The Guardian |
- Biden expresses support for Israel-Gaza ceasefire as pressure on US rises
- Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals
- Los Angeles: at least 1,000 under evacuation orders amid wildfire
- Millionaires who support taxing the rich protest in front of Jeff Bezos’s homes
- Merrick Garland puts domestic terror and civil rights at top of justice agenda
- Biden vows to send 20m doses of US-approved Covid vaccines overseas
- Biden’s income fell by a third as he ran for president, tax returns show
- Leonardo DiCaprio pledges $43m to restore the Galápagos Islands
- Bill Gates ‘left Microsoft board amid inquiry into relationship with employee’
- Surfer dies after being bitten by 4.5m great white shark on NSW mid-north coast
- How did Covid slip through Taiwan’s ‘gold standard’ defences?
- Coronavirus live news: India suffers record daily deathss; Tokyo doctors call for Japan Olympics to be cancelled
- Long Covid symptoms ease after vaccination, survey finds
- Ecuador: community education during the Covid pandemic
- A Jewish case for Palestinian refugee return
- Parent trap: why the cult of the perfect mother has to end
- ‘We got shot at’ – the outrageous life of Jayne County, the first trans rock’n’roller
- ‘Urgent. Oxygen needed’: Nepalis mobilise to take charge in Covid crisis
- Weatherwatch: how Rwanda’s climate differs from rest of east Africa
- China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law
- Joe Biden’s silence in the face of Israeli violence is a disgrace | Moustafa Bayoumi
- Apps promised to revolutionize dating. But for women they’re mostly terrible | Nancy Jo Sales
- I live in Sheikh Jarrah. For Palestinians, this is not a ‘real estate dispute’ | Lucy Garbett
- Covid has led to record levels of antidepressant use – but withdrawal can be difficult | David Taylor
- How we talk about the climate crisis is increasingly crucial to tackling it | Susanna Rustin
- Tottenham left reeling after Harry Kane tells club he wants to leave this summer
- Bob Baffert banned in New York following Medina Spirit’s failed drugs test
- José Ramírez: ‘Boxing defines me but I enjoy sharing my glory with the less fortunate’
- Nadal and Djokovic refusing to relinquish ground to the young challengers | Tumaini Carayol
- Fan protests affected Manchester United performances, Solskjær claims
- Atlético Madrid enter The Suárez Zone to tear up script in title drama | Sid Lowe
- How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer?
- Stage Struck: Gloria Swanson before the pictures got small
- Shrek at 20: an unfunny and overrated low for blockbuster animation
- Post-punk band Au Pairs: ‘The Thatcher years gave us plenty of material’
- Want to try Jane Austen’s favourite cheese toastie? Now you can
- Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon review – an electrifying gothic techno-thriller
- Cancelled Philip Roth biography picked up by new publisher amid abuse allegations
- Trailer released for Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey TV series
- Zack Snyder: has the king of comic book gloom finally found his happy place?
- Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes review – a strangely comforting end
- US supreme court agrees to consider major rollback of abortion rights
- The FBI is supposed to track how police use force – years later, it’s falling well short
- Matt Gaetz associate pleads guilty to six counts including sex trafficking a minor
- South Carolina: new law makes inmates choose firing squad or electric chair
- ‘This is environmental racism’: activists call on Biden to stop new plastics plants in ‘Cancer Alley’
- Jaguars could be reintroduced in US south-west, study says
- Marco Rubio urges US to take UFOs seriously ahead of government report
- Ex-officer charged in Daunte Wright shooting to appear in court
- More than 5,000 migrants reach Spain’s north African enclave Ceuta in a day
- Cyclone Tauktae: Indian navy rescues crew from stricken vessels
- ‘Covid casino’ case collapses as police in Canada accused of stealing watches
- 500 global firms put disability inclusion on boardroom agendas
- World is home to 50bn birds, ‘breakthrough’ citizen science research estimates
- Belgium ambassador’s wife invokes immunity over Seoul assault claims
- Locked out of school: Pakistan’s digital divide has students struggling
- Signs of recovery in UK labour market as unemployment rate falls and payrolls rise – business live
- Anti-Israel protests in Germany prompt calls for antisemitism crackdown
- Billionaire François Pinault fulfils Paris art gallery dream
- Photographers rewrite list of ‘big five’ animals to shoot
- Fresh peas, asparagus, wild garlic – Nigel Slater’s revitalising spring recipes
- Home sweet Hackney: love, life and local legends in east London – in pictures
- Competitive pond fishing and a rainbow: Monday’s best photos
| Biden expresses support for Israel-Gaza ceasefire as pressure on US rises Posted: 17 May 2021 07:59 PM PDT President stops short of demanding a halt to hostilities amid calls from his own party to take a tougher line as the death toll in Gaza mounts Joe Biden has issued a statement for the first time expressing support for a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's militant rulers Hamas, after a phone conversation with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, the US president stopped short of calling for an immediate halt to the eight days of Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rocket barrages that have killed more than 200 people, the vast majority of them Palestinian. Continue reading... |
| Twenty firms produce 55% of world’s plastic waste, report reveals Posted: 17 May 2021 05:00 PM PDT Plastic Waste Makers index identifies those driving climate crisis with virgin polymer production Twenty companies are responsible for producing more than half of all the single-use plastic waste in the world, fuelling the climate crisis and creating an environmental catastrophe, new research reveals. Among the global businesses responsible for 55% of the world's plastic packaging waste are both state-owned and multinational corporations, including oil and gas giants and chemical companies, according to a comprehensive new analysis. Continue reading... |
| Los Angeles: at least 1,000 under evacuation orders amid wildfire Posted: 17 May 2021 12:05 PM PDT Investigators suspect an arsonist may have sparked the Palisades fire and have taken a suspect into custody, mayor says A brush fire in southern California has torn through more than 1,300 acres, shrouding parts of Los Angeles with plumes of smoke and ash and prompting evacuation orders for at least 1,000 residents. Investigators suspect an arsonist may have sparked the Palisades fire, and have taken a suspect into custody, Los Angeles's mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced at a Monday morning news conference. Continue reading... |
| Millionaires who support taxing the rich protest in front of Jeff Bezos’s homes Posted: 17 May 2021 11:40 AM PDT Demonstrations organized by Patriotic Millionaires, whose members earn incomes of over $1m or have assets worth over $5m A group of millionaires took to the streets on Monday, protesting in front of homes in New York and Washington owned by Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the richest man in the world. The protest organized by Patriotic Millionaires, a coalition of wealthy individuals who push for progressive policy changes, was staged to mark Tax Day, on which Americans submit their income tax returns to the federal government. Continue reading... |
| Merrick Garland puts domestic terror and civil rights at top of justice agenda Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Analysis: Biden's attorney general has made a clean break with Bill Barr, making domestic terrorism his 'top priority' winning won praise for his moves on civil and voting rights The new attorney general, Merrick Garland, has signaled an ambitious agenda to fight domestic terrorism in America including white supremacists and hate crimes, while bolstering civil rights and voting rights, critical areas that got short shrift from the Trump administration, say ex-federal prosecutors and members of Congress. The shift at the Department of Justice represents one of the most stark turnarounds under Joe Biden from the Trump era. Under the previous attorney general, Bill Barr, the justice department was often seen as at Trump's beck and call, the former president accused of treating it as virtually his own legal service. Continue reading... |
| Biden vows to send 20m doses of US-approved Covid vaccines overseas Posted: 17 May 2021 02:30 PM PDT
Washington will send 20m doses of US-approved coronavirus vaccines overseas by the end of June, Joe Biden confirmed on Monday. In combination with the 60m doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine that the US has already promised to foreign allies, the Biden administration will send 80m vaccine doses abroad over the next six weeks. Continue reading... |
| Biden’s income fell by a third as he ran for president, tax returns show Posted: 17 May 2021 03:49 PM PDT First couple's income dropped from nearly $1m while Harris and Emhoff paid even steeper price Joe Biden forfeited more than a third of his annual income in running for the White House last year, with his newly disclosed 2020 tax returns showing a drop in earnings from almost $1m in 2019 to $607,336. Joe Biden and the first lady, Jill Biden, released their 2020 joint tax returns on Monday. They show that the couple saw their income fall by some 38% from 2019, largely because Biden had to give up high-paying bookings on the speaker circuit when he launched his presidential campaign. Continue reading... |
| Leonardo DiCaprio pledges $43m to restore the Galápagos Islands Posted: 17 May 2021 11:55 PM PDT Environmentalist actor, with other conservation groups, aims to rewild the entire archipelago and other Pacific islands in Latin America Leonardo DiCaprio has announced a $43m (£30.4m) pledge to enact sweeping conservation operations across the Galápagos Islands, with his social media accounts taken over by a wildlife veterinarian and island restoration specialist. The initiative, in partnership with Re:wild, an organisation founded this year by a group of renowned conservation scientists and DiCaprio, the Galápagos National Park Directorate, Island Conservation, and local communities, aims to rewild the entire Galápagos Islands, as well as all of Latin America's Pacific archipelagos. Continue reading... |
| Bill Gates ‘left Microsoft board amid inquiry into relationship with employee’ Posted: 17 May 2021 10:13 AM PDT Board members reportedly felt his presence was inappropriate during the investigation into a romantic relationship last year Board members at Microsoft decided in 2020 it was not appropriate for the tech giant's co-founder, Bill Gates, to continue sitting on its board as they investigated a romantic relationship with a female employee that was deemed inappropriate, the Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft subsequently confirmed the investigation had taken place, and said it had provided support to the female employee concerned. Continue reading... |
| Surfer dies after being bitten by 4.5m great white shark on NSW mid-north coast Posted: 17 May 2021 11:18 PM PDT Police say man in his 50s suffered critical injuries to his upper thigh during attack at Tuncurry beach, near Forster A surfer has died after he was mauled by a 4.5m great white shark off Tuncurry Beach on the New South Wales mid-north coast. It's the first confirmed fatal shark attack in Australian waters this year, though it's believed another man was killed by a shark off South Australia in January. Continue reading... |
| How did Covid slip through Taiwan’s ‘gold standard’ defences? Posted: 17 May 2021 02:14 AM PDT Island state went 253 days without a single local case but now the number of cases is rising sharply A worsening coronavirus outbreak in Taiwan has raised urgent questions about how the virus slipped past the island's "gold standard" defences, and if it can quickly return to a zero-Covid life. In 2020, the island state of 24 million people was producing extraordinary numbers: fewer than 1,000 cases, about 90% of them detected in recent arrivals, zero infection leaks from quarantine, a death toll of 12, and 253 days without a single local case. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 18 May 2021 12:52 AM PDT India deaths rise by record 4,329 in 24 hours; Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association warns Tokyo hospitals 'have almost no spare capacity'; strikes destroy Gaza's only Covid testing laboratory
Polly Toynbee's latest column for us is up, and she asks if Covid experts warn against foreign holidays, why is Boris Johnson so keen? How much like deja vu this feels, how like last summer. The dash to places like Greece brought back more than half of imported Covid cases, according to a Public Health England paper. This was when the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was subsidising the country to eat meals sitting indoors, breathing on each other, but not for a takeaway sandwich with a friend on a park bench. "Paying people to sit inside, studies show, did harm," says Prof Susan Michie, a participant in the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) through the behavioural science group. Related: Covid experts warn against foreign holidays, so why is Boris Johnson so keen? | Polly Toynbee
Christina Maxouris writes for CNN today about the state of play in the US over masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently announced that it was fine for vaccinated people to go without masks. It is leading, Maxouris reports, to confusion: Experts are worried about the rapid changes, and say that without verification systems, parts of the country are now having to rely on an honor system to ensure unvaccinated Americans are masking up a system that some say, does not work. "I say this respectfully to the CDC but we really need to get back to a point where it's encouraging (people) to get vaccinated and more of that focus rather than celebrating our newfound freedoms," the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, told CNN on Monday. "Because the honor system just ain't working here, I don't think it's going to work in a lot of parts in this country," Mayor Quinton Lucas said. Continue reading... |
| Long Covid symptoms ease after vaccination, survey finds Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Exclusive: Fifty-seven per cent of people with illness say they were better overall after jab Covid-19 vaccines tend to alleviate the symptoms of long Covid, according to a large survey of more than 800 people that suggests mRNA vaccines, in particular, are beneficial. Though Covid-19 was initially understood to be a largely respiratory illness from which most would recover within a few weeks, as the pandemic wore on increasing numbers of people reported experiencing symptoms for months on end. There is no consensus definition of the condition of these people who have symptoms ranging from chronic fatigue to organ damage, let alone a standardised treatment plan. Continue reading... |
| Ecuador: community education during the Covid pandemic Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT When the pandemic struck Ecuador it turned back the clock for many indigenous and African-Ecuadorean families, forcing them to return to the places they were born and fall back on themselves as in times gone by. Johis Alarcón is a photographer based in Ecuador. Her work is supported and produced by the Magnum Foundation, a non-profit organisation that expands creativity and diversity in documentary photography, with a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. As Covid-19 ravaged Ecuador's largest city, Guayaquil, in the first months of the pandemic and spread through the rest of the country, smaller and more isolated communities were often the safest but forced to look to themselves to educate their children. As the photographer Johis Alarcón discovered on her visits to the indigenous village of San Clemente in the Andean highlands and the African-Ecuadorean hamlet of Playa de Oro in the coastal rainforest bordering Colombia, a renewed sense of community grew. Continue reading... |
| A Jewish case for Palestinian refugee return Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT As fraught and imperfect as efforts at historical justice can be, consider what happens when they do not occur. The crimes of the past, when left unaddressed, do not remain in the past Last Saturday was Nakba Day, which commemorates the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled by Israel – or who fled in fear – during the country's founding in 1948. The commemoration had special resonance this year, since it was Israel's impending expulsion of six Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah that helped trigger the violent struggle currently engulfing Israel-Palestine. For many Palestinians, that imminent expulsion was evidence that the Nakba has still not come to an end. Every year, commemorating the Nakba represents a kind of mental struggle to remember the past and sustain the hope that it can be overcome – by ensuring that Palestinian refugees and their descendants can return home. In my own community, by contrast, Jewish leaders in Israel and the diaspora demand that Palestinians forget the past and move on. In 2011, Israel's parliament passed a law that could deny government funds to any institution that commemorates the Nakba. Israeli teachers who mention it in their classes have been reprimanded by Israel's Ministry of Education. Last year, two Israeli writers, Adi Schwartz and Einat Wilf, published an influential book, The War of Return, which criticised the Palestinian desire for refugee return as emblematic of a "backward-facing mode" and an "inability to reconcile with the past". Continue reading... |
| Parent trap: why the cult of the perfect mother has to end Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Worldwide, mothers are overworked, underpaid, often lonely and made to feel guilty about everything from epidurals to bottle feeding. Fixing this is the unfinished work of feminism It's the middle of a dark, November night, and I'm about to have my first baby. But instead of the joyful experience I'd hoped for, I am being rushed into the operating theatre to have an emergency caesarean under general anaesthetic. I have a dangerous complication and my son's life is at risk. Four hours earlier, I'd been sent home by a midwife who told me I couldn't stay in hospital and have an epidural because labour wasn't properly "established". It's a week later and I'm back home with my son who, thankfully, made it. But I'm struggling. If someone asks me how I am, in a kindly voice, my voice cracks. I'm spending a lot of time sitting on the bed in a milk-stained dressing gown. In a few days, my partner will go back to work. Continue reading... |
| ‘We got shot at’ – the outrageous life of Jayne County, the first trans rock’n’roller Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT She partied with Warhol and fronted a band called The Electric Chairs who were too shocking even for punk. As her extraordinary tell-all memoir is republished, Jayne County relives one of music's most astonishing sagas Jayne County is explaining the term "wrecking", which was a popular pastime among the more confrontational drag queens of Atlanta, Georgia, in the 60s. "Just deliberately trying to freak out the regular people, the solids as we called them," she laughs. "Shaking people out of their normality, just trying to see what nerves we could push. They need their nerves twisted once in a while. "We used to do things like go into department stores and ride up and down the elevators just screaming, you know, holding up women's clothes and saying, 'Look at this! He's going to adore me in this!' One of our big wrecks was going into the men's room at the Greyhound bus station, a bunch of us queens, maybe four or five. The men were at the urinals with their you-know-whats out and we'd start screaming, 'Ooh, look how big it is! Look at that one! Oh my God, I think I had that one last night! How is your wife in bed, darling? I'd be a lot better!' The guys would be rushing to get their zippers up, so uncomfortable with us in there." Continue reading... |
| ‘Urgent. Oxygen needed’: Nepalis mobilise to take charge in Covid crisis Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Amid political turmoil and an overwhelmed health system, young activists are stepping up in response to the pandemic A ping and: "ICU bed needed. Please it's urgent." Another ping: "Where can I find Remdesivir. EMERGENCY." Ping: "Very urgent oxygen cylinder needed, patient at last stage." The messages never let up; a constant stream of posts pleading for hospital beds, oxygen, plasma and medicine. It's not Nepal's government helpline, but an online group set up by a 24-year-old public health graduate. Continue reading... |
| Weatherwatch: how Rwanda’s climate differs from rest of east Africa Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT The whole country lies at a higher altitude than virtually anywhere in England Rwanda is a landlocked country in east-central Africa, just south of the equator, on the watershed between the Nile and Congo River basins. It is bordered by Burundi to the south, Tanzania to the east, Uganda to the north and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west. Like other parts of equatorial Africa, its climate alters very little month-to-month and season-to-season, with average minimum temperatures in the capital, Kigali, varying by little more than a degree (between 15C and 16.2C), while average daily maxima differ only a little more, from 25.9C to 28.2C. Continue reading... |
| China divorces drop 70% after controversial ‘cooling off’ law Posted: 17 May 2021 10:03 PM PDT Law requires couples to wait 30 days before formalising divorce – but some say it has made young people more likely to avoid marriage The number of divorces in China dropped more than 70% in the first quarter of this year, after a controversial law forcing a "cooling-off period" for couples came into effect. According to data published by the ministry of civil affairs, 296,000 divorces were registered during the first three months of 2021, down from 1.05m in the previous quarter, and 1.06m in the same time period the year before, according to state media. Continue reading... |
| Joe Biden’s silence in the face of Israeli violence is a disgrace | Moustafa Bayoumi Posted: 17 May 2021 07:05 AM PDT Cracks are emerging in the wall that has historically separated any criticism of Israel from American politics – but Joe Biden is still not listening On Saturday, an Israeli air strike killed 10 people from the same extended family after missiles hit the family's house in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza. A five-month-old baby, the sole survivor, was pulled out alive from the rubble, having been trapped next to his deceased mother. As I write this, at least 180 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including 52 children. Ten Israelis have also been killed, including two children. All the innocents slain, whether Palestinian or Israeli, must be mourned, and it's beyond distressing to know that the number of deaths will only rise as the days go on. What will remain steady, however, is this morbidly lopsided ratio of death. Many more innocent Palestinians will be killed than Israelis. That fact, along with over 70 years of continued Palestinian dispossession (of which the Sheikh Jarrah evictions are a part), has galvanized global opposition to Israel's latest actions. Popular demonstrations have broken out around the world in support of Palestinian rights. Since the United States provides the key financial, military and diplomatic backing to Israel, one wonders where Joe Biden and his administration are during this crucial moment. Continue reading... |
| Apps promised to revolutionize dating. But for women they’re mostly terrible | Nancy Jo Sales Posted: 17 May 2021 03:15 AM PDT I believe online dating has made single women overall less happy, less likely to find a long-term partner, and more at risk of sexual violence I'm not exactly sure when I decided that dating apps were not for me. Maybe it was the time I went on a date with a guy who tried to recite the entire script of the 1988 horror movie Child's Play ("And then Chucky says, 'Wanna play?'"). Or maybe it was when I was on a date with a guy who grabbed my crotch under the table not 10 minutes after I'd sat down. But by the time I was ready to permanently delete these apps, I was also hooked: hooked on platforms meticulously designed to be addictive – as well as, I would argue, to deliver up women's bodies to men. Related: Blind date: 'He said, "Do you want to get married"' Continue reading... |
| I live in Sheikh Jarrah. For Palestinians, this is not a ‘real estate dispute’ | Lucy Garbett Posted: 17 May 2021 05:51 AM PDT The threat to our neighbours' homes is the latest chapter in a long campaign to erase the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem Sheikh Jarrah today smells of dirty socks and rotting flesh. Israeli police vehicles, known as "skunk trucks", have been spraying Palestinian homes, shops, restaurants, public spaces and cultural institutions with putrid water at high pressure. The water causes vomiting, stomach pain and skin irritation, and was originally developed by an Israeli company to repel protesters. The stench lasts for days on clothes, skin and homes, leading Palestinians to joke that Jerusalem all smells like shit. Protesters are also targeted in other ways. They are brutally beaten, arrested by the police, some on mounted horses, attacked by settlers and sprayed with rubber bullets. These forms of collective punishment aim to stop the growing movement to save Sheikh Jarrah and halt the dispossession of 27 Palestinian families of their homes there. My family has lived in Jerusalem for several generations since they fled the Armenian genocide in 1915. In 1948, during the Nakba, they were expelled from their home in West Jerusalem and found refuge in the city's eastern part. Now we live in Sheikh Jarrah and my neighbours are about to be expelled from their homes. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 17 May 2021 08:21 AM PDT I know from personal experience that coming off these medications can be horrible. I also researched ways to make it easier
One of the impacts of the Covid lockdowns since March 2020 has been a widespread worsening of mental health, with anxiety and depression the most common symptoms reported. Running parallel to this, the prescription of antidepressants in England has climbed to record levels, according to the NHS Business Services Authority. In the final three months of 2020, there was a reported 6% increase in prescription rates. According to the government, 17% of the population were taking an antidepressant in 2017-18, the last year for which figures are available. This rise probably reflects both the increase in diagnosis of depression and anxiety because of the pandemic, and the restricted availability of talking therapies during lockdowns. While antidepressants play an important role in treating depression and anxiety, it's essential at this time of increasing usage rates to address how people will ultimately stop treatment. Continue reading... |
| How we talk about the climate crisis is increasingly crucial to tackling it | Susanna Rustin Posted: 17 May 2021 03:00 AM PDT Our emotional register – how 'doomy' or 'hopeful' we are – will inevitably shape the policies we put forward As the climate emergency creeps closer to the top of the political agenda, where it belongs, an argument is raging over communication. Exactly what to say about the environmental crisis, and how, is an important question for all sorts of people and organisations, including governments. It is particularly pressing for journalists, authors and broadcasters. For us, communication is not an adjunct to other activities such as policymaking or campaigning. It is our main job. People need to know what is happening to glaciers, forests and endangered species, and what is being done about this. But information requires interpretation. And while editorial judgments influence the way that all subjects are covered, storytelling about the climate emergency is particularly fraught. Continue reading... |
| Tottenham left reeling after Harry Kane tells club he wants to leave this summer Posted: 17 May 2021 01:55 PM PDT
Harry Kane has let it be known to Tottenham Hotspur that he wants to leave the club in the summer. The striker expressed his frustration at the end of last month at a continued inability to achieve his ambition of winning major trophies at Spurs in comments that felt like the first step of an exit strategy. The England captain has now activated step two, with sources close to him saying that he has told the club he wants a move. The news, which will be noted with great interest at Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea, represents a nightmare for the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, who is currently seeking a permanent managerial replacement for José Mourinho. Continue reading... |
| Bob Baffert banned in New York following Medina Spirit’s failed drugs test Posted: 17 May 2021 01:58 PM PDT
Bob Baffert has been handed a temporary suspension by the New York Racing Association, meaning the trainer may well miss out on next month's Belmont Stakes, the final leg of US horse racing's Triple Crown. The suspension comes after one of Baffert's horses, Medina Spirit, failed a drugs test after winning the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission is required to wait for further results before making a final decision on whether to strip the horse of his victory. The NYRA ban means Baffert will not be able to enter horses at Saratoga Race Course, Aqueduct Racetrack or Belmont Park, the home of the Belmont Stakes, which will take place on 5 June. Continue reading... |
| José Ramírez: ‘Boxing defines me but I enjoy sharing my glory with the less fortunate’ Posted: 17 May 2021 03:05 AM PDT The light-welterweight champion, perhaps the most politically active boxer since Muhammad Ali, on his activism, his upbringing and his upcoming unification fight against Josh Taylor José Ramírez has been described as the most politically active boxer since Muhammad Ali and, in his riveting company, it does not take long to understand there is depth and truth to a statement that might initially sound like a snappy soundbite. Ramírez, the WBC and WBO light-welterweight world champion, fights Scotland's Josh Taylor, who holds the IBF and WBA titles, in a fascinating unification contest in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The winner will become boxing's only current undisputed world champion. Ramírez knows the challenge he faces against Taylor and believes he will prevail, but we begin with the reasons for his activism. Ramírez is an American of Mexican descent and his ethnicity and family's roots have shaped his political outlook. He explains that, in 2007, when he was 14, he still lived in Avenal, a little town in the central valley of California. This belt of land supplies more than half of the fruit and vegetables the entire US consumes every year. But people there are poor. They are mostly Mexican. Young José knew the back-breaking work people did on the surrounding farms, picking crops. He wanted new trainers but he didn't want to ask his parents for money. So he found himself a job in the school vacation. Continue reading... |
| Nadal and Djokovic refusing to relinquish ground to the young challengers | Tumaini Carayol Posted: 18 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT The younger generation have hoisted big trophies but still seem far from taking the next step to go all the way at the grand slams As the Italian Open shifted into action last week, the state of play in men's tennis four months into the 2021 season seemed relatively clear. The sands are shifting, just gradually. The previous four Masters events and the season-ending ATP Finals had all been won by players of the younger generation, all born in the late 1990s and positioned by the tour as its future. Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and even the lesser-known Hubert Hurkacz have all recently hoisted big trophies to the skies while dreaming of taking the next step. And yet, they still seem far from it. When the matches matter most, over best of five sets and deep in the slams, either Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal are usually around at the end and in good enough form to succeed. Unless, of course, one decides not to play and the other disqualifies himself. Continue reading... |
| Fan protests affected Manchester United performances, Solskjær claims Posted: 17 May 2021 07:39 AM PDT
Ole Gunnar Solskjær has blamed Manchester United fans' protest against the Glazers' ownership for the defeats to Leicester City and Liverpool in their past two home games. But the United manager called on supporters to get behind his team when they return to Old Trafford for the first time since the easing of lockdown restrictions in Tuesday night's fixture against Fulham. United lost 2-1 to Leicester and 4-2 to Liverpool in the first two home matches held after the initial attempt to play the latter fixture was postponed on 2 May. This happened after some of the crowd who gathered on the stadium forecourt broke in and entered the pitch, with violence also occurring. There was also a protest at the team hotel in the centre of Manchester. Continue reading... |
| Atlético Madrid enter The Suárez Zone to tear up script in title drama | Sid Lowe Posted: 17 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT As Diego Simeone had predicted, it was Luis Suárez who rescued Atlético just as fate looked to inflict another cruel blow "We're entering into The Suárez Zone," Diego Simeone said. Atlético Madrid's manager knew but even he couldn't have known it would be quite like this, another story of the absurd in a season built on them. If this was The Suárez Zone, which it was, it was The Twilight Zone too, the implausible unfolding in front of them. With 147 seconds left on the penultimate Sunday there was another twist, delirium inside the Metropolitano where they had just witnessed the Uruguayan score the goal that changed everything, and outside where they hadn't, but went wild anyway. How could they not? This was his redemption and their resurrection. Maybe, just maybe, it was the title too, the second of two goals in the last eight minutes that brought Atlético back to defeat Osasuna 2-1 and leave them top of the league with a single match left, their fate back in their own hands, destiny defied once more. Inside the stadium there was mayhem, men running everywhere, not knowing what to do with themselves. Outside, where fans had gathered in Car Park B again, there was an explosion of joy and relief. Somehow Atlético had escaped. Just as it was all slipping through their fingers within touching distance of the finish line, Suárez had appeared. Continue reading... |
| How worrying is the India coronavirus variant for UK plans to unlock this summer? Posted: 17 May 2021 07:00 PM PDT Monday's change in the rules was supposed to be a moment of celebration – but the new variant spreading in the UK meant it came with a cautionary note. Can the next stage of the government's 'irreversible' plan go ahead? This time last week, most of us were feeling optimistic about the next step in the government's "irreversible" plan to end lockdown. Then scientists started to warn that the accelerating spread of the India variant of coronavirus meant that we should proceed carefully – and even consider slowing down. While the plans went ahead on Monday, they came with a heavy dose of caution and warnings that the last stage of the relaxation set for 21 June could be delayed. The Guardian's science correspondent Nicola Davis tells Anushka Asthana about the latest setback in the fight against Covid – and what it means for what happens next. Continue reading... |
| Stage Struck: Gloria Swanson before the pictures got small Posted: 17 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Twenty-five years before the hard-bitten Hollywood tale Sunset Boulevard, Swanson played a small-town waitress with a dream to act Gloria Swanson's most enduring role is the imperious, bitterly eclipsed screen queen Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. But to fully appreciate Desmond's faded glory in Billy Wilder's 1950 noir classic, you need to see Swanson's silent films. Stage Struck – directed 25 years earlier by Allan Dwan – both revels in and pastiches the visual opulence of the silent era, with a plot that reflects on the adulation of glamorous actresses. It also features a brief chance to see Swanson as a glittering Salome, the role coveted by Desmond for her misbegotten comeback. The Salome sequence comes in Stage Struck's tongue-in-cheek prologue, filmed in an entrancing early version of Technicolor, offering assorted scenes from the life of "the greatest actress of all time". On stage, we see Swanson bombarded with bouquets by ecstatic audiences; on the street she is mobbed by an adoring public desperate for a brush with stardom. At a lavish banquet, she suddenly steps into the role of Salome and ascends the stairs of a temple, returning with a platter bearing the head of John the Baptist. Continue reading... |
| Shrek at 20: an unfunny and overrated low for blockbuster animation Posted: 17 May 2021 11:04 PM PDT The fairytale comedy was a hit with critics and audiences but its toilet humour, glibness and shoddy animation mark it out as a misfire Shrek has an outhouse with a working toilet. It is not part of the film's cynical brand of "irreverence" that an ogre's latrine is supported by modern plumbing. And it's certainly not consistent with the hygiene of a swamp-dwelling beast who bathes in mud, brushes his teeth in slime and boasts of a killer weed rat stew. But after our lime-green hero literally wipes his ass with a fairytale ending, it was apparently decided that the film needed that emphatic flushing sound before the Smash Mouth single All Star kicked in and the introductory montage could commence. Continue reading... |
| Post-punk band Au Pairs: ‘The Thatcher years gave us plenty of material’ Posted: 17 May 2021 03:30 AM PDT Forty years ago, the Birmingham band released their debut album, and its frank, forthright songs about sex and equality are still pertinent. They explain how music gave their anger a voice Forty years ago this month, one of the best but often forgotten albums of the 1980s was released: Playing With a Different Sex by Birmingham band Au Pairs. The cover, an Eve Arnold photo showing female militia fighters heading into battle, is a good visual harbinger of the album's friction-filled songs. Jane Munro's monster basslines, Pete Hammond's tight drum rhythms, and the jagged riffs of Lesley Woods and Paul Foad combine to form a tense backdrop for the myriad moods of Woods' androgynous voice, singing songs that confront conformity and demand equality. "There was just so much to be angry about," Woods says today. "We were four young people," Foad adds, "who were pissed off with the political situation of the time." Au Pairs formed in Birmingham in 1978. Stewart Lee's recent documentary King Rocker showcases the scene in the city at the time, with Birmingham's first punk band the Prefects (later the Nightingales) playing venues like the legendary Barbarella's, a venue they immortalised in the song of the same name as a place "where the beer tastes of prune juice" and "they sell tickets for the exits". UB40 and the Beat were also on the same circuit, and Au Pairs, who formed from their city's Rock Against Racism action group, would often team up with local bands to play gigs for the anti-racist organisation. Continue reading... |
| Want to try Jane Austen’s favourite cheese toastie? Now you can Posted: 16 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT The 'household book' of Martha Lloyd, who lived with the Austens, contains recipes giving an authentic flavour of the writer's life "Grate the Cheese & add to it one egg, & a teaspoonful of Mustard, & a little Butter," advises Martha Lloyd, a close friend of Jane Austen, in her recipe for one of the author's favourite meals, "Toasted Cheese". "Send it up on a toast or in paper Trays." This recipe is part of the "household book" written between 1798 and 1830 by Lloyd, who lived with Austen, her sister Cassandra and their mother (also called Cassandra) for years. The four women lived together in a cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, where Jane wrote, revised and had published all of her novels: Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion. Continue reading... |
| Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon review – an electrifying gothic techno-thriller Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT A force-of-nature teenage mother escapes from a cult into the wilderness in Solomon's audacious third novel In US author Rivers Solomon's previous two novels, themes of memory and repression shaped stirring sci-fi narratives. Now comes Sorrowland, a gothic techno-thriller in which the trauma of the past is parried with defiance and a thirst for understanding, as embodied by an electrifying young hero. Vern is 15 years old and heavily pregnant when she escapes from an American cult known as the Blessed Acres of Cain. Hidden in the forest, she gives birth to twins named Howling and Feral, and spends the next four years there, hunting and gathering, dressing her babes in animal skins and bedding down in makeshift shelters. Continue reading... |
| Cancelled Philip Roth biography picked up by new publisher amid abuse allegations Posted: 17 May 2021 08:18 AM PDT Blake Bailey's life of Roth to be republished by Skyhorse Publishing, home to Woody Allen and Roger Stone, next month A biography of the late novelist Philip Roth that was dropped by its original publisher after sexual abuse claims against its author Blake Bailey has found a new home. Originally released in April in the US by WW Norton, Bailey's book had been much-heralded: he had been appointed to the role by Roth, having been the biographer of writers including John Cheever and Richard Yates. But that same month, multiple women came forward to allege that Bailey had sexually harassed and abused them when they were in their late teens and early 20s, and that he had spent years grooming them while he was their teacher at Lusher Middle School in New Orleans in the 1990s. A week later, WW Norton pulled the book and cut its ties with the author. Continue reading... |
| Trailer released for Prince Harry and Oprah Winfrey TV series Posted: 17 May 2021 09:13 AM PDT Footage suggests Harry will revisit trauma of his mother's death in Apple TV+ series on mental health The Duke and Duchess of Sussex feature in an emotional trailer for Harry's mental health documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, and footage hints that he will revisit the trauma he experienced after his mother's death. The two-minute trailer includes archive film from the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, showing Harry, then 12, standing with his head bowed as his mother's coffin passes by, alongside the Prince of Wales, who then turns to speak to his son. Continue reading... |
| Zack Snyder: has the king of comic book gloom finally found his happy place? Posted: 17 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT With his new zombie heist movie Army of the Dead, the director has hit his immature phase, and is all the better for it I don't hate Zack Snyder but I have hated a lot of his films. I have laid into Snyder so often it's beginning to feel like a personal vendetta but it really isn't; he's just one of those directors who can't help but divide opinion. To many critics he has inexplicably failed upwards, casting his moody spell over ever-greater swathes of popular culture. To others he is a genius whose vision must not be denied. At least that's the impression his fans gave off during their occasionally toxic #ReleaseTheSnyderCut campaign. Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading... |
| Death Will Come and Shall Have Your Eyes review – a strangely comforting end Posted: 17 May 2021 05:00 AM PDT A lesbian couple move to the country to deal with terminal illness in this tense, sensitive film by Chilean director José Luis Torres Leiva Chilean film-maker José Luis Torres Leiva's new drama is a thoughtful treatment of terminal illness. It gets under the skin and into the thoughts of two women: a couple, and one of them is dying of cancer. Torres Leiva wrote the script after losing three friends to the illness. His film is anti-sentimental, a tough watch, as they say; the kind that can leave you feeling a little fragile. But it's sensitive, too, and beautifully acted. Ana (Amparo Noguera) and María (Julieta Figueroa) are in their 40s. The film opens with the two of them in a car. María in the passenger seat gently instructs driver Ana to close her eyes, and for a tense moment Ana drives blind, scared. Afterwards, we discover that María has terminal cancer. What was she doing in that moment in the car? Giving Ana a glimmer of her own terror of the darkness? Continue reading... |
| US supreme court agrees to consider major rollback of abortion rights Posted: 17 May 2021 10:20 AM PDT Court will take up Mississippi's bid to enforce a 15-week ban on abortion, setting up a showdown The US supreme court agreed on Monday to consider a major challenge to reproductive rights, saying it will take up Mississippi's bid to enforce a ban on almost all abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy. Related: 'It would be glorious': hopes high for Biden to nominate first Black woman to supreme court Continue reading... |
| The FBI is supposed to track how police use force – years later, it’s falling well short Posted: 17 May 2021 04:51 AM PDT Guardian investigation finds FBI failing to collect data from police departments on use of force – where's the transparency? In the weeks after George Floyd was murdered, US police flooded the streets in more than 100 cities with some form of teargas, according to an analysis by the New York Times. A later analysis of 7,305 protest events in all 50 states, involving millions of attendees during May and June, found that police used teargas or related substances in about 183 of these events, or 2.5% of them. Experts called the use of teargas a dangerous choice during a pandemic involving a respiratory disease; hundreds of protesters in one city have reported lasting health effects, including abnormal menstrual cycles. Continue reading... |
| Matt Gaetz associate pleads guilty to six counts including sex trafficking a minor Posted: 17 May 2021 09:35 AM PDT
Joel Greenberg, a longtime associate of the Republican Florida congressman Matt Gaetz, pleaded guilty on Monday to six federal criminal counts, including sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. Related: 'Naughty favours': Matt Gaetz seeks to ridicule allegations he paid underaged girl for sex Continue reading... |
| South Carolina: new law makes inmates choose firing squad or electric chair Posted: 17 May 2021 08:53 AM PDT Governor Henry McMaster signed law on Friday amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs for death row prisoners The governor of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, has quietly signed into law a bill that requires inmates on death row to choose between a firing squad or the electric chair if lethal injection is not available. The law, signed without ceremony on Friday, comes amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs that has affected the state's ability to implement capital punishment. South Carolina has not executed any prisoners since 2011. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 17 May 2021 12:06 PM PDT Protest over proposed petrochemical complex in Louisiana is part of 400-mile march led by youth climate group Sunrise Movement On Monday, groups of climate activists protested against a proposed petrochemical complex an hour away from New Orleans, Louisiana, calling on the Biden administration to revoke the plastics company's federal permit to start construction. The demonstration is part of a 400-mile march led by the youth climate group Sunrise Movement, which began last week and traces the path of environmental disasters in the Gulf coast from New Orleans to Houston. Roughly 20 participants are on the trek as part of the group's "Generation on Fire" campaign. Continue reading... |
| Jaguars could be reintroduced in US south-west, study says Posted: 17 May 2021 07:51 AM PDT Study's authors believe animal can benefit people as well as 'cultural and natural heritage' of Arizona and New Mexico Jaguars could be reintroduced in the south-western US, where hunting and habitat loss led to the big cats' extinction, a new study says. Scientists and other environmentalists make the case for bringing back the third-largest big cat, after tigers and lions, in Arizona and New Mexico in a paper published in the journal Conservation Science and Practice. Continue reading... |
| Marco Rubio urges US to take UFOs seriously ahead of government report Posted: 17 May 2021 05:19 AM PDT 'I want us to take it seriously and have a process to take it seriously,' Florida senator tells 60 Minutes The Florida senator Marco Rubio has urged American lawmakers to take the issue of mysterious flying objects seriously ahead of the expected release next month of a US government report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), better known as UFOs. The report follows a renewed push by former government officials and senators including Rubio to investigate reports of UFOs seen by the military. Continue reading... |
| Ex-officer charged in Daunte Wright shooting to appear in court Posted: 17 May 2021 05:58 AM PDT Kim Potter, charged with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting Black man, has pre-trial hearing on Monday A former suburban Minneapolis police officer charged with second-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting the 20-year-old Black motorist Daunte Wright is scheduled to appear in court via videoconference on Monday. The former Brooklyn Center officer Kim Potter, who is white, has an omnibus hearing, also known as a pre-trial hearing, on Monday afternoon in Hennepin county district court. The purpose of such a hearing is to go over evidence and determine if there is probable cause for the case to proceed. Continue reading... |
| More than 5,000 migrants reach Spain’s north African enclave Ceuta in a day Posted: 17 May 2021 05:11 PM PDT Unprecedented influx comes amid tensions with Morocco over the hospitalisation of Western Sahara's independence leader in Spain More than 5,000 migrants, about 1,000 of them presumed to be minors, crossed into Spain's northern African enclave of Ceuta on Monday, in an unprecedented influx that left Spanish officials scrambling to bolster police presence in the tiny territory. Ceuta, along with nearby Melilla, has long been a magnet for African migrants hoping to cross into Europe, despite being heavily protected and fortified with a double fence. The mass crossing into Ceuta comes amid heightened tensions between Madrid and Rabat over Spain's decision to allow a Western Sahara independence leader to be treated for Covid-19 in Spain. Continue reading... |
| Cyclone Tauktae: Indian navy rescues crew from stricken vessels Posted: 17 May 2021 11:47 PM PDT Most powerful storm in two decades forces thousands to flee and hampers Covid-tackling efforts The Indian navy is working to rescue crew members from a sunken barge and a second cargo vessel that adrift off the coast of Mumbai after a deadly cyclone struck the western coast. The navy said it had rescued 177 of the 400 people onboard the two barges in the Arabia Sea. Three frontline warships had jointed the rescue operations, the navy said. Continue reading... |
| ‘Covid casino’ case collapses as police in Canada accused of stealing watches Posted: 17 May 2021 03:18 PM PDT Owner of mansion allegedly used for illegal gambling during pandemic won't face charges after police accused of theft and planting evidence A police investigation into an alleged underground casino operating out of a mansion north of Toronto has fallen apart after officers were accused of stealing two luxury watches and planting evidence. Police in Ontario said in September they had seized more than $10m in assets, firearms, cash and liquor as part of a months-long investigation into illegal gambling. Continue reading... |
| 500 global firms put disability inclusion on boardroom agendas Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT Valuable 500 network says companies will publish quarterly reports into representation Business leaders from 500 of the world's biggest companies have agreed to publish quarterly reports into disability representation, amid evidence of a lack of progress tackling diversity among multinational firms. The Valuable 500 global disability network said it had reached its target to get 500 major companies to put disability inclusion on their boardroom agenda, including companies such as Microsoft, Unilever, Google and Coca-Cola. Continue reading... |
| World is home to 50bn birds, ‘breakthrough’ citizen science research estimates Posted: 17 May 2021 12:00 PM PDT University of NSW study suggests six times as many individual birds as humans but that many species are very rare There are about 50 billion individual birds in the world, according to new research that uses citizen science observations to try to estimate population numbers for almost 10,000 species. The paper, led by scientists at the University of New South Wales, suggests there are about six times as many birds on the planet as humans – but that many individual species are very rare. Continue reading... |
| Belgium ambassador’s wife invokes immunity over Seoul assault claims Posted: 17 May 2021 04:29 AM PDT Police will not pursue case after boutique staff alleged they were slapped and hit on head in row over shoplifting The wife of Belgium's ambassador to South Korea will exercise her diplomatic immunity to avoid criminal charges on allegations she hit two boutique staff in a row over shoplifting, police have said. The ambassador, Peter Lescouhier, previously said that he "sincerely regrets the incident involving his wife", adding that he "wants to apologise on her behalf". Continue reading... |
| Locked out of school: Pakistan’s digital divide has students struggling Posted: 17 May 2021 11:30 PM PDT When Covid shut schools, fees still had to be paid even if rural pupils could not access online lessons Iqbal Khan works as a chauffeur in Lahore. His children are in his home village in a rural area north of Peshawar. Both of these very different areas of Pakistan have the same problem for many of their young people: no means of getting access to an education. Online learning was not an option for Khan's children as the pandemic locked down schools across cities and countryside. Even as he worked to pay the school fees, his two sons, aged 16 and 13, were unable to access any lessons as their schools went digital. Continue reading... |
| Signs of recovery in UK labour market as unemployment rate falls and payrolls rise – business live Posted: 18 May 2021 12:41 AM PDT Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Redundancies also fell in January-March, but remain higher than before the pandemic. There were around 153,000 redundancies in the first quarter of 2021, down sharply on the 343,000 recorded in October-December. That pulls the redundancy rate down to its lowest in eight months:
Today's UK labour market report also shows that regular pay packets grew by 4.6% per year in January-March (or 3.6% after inflation)... ..however, that's partly because the pandemic hit lower-paid workers harder. As more lost their jobs, or were furloughed, a 'compositional effect' pushed up average pay levels. After allowing for inflation, average regular pay (excluding bonuses) in January to March 2021 was up 3.6% on the year. Average total pay (including bonuses) was up 3.1%.  |
| Anti-Israel protests in Germany prompt calls for antisemitism crackdown Posted: 17 May 2021 05:34 AM PDT Israeli flags burned as thousands attend demonstrations in Berlin, Cologne and other cities Politicians in Germany have called for tougher measures against antisemitism after thousands of people attended what became aggressive protests at the weekend in connection with the escalating violence in the Middle East. In the most violent protest, in the southern Berlin district of Neukölln, demonstrators who had gathered to show solidarity with Palestinians burned Israeli flags, chanted anti-Israel slogans and flew Hamas banners. Continue reading... |
| Billionaire François Pinault fulfils Paris art gallery dream Posted: 17 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT Contemporary collection finds home in former grain exchange 16 years after plan for Seine island failed For 20 years, the French billionaire François Pinault has dreamed of opening a museum to display his renowned contemporary art collection in Paris. The original plan was to build a massive concrete and glass structure on an abandoned island in the River Seine three miles from the Eiffel Tower. When that sparked planning and legal rows and proved impossible, the tycoon moved his collection to Venice, where it seemed destined to remain. Continue reading... |
| Photographers rewrite list of ‘big five’ animals to shoot Posted: 16 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT Project turns trophy hunters' hit list into a conservation tool – and reveals the animals we most want to see caught on camera For trophy hunters, the big five are the toughest, most dangerous animals to kill, but a photography project has turned the meaning of shooting on its head, creating a new list of the five most fantastic creatures to capture on camera. More than 50,000 people from around the world voted for animals they most liked seeing pictures of as part of the New Big 5 wildlife photography list. The crowning creatures are elephant, lion, polar bear, gorilla and tiger, all of which are keystone species listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as either critically endangered, endangered or vulnerable. Continue reading... |
| Fresh peas, asparagus, wild garlic – Nigel Slater’s revitalising spring recipes Posted: 17 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT Broad beans with new potatoes, and cucumber, chickpea and prawns – spring recipes to encourage the green shoots of recovery May always feels like the greenest of months. The fizz of new leaves in the gardens, seedlings sprouting on the windowsill and early bunches of asparagus in the shops. The first of the homegrown radishes and tiny soft-leaved lettuces call out for salads by the bowlful: new potatoes with a puree of green peas and rocket; a broad bean salad with yoghurt; and a hollandaise sauce for asparagus into which are stirred wild garlic leaves. All of these have been on the kitchen table in the past few days, as have some early strawberries with the first few spikes of the garden mint. Could it have been the pandemic that has made this spring feel so life-enriching? Like a long glass of elderflower cordial on a parched summer's day? Never has the arrival of the early green vegetables – the peas and the broad beans, the lettuce and rocket, the mint and the asparagus been such a welcome sight to this cook. Green to heal and invigorate us, to inspire and energise, to replenish and renew, after what feels like the longest winter of our lives. Continue reading... |
| Home sweet Hackney: love, life and local legends in east London – in pictures Posted: 17 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT From bodybuilders in makeshift gyms to octogenarian gardeners, Hackney is home to a diverse group of community-minded people – as these photographs from locals attest Continue reading... |
| Competitive pond fishing and a rainbow: Monday’s best photos Posted: 17 May 2021 05:50 AM PDT The Guardian's picture editors select photo highlights from around the world • This gallery was amended on 17 May 2021 to remove an image that featured antisemitic iconography  |
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