Of the clues, only the Ring of Gullion in Northern Ireland is still known as an AONB. All the others, in England and Wales, are national landscapes, renamed in 2023. I hope this fact might now be added to Sy’s vast area of general knowledge.Marney HarrisEsh Winning, County Durham Continue reading...
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President has shouted from rooftops what his predecessors would have tried to cover up for fear of ending their careersAs the Watergate scandal unfolded, new editions of the Washington Post newspaper were rushed over to the White House at night so Richard Nixon, the president, could brace for each devastating revelation.Half a century later, Donald Trump does not seem to fear explosive front page headlines or shocking disclosures of malfeasance. Usually because he has written them himself. Continue reading...
Spokesperson says claims Harry felt like an ‘official visitor’ were fabricated as duke seeks reconciliation with fatherPrince Harry has suggested that people are seeking to sabotage his reconciliation with King Charles as he hit back at “invention fed” media reports on the pair’s recent meeting.Harry met the king for the first time in almost two years at Clarence House in London on 10 September. Continue reading...
Britain’s largest automotive employer has been unable to assemble cars after a significant cyber attackJaguar Land Rover (JLR) is planning to reopen its £500m engine manufacturing centre in early October after the significant cyber attack on the car firm, according to a report.Britain’s largest automotive employer has been unable to assemble cars since its computer systems were infiltrated on 31 August. Continue reading...
People charged before protest group was proscribed describe restrictions on wearing keffiyehs and holding certain prison jobsPeople who have been in jail since last year awaiting trial for alleged offences relating to Palestine Action activities say they have faced a crackdown since the group was proscribed, including being banned from wearing the keffiyeh and from prison jobs.The prisoners were charged before Palestine Action was banned and none have been charged with Terrorism Act offences, although the Crown Prosecution Service has said there is a “terrorism connection”. Continue reading...
Poland’s PM hails Andrzej Bargiel’s completion of the challenge after two previous failed attemptsA Polish adventure skier has made history by becoming the first person to climb up and ski down Mount Everest without the use of additional oxygen.The ascent was Andrzej Bargiel’s third attempt at climbing Everest – the tallest mountain on earth at 8,849 metres (29,032ft) high – after dangerous conditions forced the 37-year-old to abandon earlier attempts in 2019 and 2022. Continue reading...
Concerns over whether gas generators are making fair profits are prompting fresh proposals to reform the systemTravel 18 miles north of London and the grey bulk of a gas power plant comes into view near Rye House railway station in Hertfordshire.Rye House power station has generated electricity since 1993, making it Britain’s longest-serving such power plant still in the market. But it also produces some of the most expensive electricity in the country. Continue reading...
Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissionsFood and agriculture contribute one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions – second only to the burning of fossil fuels. And yet the vast majority of media coverage of the climate crisis overlooks this critical sector, according to a new data analysis from Sentient Media.The findings suggest that only about a quarter of climate articles in 11 major US outlets, including the Guardian, mention food and agriculture as a cause. And of the 940 articles analyzed, only 36 – or 3.8% – mentioned animal agriculture or meat production, by far the largest source of food-related emissions. Continue reading...
As Donald Trump calls climate change a ‘con job’ and Reform UK weaponises net zero, Starmer faces pressure to hold the line on commitmentsWhat are the critical environmental decisions piling up in Labour’s inbox?This week, the world’s most powerful man claimed that climate change is a “con job”. Speaking at the UN general assembly, Donald Trump told global leaders – including Keir Starmer – that “all of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong”.“They were made by stupid people that have cost their countries fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success,” the US president said. “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail.” Continue reading...
Traffic lights are synchronised so a rush-hour cyclist at 20km/h can catch green lights all the way“Hitting a green wave? It’s the best feeling, especially when you’re in a hurry,” says actor Samuel Traum, unlocking his bike by a Copenhagen intersection thronged by two-wheeled commuters. “The opposite, a red wave, is the worst.”For those of us who do not live in cycle-friendly Copenhagen, the green wave that Traum describes is a system started by the city authorities 16 years ago: in order to encourage bike travel, they synchronised traffic lights on several key roads so that a rush-hour cyclist travelling at about 20km/h (12.4mph) could catch green lights all the way. Continue reading...
Known for his outspoken politics, the author was acclaimed for work in theatre, opera, film and TV but wanted to be thought of as a poet above allTony Harrison, the award-winning poet and dramatist whose writings fuelled national conversations about class, obscenity and politics, has died at the age of 88, his publisher has confirmed.Harrison, a major voice in British poetry since he published his first collection in 1964, wrote front-page dispatches for the Guardian from the Bosnian war, and scandalised the nation with his 1985 poem V. Written after football hooligans desecrated his parents’ gravestones, the expletive-laden work was described as a “torrent of filth” by the Daily Mail when it was broadcast on Channel 4, prompting an early-day motion in the Commons. It is now studied in schools. Continue reading...
Foysol Choudhury, who represents Lothian, will sit as an independent while an investigation takes placeA Scottish Labour MSP has been suspended from the party over an allegation of inappropriate conduct.Foysol Choudhury, who has served as an MSP for Lothian since 2021, will sit as an independent while the party carries out an investigation. Continue reading...
Fears raised over social media posts urging action against shared properties housing asylum seekers‘They’ve got to go somewhere’: Bolton residents on the rise of HMOsFears are growing that shared houses may become the focus of anti-migrant protests, with residents and charities saying tensions are building in some areas.Homes of multiple occupation (HMOs) have grown in number as renters seek affordable accommodation amid a housing crisis. Continue reading...
French authorities say about 100 people were attempting to reach the UK on a makeshift boatTwo women have died while trying to cross the Channel to Britain, French authorities said.The incident occurred south of the beaches of Neufchâtel-Hardelot, where about 100 people were trying to get to the UK on a makeshift boat. Continue reading...
Health officials say most deaths were in the strip’s largest city, where hundreds of thousands are trapped and starvingIsraeli strikes and shootings have killed at least 57 people in Gaza, according to health officials in the territory, with most of the killings in Gaza City.The Israeli military continues to press ahead with an attack on the strip’s largest city, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are trapped and starving, despite international pressure for a ceasefire. Continue reading...
Watchdogs say Russia offering overseas voters cash for evidence of voter fraud in possible ploy to declare election riggedThe Moldovan diaspora will hold a critical role in Sunday’s high-stakes parliamentary elections as the country battles against an unprecedented Russian vote-buying operation to try to unseat the incumbent pro-European party, said the former deputy prime minister.Civilian foreign interference watchdogs say Russia is flooding the overseas voter communities with cash, including one advertising campaign offering people €500 to be election observers in the EU with the lure of “bonuses of up to €30,000” for evidence of voter fraud. Continue reading...
In 107 Days, Harris leaves little room for nuance – nor is she afflicted with a surplus of self-awarenessKamala Harris’s book 107 Days confirms two truths: Joe Biden never should have sought re-election and she did not belong on a national ticket.Biden was snared by Father Time and hubris. The 46th president was not the transformational figure he saw in the mirror. More than half the US rated him a failure.107 Days is published in the US by Simon & Schuster Continue reading...
Agents kneeled in Washington DC during protests following the murder of George Floyd by police in MinneapolisThe FBI has fired agents who were photographed kneeling during a racial justice protest in Washington DC that followed the 2020 murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, three people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press on Friday.The bureau last spring had reassigned the agents but has since fired them, said the people, who insisted on anonymity to discuss personnel matters with the AP. Continue reading...
In Let the Stories Be Told, the surviving members of the 80s band share the behind-the-scenes drama behind some of the decade’s biggest hitsIn 1984, at the peak of the Cars’ power as a hit-making band, drummer David Robinson was the one who always made the greatest effort to meet and greet their fans. In several telling encounters, however, things went quickly south after it became clear many of those fans didn’t have the slightest idea who he was. “What makes you think I’m not in the band?” he would ask them, with increasing frustration. “If you’re in the Cars, then why aren’t you in the videos?” they’d say.Even ardent followers of the Cars could be forgiven for not noticing that he actually was. In the clip for their 1984 smash single Magic, for instance, Robinson, as well as most of the other band members, appear for just 30 seconds, squeezed into a small corner of the screen. In the video for the Cars’ biggest hit, the worldwide smash Drive, Robinson and most of the others, only appear towards the end – as lifeless mannequins. Meanwhile, in the Magic clip the camera dotes on leader Ric Ocasek obsessively, while in Drive, Ocasek gets a whole backstory despite the fact that bassist/vocalist Ben Orr is the guy who actually sings the song. Continue reading...
Film data analyst Stephen Follows finds no evidence that ‘woke-adjacent’ cinema is doomed commercially – and claims some genres may benefit from diverse casting“Go woke, go broke” is a movie catchphrase du jour, loved by rightwing culture warriors, who take aim at mainstream films judged to have adopted progressive values, and therefore are worthy of boycott and complaints. Films as varied as The Marvels, Charlie’s Angels, Ghostbusters (the 2016 reboot) and Pixar’s Elio have been attacked for their perceived commitment to inclusiveness and diversity, and in some cases their box office revenue appears to have been affected as a result.But is it actually the case? Film data analyst Stephen Follows, an adviser to Guinness World Records and author of The Horror Movie Report, has published research on how audiences actually respond to “woke-adjacent” content in current cinema. First presented at the Zurich film festival on Saturday, Follows’ research suggests that there is no blanket rule for the success or otherwise of progressive-themed mainstream cinema, and adds that for some genres – horror, sports and music films in particular – diverse casting and identity-driven stories can have a substantially positive effect on commercial success. Continue reading...
It may come as a surprise that Powell – long known as box office catnip – has picked this comedy based on a prank as his next project. But it’s a total delightGlen Powell is Hollywood’s man of the moment, a Tom Cruise-in-waiting megastar who only has to breathe near a movie set to guarantee that a project will be a huge hit (see: Twisters, Hit Man and – of course – the extremely Cruise-y Top Gun: Maverick). It may come as a surprise, then, that his latest gig isn’t a blockbuster movie where he gets to share his surfeit of charisma with the world, but a small-screen comedy in which he spends most of the time smothered in latex and sporting a wig that will – for British viewers – almost certainly call to mind Corrie’s Gail Platt.The role in question is the titular character in Chad Powers (Disney+, from Tuesday 30 September), a Forrest Gump-ish southern college American footballer who is both unfailingly good-natured and deeply socially awkward (he’s described by one character as “a sweet, possibly inbred folk hero”). If this sounds like it could be in bad taste, fear not, for Chad Powers is, in fact, the alter ego of disgraced sportsman Russ Holliday, the sort of toxic chump who brags about wearing a blood diamond earring and proudly drives a Tesla Cybertruck. After fumbling a major championship – an “outrageous, improbable, inexplicable, painful loss” according to the commentary that replays numerous times throughout the series – Russ is persona non grata, less popular with the public than Bin Laden, we’re told. Disguised as Chad, there’s a way back, and the possibility of resuscitating his sporting career. Just so long as he keeps his face away from all and any forms of water! Continue reading...
A plane crash mystery unravels in Anthony Horowitz’s Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue. Plus: it’s the couples’ first dances on Strictly! Here’s what to watch this evening9.25pm, BBC One Continue reading...
In this week’s newsletter: The latest from the American virtuoso director is a big, swing-for-the-fences hit that looks certain to be an awards season contenderTruly, it is a hallowed date for cinephiles, Letterboxd addicts, film bros and people who will only watch movies in 70mm. Yes, happy One Battle After Another release day to all who celebrate.For card-carrying members of the tribe (and I’m absolutely one of them), the arrival of a new Paul Thomas Anderson film is an event equal in magnitude to Christmas Day meets the World Cup final meets McDonald’s bringing back the McRib. PTA – as the heads call him – may not be the most famous director of his age (Spielberg, Cameron, Scorsese, Nolan and even namesake Wes Anderson are more recognisable to the average filmgoer), but he is surely the most adored among his fans, a film-maker incapable of making a bad film. Continue reading...
Glen Powell stars in a fun goofball comedy, and Ryan Murphy dramatises the life of one of America’s most notorious killersThe search for the new Ted Lasso goes on with this American football-based series. It centres on Russ Holliday (Glen Powell), a superstar quarterback whose career falls apart after a spectacular, self-inflicted on-field disaster. His name is mud but when he learns that a struggling team (the tellingly named South Georgia Catfish) are hosting tryouts for new players, he changes identity and relaunches himself as Chad Powers. The premise is contrived – Russ’s dad, conveniently, is a prosthetics artist – and the narrative overfamiliar. But even so, as Holliday’s new personality sees him shedding his arrogance and becoming a more reflective man, there’s fun to be had with this goofball identity crisis. Disney+, from Tuesday 30 September Continue reading...
When Edd Hedges’s childhood bully stabbed his own mother then came after him, he worked out his trauma in an Edinburgh comedy show. Now, though, the podcast Wisecrack is asking the standup some difficult questions …On Wednesday 22 July 2015, a 23-year-old man named Brett Rogers stabbed his mother and her friend 97 times, using seven different knives, over the course of an hour. Immediately afterwards, he made the short walk to the childhood home of comedian Edd Hedges, the boy he had bullied throughout school, and set about trying to break his door down.Hedges, who was staying with his parents after a local charity gig, was woken by his mother. She urged him to stay quiet and not turn on the lights. Eventually, after barricading themselves in their bathroom, the arrival of a police helicopter halted the attempted break-in. Rogers was arrested, charged and sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison. Continue reading...
The pressure of besting her self-released debut – and becoming a public figure – made the US vocalist spiral. Remembering who she was inspired her phenomenal second LP, a comparison-defying odyssey of jazz, pop and club musicKeiyaA had been grinding in New York’s experimental jazz and hip-hop scenes for a good six years before her 2020 debut album, Forever, Ya Girl. Self-released on Bandcamp to make some cash while couchsurfing, the record totally shifted her life’s course. A low-key yet potent swirl of bedroom pop, R&B and electronic music that zeroed in on feelings of solitude and uncertainty, it struck a chord with critics at tastemaker sites such as Pitchfork and the Fader and became one of the year’s defining underground records.It also allowed her to tour the world; at the same time, the 33-year-old producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist born Chakeiya Richmond immediately began to feel the pressure of following it up, stress compounded by the end of a toxic relationship. “I was like, at worst, [the follow-up] has to be just as good. At best, it has to be better. How am I gonna do that? When you put that expectation on yourself, you’re not actually gonna meet that,” she says, sitting on the patio of a London cafe. Having struggled with depression her whole life, she experienced a renewed, debilitating spell. “There was the survival mode loop of like, couch rotting, bed rotting, having to work up [the energy] to take care of myself in general, let alone get to the computer to make music.” Continue reading...
The writer, lecturer and all-round culture maven’s restless creativity ranges from prog to pop to psych and boogie rock in a catchy, sometimes alarming mixFrom New YorkRecommended if you like Todd Rundgren, Congratulations-era MGMT, Connan MockasinUp next Songs and Music for Film released 30 September; forthcoming acting roles in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, out on Friday, and Marty Supreme (January 2026)New York’s Paul Grimstad has the kind of strange bio that befits his clowny, 70s-inspired avant-pop. Born in the midwest and based in New York since the 90s, Grimstad is a literature professor at Yale, has written essays on Jimi Hendrix and Alan Turing for the New Yorker, and has composed music for a number of films, including last year’s The Sweet East, to which he contributed Evening Mirror, a charming hypno-folk track featuring lead actor Talia Ryder. He’s also an actor, and has small parts in Paul Thomas Anderson’s new Thomas Pynchon adaptation One Battle After Another, as well as Marty Supreme, Josh Safdie’s ping pong biopic starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow. And then there’s Songs, his debut album, released this month alongside Music for Film, a compilation of his scores. A maniacal odyssey of prog, jazz, boogie rock, psych and pop, Songs pays homage to the hi-fi chaos of 70s art-rock classics such as Todd Rundgren’s A Wizard, a True Star, rarely staying in one lane for more than a couple of minutes across its breakneck 16-track, 40-minute runtime. Performed, produced and engineered entirely by Grimstad, Songs is catchy, hilarious and terrifying in equal measure: passages of sleek funk-pop rub up against snatches of psychotic haunted-house laughter and songs indebted to Philly soul at its sleaziest. Grimstad is an astoundingly talented producer, and it’s a credit to his skill that, despite all the bird coos and whiplash-inducing changes of pace, Songs is a delight to listen to – lush and ludicrous in all the right ways. Shaad D’Souza Continue reading...
(Flee)Influenced by jazz and early blues, this collection of largely African American folk music from the 50s to the 80s spans poignant lyricism to full-throated celebrationOver the past decade, European archival label Flee has been unearthing some of the globe’s most distinctive sounds. Reissuing out-of-print rarities along with new interpretations from contemporary artists, their albums have included 2017’s exploration of Kenyan Benga music, a 2021 recording of the oral traditions of Gulf pearl divers and most recently a catalogue of Greek orthodox singing from the monastery on Mount Athos. Their latest edition is equally specific, delving into both archival and new French-language Creole music from Louisiana.Influenced by the birth of jazz in New Orleans, as well as early blues, rock’n’roll and French colonial legacy, this largely African American folk music of the 1950s to the 1980s veers from poignant lyricism to rollicking, full-throated celebration. The dancefloor-focused side of the archival material features several infectious songs from bandleader Clifton Chenier. Known as the founder of Creole folk genre zydeco, Chenier’s arrangements incorporate bluesy guitar riffs alongside scraping washboard rhythms and the metallic twang of piano accordion. The resulting sound, on Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler and Jolie Blonde, is deep-swinging and joyous, anchored in Chenier’s own whooping vocalisations. Continue reading...
In the last decades of her life, the two novelists became close friends. He recalls their intense bond, their last trip to Ireland and her memories of being romanced by Richard BurtonI first met Edna O’Brien on a mild spring evening in 2009. There had been a party to celebrate the 70th birthday of Seamus Heaney and I was running late, so I put up my hand for a taxi and a rumbling black cab drew to a halt. The door swung open and Edna stepped on to the pavement like Ophelia out of the weedy brook. She was a vision in black velvet and volumised hair. She paid at the window, clearly irked after some altercation with the driver, and when she turned she immediately took my hand and offered a Joycean, or possibly a Glaswegian, effusion.“I fucking hate the English. Do you?” Continue reading...
A bothered bear; a great guide to drawing; a life of Josephine Baker; a role model daughter; a search for words and moreBear’s Nap by Emily Gravett, Two Hoots, £12.99Someone is cheeping and keeping Bear from sleeping in this increasingly uproarious picture book filled with forest-dwelling creatures and their noises. A joy to read aloud.This Is Who I Am by Rashmi Sirdeshpande, illustrated by Ruchi Mhasane, Andersen, £12.99A moving celebration of heritage and identity, this softly coloured picture book follows a little girl with “a foot in two worlds”, who is both “the richness of all the worlds she belongs to” and uniquely, proudly herself. Continue reading...
The enigmatic singer-songwriter on pop stardom, becoming a Muslim and returning to the stage decades laterWhen Cat Stevens changed his name to Yusuf Islam and announced his conversion to the Muslim faith and retirement from music in the late 70s, Bob Dylan apparently remarked that he had “finally stopped trying to be the prophet and begun to follow The Prophet”. It’s a quote that Islam reproduces in his autobiography, viewing it as a benediction, but it also tells you something about the music that made him globally famous.In the early 70s, the charts were awash with sensitive folky singer-songwriters. Their constituency, as Islam perceptively notes, was “the college generation, away from home, lonely and trying to find their place in the university of high academic expectations”. But none were as obsessed with spirituality as Cat Stevens, with his album titles that namechecked Buddha or referenced Zen poems, his conceptual song cycles based on numerology, his lyrical exhortations to “kick out the devil” and “get to heaven, get a guide”, and Morning Has Broken, the hymn he made a 1972 US No 1. If you’d had to place bets on which 70s superstar would pack it all in for religion, you’d have got far lower odds on Cat Stevens than, say, Noddy Holder. Continue reading...
This brooding tale of an Englishman’s downfall in fin-de-siècle Venice is memorably eerie – but it’s hard to care about such a pompous protagonistMany years ago, a sober-minded friend warned me off going to Venice for the first time with my then partner. He muttered ominous things about the Venice wobble and the Venice curse. I went anyway and I have to say he had a point. It was autumn and there was something deeply uncanny about the city: fog-bound canals, labyrinthine alleyways, a general sense of decay. If my minibreak had belonged to a literary genre, it wouldn’t have been romance so much as cosmic horror.Fiction, of course, should have prepared me. Couples have been coming unstuck in Venice since Othello and Desdemona. There are the Baxters in Daphne du Maurier’s short story Don’t Look Now, the basis for Nicolas Roeg’s unforgettably creepy film; Mary and Colin in The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan – the city’s not named in the novel, but it’s clearly the setting. And while the love affair in Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice exists only in Von Aschenbach’s mind, the city is still his undoing. To Von Aschenbach and the others, we can now add the name of the unfortunate Evelyn Dolman, the protagonist of John Banville’s new novel, Venetian Vespers. Evelyn is a hack writer from England who has recently married an American heiress called Laura Rensselaer. Their plans to honeymoon in Venice have been delayed by the unexpected death of Laura’s father, the industrialist T Willard Rensselaer. In the wintry early months of 1900, they finally arrive and take up residence in the sinister Palazzo Dioscuri, a stone’s throw from St Mark’s. Dioscuri means the Twins – Castor and Pollux – and it will be a pair of twins who set in motion Evelyn’s inexorable but unforeseeable downfall. Continue reading...
I tried my hand at this year’s French arthouse gaming hit, but after an intense initial infatuation, the relationship hit the rocksWe don’t just observe art; we have a relationship with it. Whether it’s music, paintings or movies, the artist does their bit – but it’s the involvement of our own psyche that completes the circle. This is even more true for games, because we don’t sit for 100 hours in front of the Mona Lisa.Relationships with art change over time. I appreciated animation more when I was a younger man. I appreciate jazz much more today. I find the Mona Lisa alluring or boring depending on what mood I am in. Continue reading...
Electronic Arts; PC, PS4/5 (version tested), Switch, XboxIn a groundbreaking move, FC 26 offers a completely different experience depending on whether you play online or off – with goals the ultimate priorityThe time has come to relinquish dreams of Fifa’s successor one day emulating old rival Pro Evolution Soccer – in part because its developer doesn’t want it to. Throughout the development of FC 26, EA met with a panel of influencers and community representatives to directly drive design decisions. The result is a football experience split into two. Offline it’s a sim, where ratings and fatigue come to the fore. Online, it’s purely an esport – fast, and furious, with shots and goals prioritised over William Saliba-calibre defending.Offline, it’s a refreshing call. In career mode, for instance, matches are as sedately paced as they’ve been from any FC or Fifa in recent memory. Tactics matter. Stats differentials such as ball control, and vision, matter. Even weather effects such as wind and the state of the pitch matter, with the ball sticking and/or skidding on wet turf. Patient build-up play is welcomed, and it’s possible to unpick a defence without 17 flicks of the skill stick. There’s a cerebral feel long absent from this series. Continue reading...
PC, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2; Supergiant GamesSupergiant’s successor is exemplary sequel-craft – more doesn’t always mean better, but here variety is the spice of afterlifeFive years ago, when we were all seeking ways to take our minds off real-world events, Supergiant Games’ Hades was a welcome distraction indeed. Wayward son of the underworld Zagreus’s repeated attempts to abscond from his purgatorial prison offered catharsis at a time when none of us could leave our homes. It did no harm that it was genuinely, unapologetically sexy: all of artist Jen Zee’s character designs had abs hewn from Olympian rock, and just about everyone addressed you as if they’d seen you from across the bar and really dug your vibe. Winning the favour of these absurdly attractive Greek gods was the key to finally getting above ground. It was – apologies – a hell of an escape.And a hell of an act to follow, too. But in Hades II, composer Darren Korb delivers a thunderously dramatic score for the closing stages of your Olympian ascent that reaches a level of operatic grandeur to trump anything in the original game. Zee’s new character illustrations (including one returning favourite in a leopardskin posing pouch) are, if anything, likely to inspire even more aggressively thirsty fanart and fanfic. And writer Greg Kasavin’s wonderful script is wittier, wiser and flirtier than ever. Continue reading...
In this week’s newsletter: since 1988 the Game Developers Conference has been a core part of the gaming calendar – but exorbitant costs and Trumpism put that at riskEvery year for as long as I have been alive (read: since 1988), the annual Game Developers Conference has been held in California. It started out as essentially a house party: a gathering of 27 people in the living room of Atari designer Chris Crawford. By the mid-90s it had left Chris’s house and grown to more than 4,000 attenders, and in 2005 found a permanent home in San Francisco’s Moscone Center. These days, about 30,000 game development professionals of all kinds attend every year. The online GDC Vault is a precious trove of game development history and useful advice for any gaming discipline.GDC has developed a bit of an image problem in recent years, however, as we have reported before. It’s prohibitively expensive for developers: a conference pass is more than $1,500, and travel and accommodation in one of the world’s most expensive cities quickly multiplies the total cost to anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 (even for a hotel room with approximately the dimensions and safety of a phone booth). Continue reading...
South London GalleryColour theory and dye as political resistance is an interesting idea – but the Moroccan artist’s shimmering textiles, sweet shop stripes and take on Tintin in Palestine are visually underwhelming in practicePolitical resistance is dyed in the wool for Yto Barrada. The Moroccan artist has spent her career experimenting with colour theory, deep diving into the history of dyes, disentangling the threads of colonialism and exploitation that run through the history of art. Her show at the South London Gallery is basically colour theory as resistance, minimalism as revolt, the dyeing process as anti-colonialism.If that sounds brain numbingly leaden and eye-meltingly dull, you might be surprised by the results, because the gallery is actually a very pleasant pastel wonderland. The space is painted in thick white and light pink stripes (in a nod to a Daniel Buren mural in Casablanca that got painted over). It’s like walking through a bag of sweets. The walls are dotted with silk canvases that ripple with geometric shapes and shimmering soft colours. The dyes come from the Mothership, Barrada’s “eco-campus” in Tangier where she grows the plants and processes the pigments that get used in these artworks. Continue reading...
Barbican theatre, LondonCaroline Guiela Nguyen’s epic drama explores global labour and personal suffering with moments of haunting powerA three-hour durational show with a three-minute pause rather than an interval is a daunting prospect. However, Lacrima gathers its pace meditatively before it begins to hurtle and then becomes devastating viewing from which you can’t look away.The marriage of an unnamed British princess has been announced and the making of her wedding dress, by a British designer, is under way. He enlists a Parisian atelier that outsources its most labour-intensive work to an Indian tailor. The dress is a wildly elaborate concoction of embroidered silk, handmade lace and a 200-metre train of 150,000 pearls.At Barbican theatre, London, until 27 September, then touring internationally. Continue reading...
The Other Palace, LondonGeorgina Castle and Josh St Clair make a likable couple who endlessly replay their first meeting but this adaptation needs more emotional punchPerhaps it’s unfair to compare this new musical with the incomparable Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Both shows have a striking elevator pitch and consider how we make the most of the time available to us. Benjamin finds – and holds on to – love as he ages backwards whereas in 50 First Dates, based on the Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler romcom, Lucy and Henry endlessly replay their first encounter. She has short-term memory loss from an accident so wakes each morning with no recollection of the previous day; he ventures to sustain their relationship regardless.But while the Curious Case musical dug deep into the mysteries of time, 50 First Dates is more confined by its concept and never packs enough emotional punch. That’s partly because the book by David Rossmer and Steve Rosen can be bland and their songs breezily enjoyable, without a heart-wrenching number that does justice to the pain at the story’s centre. Nevertheless, there are two genial leads with fine voices: Georgina Castle lights up the stage as always and Josh St Clair convincingly handles Henry’s switch from obnoxious playboy to caring partner. Continue reading...
This year’s Turner prize contenders, a colourist’s triumphs and immersive gaming in the gallery – all in your weekly dispatchTurner prizeNnena Kalu, Rene Matić, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa strut their stuff and compete for the now time-hallowed contemporary art award. • Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford, from 27 September until 22 February Continue reading...
Growing up with a stepfather made me wonder about my real dad – until the Lindsay Lohan film inspired me to seek him outIn 1998, the year The Parent Trap was released, I was six. My mum and I had recently moved out of a one-bedroom council flat into a Victorian terrace house in London; my half-sister had just been born, and I was training myself to call my stepdad “Dad”.My life felt as if it had been torn in half, right down the middle – like the photograph of their parents that Hallie and Annie piece together in the film. The 11-year-old identical twins (both played by Lindsay Lohan) reunite at summer camp after being separated at birth, and switch places in their plan to reunite their family. My own biological dad had left for good on my second birthday, moving back to Hungary. Continue reading...
The guitar virtuoso on nail hygiene, Batman and the time he shaved a stranger’s back at a Super Bowl party in CaliforniaGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI’ve always been fascinated by your fingernails, but I had no idea you do them yourself. Tell us about your nail regime.I started doing my nails about 25 years ago. Once I started touring so much, I couldn’t go back into a salon so I do it myself. It is a fast-drying gel. I’m usually really, really on to doing them because they’re so important – I can’t play guitar in my style without them. Continue reading...
The Florence + the Machine singer talks about life after devastating loss, performing with Taylor Swift and the double standards for women in musicAfter Florence Welch came close to death, she felt strongly that, more than people, she wanted to be with plants and animals. “It was a real need to be around things that couldn’t speak, but had a life force or energy to them. I found that the most healing,” she says. Since then, cats have kept coming to visit her garden. Not her cats – it is hard for her to have pets, what with all the touring – but neighbourhood cats, treating the place as if they live there. “I’m not saying anything, but more and more started coming, and foxes,” she says. She sees patterns and prescience in many things, now. “I don’t know. Or maybe I just noticed them more, because that’s what I needed to be around.”In August 2023, Welch had a miscarriage. Days later, she learned that the pregnancy had been ectopic, meaning that the fertilised egg had implanted in a fallopian tube, rather than the uterus. The fallopian tube then ruptured, causing massive internal bleeding. “The closest I came to making life was the closest I came to death,” she says. “And I felt like I had stepped through this door, and it was just full of women, screaming.” Continue reading...
He became cinema’s most bankable strongman. But weary of his own persona, Johnson turned to indie director Benny Safdie – and delivered a bruising new role that rewrites his own rulebookFor much of his career, Dwayne Johnson has been stuck between the Rock and a hard place. In the early years of his transition from body-slamming World Wrestling Entertainment heavy to marquee movie star, he was still being billed under his nom de ring. Even once he retired that moniker, he seemed to be lugging behind him a persona from which he might never be free. There are people-pleasers and then there is this affable brawler-turned-actor, who appears to regard the contentment of the world’s multiplex-goers as his personal responsibility. Whether in vehicles comic (Central Intelligence, Baywatch), family-oriented (Jumanji, Jungle Cruise), four-wheeled (the Fast & Furious series) or disaster-based (San Andreas, Skyscraper), he is a rip-roaring razzle-dazzler, shiny of scalp and tooth, and so colossal that he isn’t merely the circus showman but the whole damn big top too.Not that he hasn’t been lavishly remunerated for all that heavy lifting. He can out-grin and out-gross Tom Cruise: Johnson has 392 million Instagram followers to Cruise’s 15 million, and was Forbes magazine’s highest-paid actor for five of the last nine years. That includes 2024, when he pocketed $88m. (Cruise didn’t make the top 20 that year.) Continue reading...
The model and TV personality on a special card from husband Rod Stewart, harsh words from an English teacher and her arty secretBorn in Essex, Penny Lancaster, 54, worked as a model before becoming a professional photographer. In 2019, she featured in the Channel 4 series Famous and Fighting Crime, and in 2021 she took her oath to serve as a special constable in the City of London police. Since 2014, she has been an occasional panellist on Loose Women. Her memoir, Someone Like Me, has just been published. She has two sons with her husband, the singer Rod Stewart, and lives in Essex.What is your greatest fear? It was reading out loud, but no longer. (I am dyslexic.) I was encouraged by my husband to do a speech for the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which helped me gain my confidence, and the fear disappeared. Continue reading...
From hallway hooks to garden fortresses, here’s where to keep your bike so it’s safe, dry and out of the way• 10 safety essentials cyclists won’t leave home withoutI recently moved house and have a problem many cyclists face: where does the bike go? Research shows that about 5.5 million people in the UK would cycle more if they had space to store a bike at home; only 23% of people living in flats – and 58% who live in detached houses – have an accessible place for one.However, there are many bike storage solutions, from basic floor anchors for a tiny outdoor space to fancy high-security sheds, and even secure parking provided by local authorities. One cycle storage entrepreneur won £100,000 on Dragons’ Den for his SpaceRail. Here are some of the best options I’ve come across, for inside the home, and out. Continue reading...
Christmas might be ages away, but beauty Advent calendars sell out fast. From budget-friendly and refillable options to cult favourites, these are the ones worth buyingYou may still be clinging to the final days of summer, but beauty Advent calendar season is already upon us. Brands and retailers are releasing their 2025 calendars, many of which sell out long before you start to feel festive.Offering a selection of high-end cosmetics for less than their usual price, beauty Advent calendars have become a holy grail for the beauty obsessed. There are hundreds to choose from at wildly different prices, some focusing on specific product types, and some filled with a mixture of bestsellers.Best beauty Advent calendar overall:Space NK BeautyBest value beauty Advent calendar:Lookfantastic beauty Advent calendar Continue reading...
Are straight-leg jeans the cut of the moment? Is black denim your smartest buy? Our menswear expert has all the answers …• The ultimate men’s capsule wardrobeYou probably wear your jeans more than anything else in your wardrobe. No surprise, given they work for any social scenario that doesn’t call for a smart dress code. But subtle design details can take your chosen pair from good to great – you just have to know where to look and what to look out for.As a menswear writer and stylist, I’ve seen my fair share of denim, from high street to vintage, small menswear labels to heritage brands (I’m looking at you, Levi’s). And I’ve developed some tried and tested denim shopping principles. Continue reading...
Our reviewer battled through bags of bread to find the top toasters, from two- and four-slice models to the best for busy households• The best electric kettles, testedFew foods are as moreish as a perfectly golden slice of toast: hot, crunchy and preferably buttery. There’s a reason why toast remains a favourite breakfast option, second only to cereal.And yet you probably give no more thought to your toaster than your kettle. However, unlike the kettle, there is greater room for error when it comes to toasting bread. No one ever discarded their over-boiled water on to the compost heap, but many burnt slices of toast have ended up with the peelings.Best toaster overall: De’Longhi Ballerina Seta four-slice toasterBest budget toaster: Russell Hobbs Brontë 2S toaster Continue reading...
These versatile sambal-spiked ‘meat’ balls can be adapted in any number of ways, and here they’re drenched in a delicious lemongrass coconut curry sauceMeatballs in whatever shape or form, and meatless or not, are not usually considered to be the latest thing. But they are like old friends, familiar and comforting, and, as such, I’ve been wanting to make a plausible vegan- (and tofu-) based one for some time. A little joyful nugget that could be taken in any direction, from Swedish köttbullar to Vietnamese bun cha. And here it is: I’ve flavoured the balls with a vegeatarian sambal oelek, a zingy chilli sauce and one of my favourite ingredients, and drenched them in a lemongrass coconut curry sauce to put some heat in your belly and a snap in your step. Continue reading...
From fashion shows to secondhand socials, charity shops are now hubs of innovation when it comes to fashion waste – and even celebrities are jumping onboardThis was not your usual fashion show. First, I’ve rarely seen a more exuberant bunch of models – all unpaid volunteers living their best lives. Second, everything was secondhand, from a charity shop called Second Life in East Sussex. And third, half of it was sold that day, even the damaged pieces. Second Life’s annual fashion show, held over the summer, is just one of the creative ways the shop keeps its harder-to-sell clothing out of incinerators, landfill and developing countries’ illegal dumps.This “buy direct from the catwalk” concept is something charities are increasingly adopting. At London fashion week this month, Oxfam’s show, styled by thrift queen Bay Garnett, saw pop star Sam Ryder, activist Katie Piper and costume designer Sandy Powell take to the catwalk in preloved boiler suits, capes and wedding dresses, which went on sale at its Vinted shop soon after. Charity Super.Mkt, a multi-charity department store for preloved fashion, hosts what it calls People’s Catwalks at festivals – the outfits are created from damaged garments, surplus stock and offcuts – and for Sustainable fashion week, the Salvation Army is holding a fashion show in its Swansea donation centre on 2 October. All the looks will be available to buy immediately afterwards. Continue reading...
A seasonal, sangria-style mood-lifter, perfect for an autumn toastA crisp, refreshing cocktail with an autumnal twist, where dry white wine meets subtly sweet pear and zesty lemon, all balanced by a simple, aromatic sage syrup. Light, herbal and beautifully layered, this is a stylishly seasonal toast.Sai Krishna, sommelier, Courtyard Wine Cellars, London WC2 Continue reading...
Kammy, 27, an astrophysicist, meets Eliza, 30, a lawyerWhat were you hoping for? To have a new experience – my first blind date! And I wouldn’t have minded meeting the love of my life. Continue reading...
Trying to progress a relationship can feel awkward, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. But it’s easier if you find something specific to do togetherRead more Leading questionsI am 86 and have been on my own for many years. However, despite being financially secure, it is a lonely life and I realise I’ve fallen into a materially comfortable rut. Come 6pm I eat a meal, usually microwaved, have a shower, put my PJs on, lock the doors, put the TV on and settle down to another boring evening. My children live far away and have their own lives, although I do encourage them to visit me as much as they can and my grandchildren do, for the occasional weekend. Sometimes, though, I can go days without talking to anyone.I used to belong to several singles groups but Covid caused them to close and not reopen again. I am in reasonably good health, although walking any distance is a problem now. My question is: there’s a nice lady, a little younger than myself, who lives next door and we have chats over the fence. I would love to know her better and think she feels the same, but I feel if I asked her out for a coffee away from our homes but got a rebuff, it could spoil our current friendship. Any advice? Continue reading...
We recently began exploring group sex. But he insists I crossed a line one morning, and is punishing me with silence and distanceMy husband and I are in an open relationship (both male) and we recently started to explore group sex. We had a wonderful threesome where we both felt great afterwards and had a mutual attraction to the other man – which is rare for us. However, our latest endeavour wasn’t as successful.We invited a couple and a single man back to our place. Everything was great during the fivesome, and afterwards the couple left. We invited the other man to stay the night. In the morning, things between me and this man started to heat up. He went to the bathroom and I asked my husband if he wanted to partake, to which he said no and that he’d rather sleep. Regardless, I carried on with the man for a short period until we climaxed. Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders.If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send attachments). Each week, Pamela chooses one problem to answer, which will be published online. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions. Continue reading...
It’s always been difficult for me to throw off the covers and get going. Now, a self-imposed short, sharp shock has brought order and urgency into my lifeI’ve always struggled to get out of bed. Life beyond the covers seemed dreadful because it was chilly, vertical, and full of minor inconveniences, such as no milk in the fridge and other people. Lying down, I could simply exist. My day couldn’t get off to a bad start if I refused to start it. I couldn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed if I stayed snoozing.I wanted to be the kind of person to seize the day instead of lying in bed for hours. I tried keeping my phone on the other side of the room, so I would have to get out of bed to fetch it. But I would simply retrieve it and scurry back into my warm cocoon. My flatmates were instructed to shove me out of bed – that didn’t work either, I just shouted at them. Some mornings, small sips of Red Bull while I was still under the covers were the only thing that finally got me up. Continue reading...
Experts say £2,000 is the magic number to help guard against debt. But even £200 cuts the risk of falling behind on billsHaving £2,000 in savings means you are 60% less likely to fall behind on household bills and have a much lower risk of problem debt than someone with little or no money put aside.That is the headline finding from an academic study that has found that when it comes to the protective power of savings, “£2,000 is a turning point”. Continue reading...
Say goodbye to extortionate roaming fees – new companies like Airalo, Holafly and Saily offer cheap, easy coverage for your next international tripOn a week-long trip to Paris last year, I racked up nearly $100 in data charges on my iPhone, with taxes and fees. Ditto for a separate, eight-day trip to Spain, which was even more pricey. And, in what I now jokingly call an act of piracy, my three-week trip to seven countries – including a seven-day cruise – cost me over $300 for data.I (eventually) learned my lesson, and a little research yielded a simple solution that can make life a lot easier: Switching to a local carrier for your travels. This used to entail a visit to an airport kiosk or a mobile store to get a fingernail-sized plastic SIM chip installed in your phone, but a new feature called an eSIM lets you handle it all from your phone before you even leave. My eSim for Paris cost $11 for 5GB of data, plenty for checking emails, using Google Maps, and browsing social media (although I was careful not to upload photos until I had wifi access). In Spain, I spent $10 for 5GB. Continue reading...
Whether you are buying or renting, the UK property market is a minefield. Here’s how to avoid the most common traps and get those keys in your pocketFinding a place to live in the UK can be difficult; there are all kinds of pitfalls, including chains breaking, bidding wars, worrying surveys, difficult neighbours, unrealistic pricing, dodgy boilers and rentals getting snapped up before you can even go and see them. How can you beat the herd and make that dream home yours? Here, estate agents share their tips on securing the perfect property. Continue reading...
Some parents say scheme is a ‘sticking plaster’, with providers incurring losses on every free hour offeredFor Alec, a father from Sheffield, the expansion of government-funded childcare to children of many working parents in England from as early as nine months of age feels like a pretty monumental bit of help.“I feel great about it,” he said of the scheme, which has been offering 30 hours of free childcare per week during term time to eligible children since 1 September. “This feels like the first government policy in my lifetime that has a genuine and immediate positive impact on my life.” Continue reading...
Kate Evert started working out to appease her kids. Now, she’s confident in her strength and abilityIn October, Kate Evert will begin the long journey from the small town of Republic, Missouri, to Cape Town, South Africa, to compete in the World Masters Powerlifting Championships. The competition is for athletes aged 40 and above – Evert is 75.“Seventy-six in November, heaven help me,” she says. Continue reading...
We look at the science behind vaping and the claims it causes tooth decay, gum disease and dry mouthThe actor Lily James has blamed vaping for damaging her teeth and driving tooth decay that required her to have her first dental filling. Here we look at what the science says about vaping and its potential impact on teeth and oral health. Continue reading...
After getting both my breasts removed, I could barely do a push-up. This famously brutal workout made me feel back in control of my bodyMy first push-up after a double mastectomy felt like snapping an ancient rubber band. The anticipation of resistance in my chest and arms, followed by an emptiness, a blank, an absence. For a moment I lay facedown on the bouncy black floor of the gym. I let out something between a laugh and a sob. And then I rolled over on to my back. After a moment or two, I realized it was the only way I could stand up. My arms had nothing to offer.It had been about three months since my surgery. I had succeeded in my ambition of getting back to CrossFit. But something more than my breasts were missing. Continue reading...
The latest workout craze is super-physical, ultra-exhausting and involves releasing your inner beast ...Name: Quadrobics.Age: New and sprightly. Continue reading...
Milan show features boxy shirts and trousers with pleats, next to puffball skirts and satin opera glovesWith wars raging around the world, crackdowns at the US’s borders and military pomp in Beijing, uniform is everywhere – and not in a good way. It is, perhaps, not the obvious choice for a fun fashion trend.But Miuccia Prada has always loved uniform, and she refuses to cede her favourite fashion territory to the dark side. “I am always trying to build a new kind of elegance,” she said after the Prada show in Milan, a collaboration with her co-designer Raf Simons. “In a uniform you are protected, you are neutral, it allows you to think.” Continue reading...
Show at Milan fashion week saw use of adjustable elastics and pull-tapes to unexpectedly sophisticated effectAt Fendi, where Silvia Venturini Fendi is leading the house founded by her grandparents through its centenary year, family is as much part of the sales pitch as the Baguette bag. “I have been thinking about childrenswear, because I have a big family, and my daughter is pregnant with twins,” she said backstage. Two grandsons made a cameo appearance on the catwalk earlier this year while her 18-year-old granddaughter is her “fiercest critic”, the 64-year-old creative director says. (“When she calls after my show, I tremble.”)This season, Fendi adapted the adjustable elastics that feature in clothes made for growing bodies, making a feature of elegant grosgrain pull-tapes to add gentle definition at the hem of the jacket or the waist of a dress. The result was unexpectedly sophisticated. The casting, featuring men and women of all ages and sizes, was a triumphant showcase for how beautifully the shapes worked on different bodies. Continue reading...
For those who find heavy creams a turn-off, these lighter gels and lotions will quench your skin’s thirst and leave limbs silky smoothAs someone with legs like loofahs, I’m always amazed that so many people avoid body moisturiser. Our skin needs hydration to stay smooth, silky and healthy, and this needn’t come with residual tackiness or grease.I’m impressed with almost the entire lineup from Naturium. Its reasonably priced facial products are well worth your consideration. The body range may feel less economical, since even luxury skincare lovers are often used to parting with a fiver or less for a body lotion, but the brand delivers as well below the neck as above it. Continue reading...
A canvas ceiling painted a perfect summer blue reflected the recent surge in fortunes for Britain’s biggest luxury brandAfter a long spell of stormy weather, there might be blue skies ahead at Burberry, maker of the world’s most iconic trench coats.London fashion week’s headline act staged their show music-festival style, in an open-sided tent with a sawdust floor. The canvas ceiling was painted a perfect summer blue, like the sky at this year’s Glastonbury. Continue reading...
From a posh Scottish bothy to a new budget hotel in the Lakes, there’s no driving required on these relaxing jauntsSometimes, you just want to be able to arrive in a place with the least amount of hassle and instantly switch off and relax. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to think about potential traffic snarl-ups en route or missing connections? Just jump on a direct train and arrive fresh.That’s what these brilliantly accessible boltholes in the UK deliver – they’re all within easy reach of a train station and with everything you might need for a stress-free break on the doorstep. Continue reading...
From Rotterdam to Bilbao, our tipsters recommend the best trips by ferry• Tell us about a break in a remote location in the UK and Europe – the best tip wins a £200 holiday voucherThe overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Saint-Malo is hard to beat. After work, we board the ship, enjoy a drink in the bar and wake up to the sunrise over the harbour. The scenic coastal path that runs along the Brittany coast winds through woodlands and secluded coves. A swim in the clear water and then on to the restaurant La Guinguette des Marmouz near Plouër-sur-Rance. The best chips we’ve ever had in a very laid-back spot along the estuary. We’d stumbled across something pretty special.Kate Continue reading...
Free walking routes connect sculptures, murals, soundscapes and more in locations across the country – from butterflies in Brontë country to ceramics in StokeBradford is 2025’s UK City of Culture, and Wild Uplands is part of the year-long celebration that involves four new installations on the moors above Haworth, 10 miles west of central Bradford. There are pink marble butterflies designed by Meherunnisa Asad. On the ridge above, Steve Messam’s 10-metre tower of locally quarried stone looks out over heather-purple hills. These works are dotted around the lake and abandoned quarries of Penistone Hill country park and a family-friendly guide charts a route around all four. While wandering over the moors, you can tune into a geolocated immersive soundscape, Earth & Sky, which includes music by Bradford-born composer Frederick Delius. The Brontë Bus from Hebden Bridge via Keighley stops three times an hour in Haworth, and it’s then a 15-minute stroll past the Parsonage to Penistone Hill. Haworth’s steep, cobbled Main Street is lined with pubs and cafes such as the Writers’ Bloc, which opened in November 2024 and serves cream teas inside a hollowed-out book. At the bottom of the street, Haworth Old Hall has a choice of locally distilled gins.To 12 October, bradford2025.co.uk Continue reading...
The impressionist painter was much taken by the stylish villas and unique light of the French port, which 150 years on still refuses to be outshone by glitzy big sister DeauvilleI get the feeling that the world divides into two very different halves as my two-hour train from Paris pulls into the splendid half-timbered station of Trouville-Deauville, with holidaymakers either turning left towards chic, luxurious Deauville, the Saint-Tropez of Normandy, or branching right, across the Touques River, to Trouville-sur-Mer, a more historic, easy-going destination.I have opted to stay at Trouville, known as La Reine des Plages (The Queen of the Beaches), a tiny fishing port that was transformed from the 1820s onwards into one of France’s first fashionable bathing resorts by bohemian artists and writers, seduced by the unique coastal light, and the Parisian bourgeoisie looking for a healthy dose of sea air and a flutter in the glamorous municipal casino. Continue reading...
Nature and manmade come together in the Tokyo-based photographer’s shot of a construction siteTokyo-based Kisara Okada was passing through the business district, Marunouchi, on her way to an osteopathy session last month, when the extended neck of a construction crane caught her eye. “In the Meiji era, when the area was developed from grassland, the model was the streets of London,” Okada says. “You can still find high-rise buildings that preserve traces of that history. Today, the area is undergoing redevelopment, so I wanted to show part of that process.”Okada defines the theme of her street images as “sites of miracles that the city has overlooked”. Editing on this shot was minimal. “I don’t want to create painterly beauty; rather, share the small wonders that exist alongside our everyday lives,” she says. Continue reading...
An incident at a farm shop suggests reform school is necessary – if our spoilt pooch can pass the interview processMy wife and I walk into the kitchen on a Monday afternoon, after a long weekend away. The oldest one and the middle one are sitting at the table in front of their laptops, surrounded by dirty mugs and plates.“Another working from home day, I see,” my wife says. Continue reading...
From Japanese spiders and Spanish pirates to Get Brexit Done, test your knowledge with the Saturday quiz1 Actor James Cromwell went vegan on the second day of shooting which film?2 Which ancient civilisation had three seasons: growth, harvest and inundation?3 The word sauna comes from which language?4 In a recent announcement, who were “your English teacher and your gym teacher”?5 What political delaying tactic is named after a Spanish pirate?6 The Japanese spider is the largest species of what marine creature?7 What name is given to a National Hunt flat race?8 What title is shared by paintings by Constable and Bosch?What links: 9 Bullet ant; tarantula hawk wasp; warrior wasp?10 Milano Cortina; Los Angeles; French Alps; Brisbane?11 DeFazio and Feeney; Truman and Adler; Hanson and Bergstein; Shipman and West?12 Change, 2024; Get Brexit Done, 2019; Forward, Together, 2017?13 Maia and Segedunum?14 H, I, O and X (and no other capital letters)?15 Joyce Banda; Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah; Ellen Johnson Sirleaf; Sahle-Work Zewde? Continue reading...
My face was so smashed up, you could fit a finger in the woundsBirthdays are always a big deal in my family – we love any excuse to spend time together. My dad’s 60th, in May last year, was a particularly special one, as we had family travelling from Germany to Eastbourne, in East Sussex, to celebrate.I spent the first part of the morning with my sisters at my mum’s nearby. She has a birthday in the same week, so we were celebrating hers first. Around midday, we decided to go to my dad’s house, a few minutes’ drive away. Continue reading...
Sellers of fresh orecchiette in southern Italy are fighting back after being accused of tricking tourists with bought waresNunzia Caputo was five years old when her grandmother put a stop to her playing on the street outside their home in Bari and summoned her to help make orecchiette, the ear-shaped pasta believed to have originated in the southern Italian port city, to be sold to passersby.“I used to go out to play every afternoon with my friend Giulia,” said Caputo, now 67. “But then, on a whim, my grandmother said I wasn’t allowed to do that any more. She told me: ‘From now on, you must learn how to make orecchiette.’ I started to cry.”Tourists watch Nunzia Caputo make fresh pasta outside her house in Bari Continue reading...
The use of markings on ammunition is a new trend of shooters trying to ensure their messages are disseminated publicly, experts sayIn the past month, the US has had to reckon with three deadly, high-profile shootings, and in each one, investigators have dealt with a seldom-seen piece of evidence in shooting cases, high-profile and otherwise: messages the shooter left on shell casings and firearm magazines.The suspect in the 27 August shooting at Annunciation Catholic school in Minneapolis allegedly left several firearm magazines with messages like “suck on this” written in white marker. Tyler Robinson, the man who’s accused of killing Charlie Kirk, allegedly engraved his bullet casings with “Hey fascist! Catch!” and “Bella ciao.” Authorities say the man who’s suspected of opening fire at an US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Texas this week wrote “Anti-Ice” on his bullet casings. Continue reading...
Station Hall displays from a microwave-burger box to royal carriages intended to showcase best and worst of rail travelThere is Queen Victoria’s funeral wreath, a station ticket kiosk allegedly used by Rod Stewart and then an object so important it comes on its own plinth: the last ever microwave-burger box before the introduction of “deli-style” meals on GNER trains.“I can remember having a cheeseburger on the train coming down from Aberdeen to London in the 1990s,” said Andrew McLean with fondness. Continue reading...
We would like to hear from people who have had caring responsibilities in their long-term partnership or marriageIn sickness and in health ... more and more of us are relying on our partners for support and care when we become sick, with the number of full time unpaid carers rising. But caring can put a strain on the most loving of relationships. So we’d like to hear about your experiences of care in a long term partnership or marriage: who does it, who doesn’t, and what happens when you hit a rough patch healthwise and your partner isn’t able or willing to support you.For instance, are you facing serious health issues, and secretly worried about how your partner is going to react to the realities of caring for you? Or perhaps you have experienced a relationship breakup after a serious diagnosis? Or perhaps you’re the carer, and would like to talk to us in confidence about how that affected your relationship. Continue reading...
We’d like to hear views from people in the UK about how they view government plans for a digital ID schemeKeir Starmer is expected to announce plans for a UK digital ID scheme later this morning.The new digital ID, will become mandatory as a means of proving the right to work under the plans, but people will not be required to carry or asked to produce it. It will be available to UK citizens and legal residents by the end of this parliament, reports the PA news agency. Continue reading...
Is there anything you would like to ask the football commentator about his five decades in broadcasting?Clive Tyldesley has spent 50 years in football. He started out as a teaboy at Radio Trent in 1975 and worked his way up to the very top, covering five World Cups and five European Championships for ITV.For a certain generation he will always be remembered for Wednesday night Champions League games on ITV in the 1990s. Like the best players, he rose to the occasion. During the biggest match of his career he gave us two iconic lines – “name on the trophy” and “they always score” – in the space of two minutes. Simple, to the point and bang on the money. Continue reading...
We would like to hear from people over 65 about their experiences of the housing crisis and its impactBy 2030, the UK is set to become a “super-ageing society” with one in five people over the age of 65, and there is growing concern about how our elderly population will be impacted by the housing crisis.With rent soaring and home ownership out of reach for many, there are fears elderly people will increasingly be forced to live in homes they struggle to afford, that are unsuitable for their physical needs, or which exacerbate loneliness in their later years. Continue reading...
Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they meanScroll less, understand more: sign up to receive our news email each weekday for clarity on the top stories in the UK and across the world.Explore all our newsletters: whether you love film, football, fashion or food, we’ve got something for you Continue reading...
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...
Protests in Milan, Israeli strikes on Gaza, Super Typhoon Ragasa hits China and a pelican relaxes in London: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalistsWarning: this gallery contains images some readers may find distressing Continue reading...