politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: The Guardian

Monday, 3 May 2021

The Guardian

‘Ground zero of the opioid epidemic’: West Virginia puts drug giants on trial
Three dead after suspected people-smuggling boat capsizes off San Diego
Proud Boys Canada dissolves itself, months after designation as terrorist entity
Tim Scott ‘hopeful’ deal can be reached with Democrats on US policing reform
Republicans into Texas runoff after robocall claims leader killed husband with Covid
Caitlyn Jenner opposes transgender girls competing in girls’ school sports
Senior Tory says Boris Johnson should resign if he breached ministerial rules
Manchester United v Liverpool postponed after fans invade Old Trafford in protest
Rome’s Colosseum to gain hi-tech arena floor
Coronavirus live news: India offers vaccination to all adults as country nears 20m cases
Biden adviser: president wears mask outdoors out of habit and Covid caution
Singapore turns to disco to keep Covid vaccine rollout on track
Crude, obscene and extraordinary: Jean Dubuffet’s war against good taste
Iguanas with chips: Florida seeks solution to invasive reptile problem
‘I’m bursting with fiction’: Alan Moore announces five-volume fantasy epic
Lily James: ‘All sorts of people can become great loves of your life’
‘It’s like a rotting carcass of its former self’: funeral for an Oregon glacier
Young, Muslim and progressive: is another AOC-style upset brewing in New York?
Biden and Xi talk of a clash of civilisations. But the real shared goal is dominance | Richard McGregor
On-demand pay a growing benefit – and concern – for small businesses
Britain’s overgrown Eton schoolboys have turned the country into their playground | John Harris
Manchester United fans’ direct action is an expression of powerlessness | Jonathan Liew
Boxer Félix Verdejo turns himself in after pregnant woman’s body found
Premier League and Old Firm Derby: 10 talking points from the weekend
Nascar’s Eric McClure, whose career was ended by health issues, dies at 42
Lewis Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win F1 Portuguese Grand Prix
Gareth Bale sinks Sheffield United to keep Spurs’ top-four hopes alive
Why have sperm counts more than halved in the past 40 years? - podcast
Art under attack as top New York gallery urged to cut ties to rich donors
Olympia Dukakis obituary
Peaky Blinders investigated over alleged breach of Covid protocols
Could you wear a dress for 100 days?
Comedian Adrian Edmondson traps himself on window ledge
Gio Ponti: the real charmer of Italian design
Antitrust: Hawley and Klobuchar on the big tech battles to come
Yellen seeks to tamp down concern over US government spending under Biden
Elizabeth Warren: Democratic party was reluctant to nominate a woman in 2020
Andrew Brown killing: protesters say police will ‘push town into riot mode’
SpaceX returns four astronauts to Earth in darkness
Bush: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ ideals show pro-Trump Republicans ‘want to be extinct’
Matt Gaetz: Democrat calls out ‘bro culture’ as former ally’s letter emerges
Afghan forces face ‘bad possible outcomes’ against Taliban – US general
Iran’s treatment of Zaghari-Ratcliffe amounts to torture, says Raab
‘Real thuggery’: Cornwall boats vandalised amid ‘incomer’ tensions
Israel holds day of mourning for 45 crush disaster victims
Eight killed as security forces open fire on protesters in Myanmar
Narendra Modi loses key state election as Covid grips India
Two arrested after reports of intruders at Queen’s Windsor estate
French Réunion: the postmen of the peaks
The Kentucky Derby, May Day and a cannabis parade: the weekend’s best photos

‘Ground zero of the opioid epidemic’: West Virginia puts drug giants on trial

Posted: 02 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT

A series of federal cases over the pharmaceutical industry's push to sell narcotic painkillers which created the worst drug epidemic in US history

The trial of the three biggest US drug distributors for illegally flooding West Virginia with hundreds of millions of prescription opioid pills, and driving the highest overdose rate in the country, is due to open on Monday.

Three dead after suspected people-smuggling boat capsizes off San Diego

Posted: 02 May 2021 06:12 PM PDT

Vessel overturns near Point Loma peninsula
Officials said 'every indication' of human smuggling operation

Three people have died and more than two dozen taken to hospital after a wooden boat capsized on Sunday during a possible human smuggling operation just off the San Diego coast, authorities said.

Local lifeguards, the US coast guard and other agencies responded around 10.30am PT following reports of an overturned vessel near the peninsula of Point Loma, according to the San Diego fire-rescue department.

Proud Boys Canada dissolves itself, months after designation as terrorist entity

Posted: 02 May 2021 05:52 PM PDT

Far-right group was deemed a terrorist entity in Canada in February with authorities describing group as 'serious and growing' threat

Proud Boys Canada, a far-right group that Ottawa named as a terrorist entity earlier this year, has dissolved itself, saying it has done nothing wrong, according to a statement by the organisation.

In February, Canada said the group posed an active security threat and played a "pivotal role" in the deadly attack on the US Capitol in January by pro-Trump rioters. US authorities have charged several members of the Proud Boys in connection with the 6 January assault.

Tim Scott ‘hopeful’ deal can be reached with Democrats on US policing reform

Posted: 02 May 2021 10:39 AM PDT

Only Black Republican senator touts talks progress
Andrew Brown: protesters say police 'push town to riot mode'

Tim Scott, the Republican senator leading negotiations with Democrats over police reform, who insisted during his rebuttal to Joe Biden's address to Congress the US was not a racist country, said on Sunday he was "hopeful" a deal can be reached.

Republicans into Texas runoff after robocall claims leader killed husband with Covid

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:13 PM PDT

Endorsed by Trump, Susan Wright decries 'immoral' attack and heads into sixth-district runoff against another Republican

Romney booed and called 'traitor' at Utah convention

Susan Wright, the widow of the Republican congressman whose death prompted a special election in Texas on Saturday, made the runoff after reporting to law enforcement a bizarre robocall in which she was accused of murdering her husband by contracting Covid-19.

Caitlyn Jenner opposes transgender girls competing in girls’ school sports

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:32 PM PDT

California candidate speaks to tabloid reporter in parking lot
'It just isn't fair – and we have to protect girls' sports'

Caitlyn Jenner, the former Olympic champion and reality TV personality now running for California governor, has said she opposes transgender girls competing in girls' sports at school.

Senior Tory says Boris Johnson should resign if he breached ministerial rules

Posted: 02 May 2021 12:19 PM PDT

Leader of Scottish Conservatives says PM should 'of course' quit if he has not been honest about payments for Downing Street refurb

One of the UK's most senior Conservatives has broken ranks and called for Boris Johnson to resign if he breached ministerial rules over the refurbishment of a Downing Street flat, amid new claims that undeclared donations have been sought to fund the prime minister's lavish lifestyle.

Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said on Sunday that Johnson should "of course" quit if he is found to have breached the code by failing to be honest about cash payments from a Conservative donor sought to redecorate his official residence.

Manchester United v Liverpool postponed after fans invade Old Trafford in protest

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:54 PM PDT

Two police officers injured in ugly clashes
Thousands of supporters gather outside Old Trafford

Manchester United's game with Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday was postponed after a planned peaceful protest outside the stadium by fans angry with the club's owners, the Glazers, spilled into chaotic and violent scenes as a group of about 100 broke into the ground, causing criminal damage and forcing some staff to lock themselves into rooms for safety.

The postponement of the Premier League match between the two most storied clubs in English football to an as yet undetermined date was confirmed almost five hours after supporters gathered at the stadium. It adds further uncertainty to United's fixture list in a week when they are due to play the second leg of their Europa League semi-final with Roma, and is the most graphic illustration yet of the breakdown of trust between fans and owners.

Rome’s Colosseum to gain hi-tech arena floor

Posted: 02 May 2021 09:18 AM PDT

Retractable floor will allow visitors to see the 'majesty of the monument' from its centre, says culture minister

The floor of Rome's Colosseum, where gladiators once fought against each other and wild animals, is set to be restored to its former glory.

Milan Ingegneria, a structural engineering and architecture firm, has won an €18.5m (£16m) bid to build and install a retractable arena floor that will allow visitors "to see the majesty of the monument" from its centre, culture minister Dario Franceschini said on Sunday.

Coronavirus live news: India offers vaccination to all adults as country nears 20m cases

Posted: 03 May 2021 12:17 AM PDT

US to discuss Covid vaccine IP with World Trade Organization; Chinese tourists expected to make 18.3 million railway trips on labor day; all adults in India eligible for vaccines

8.17am BST

Australia's chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, has warned the government that citizens stranded in India face the prospect of serious illness without healthcare and a "worst-case scenario" of death from Covid under a controversial ban on travel to Australia.

But given Australia's "limited" quarantine facilities, Kelly recommended the government go ahead with its decision to suspend arrivals from India until 15 May, noting it would be the first time that such a determination had been used to prevent Australian citizens and permanent residents entering Australia.

8.02am BST

Good morning – it is Martin Belam here in London. It might be a public holiday in the UK, but there's still the morning media round to be done.

UK Foreign Office minister James Cleverly has said the Government wanted the road map out of coronavirus lockdown to be a "one-way system" but that science would continue to be the "guiding force".

Biden adviser: president wears mask outdoors out of habit and Covid caution

Posted: 02 May 2021 12:12 PM PDT

CDC says vaccinated Americans can go mask-free outside
Anita Dunn asked about Biden still covering his face

A top White House adviser who made headlines for saying "Covid is the best thing that ever happened" to Joe Biden said on Sunday the president still wears a mask outdoors out of habit, even though federal guidance says he need not do so.

Singapore turns to disco to keep Covid vaccine rollout on track

Posted: 02 May 2021 11:55 PM PDT

Lively music video seeks to dispel concerns that vaccines might not be safe for older people or those with certain health conditions

After vaccinating a fifth of its population, Singapore is deploying the powers of informative disco to keep up its inoculation campaign.

The city state was recently crowned the best place to be in the pandemic, and has managed to keep daily case numbers below 50 for months. But its latest public health video – an infectious pop song starring comedian Gurmit Singh as his much-loved character Phua Chu Kang, an eccentric contractor – warns the public not to be complacent.

Crude, obscene and extraordinary: Jean Dubuffet’s war against good taste

Posted: 02 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT

He was the inventor of 'art brut' who rebelled against his parents, his teachers and then art itself. Yet the impact of his wild provocative paintings, often culled from graffiti, can still be seen today

Which great artist of the 20th century has been most influential on the 21st? Neither Picasso nor Matisse, as they have no heirs. And not Marcel Duchamp, however much we genuflect before his urinal. No, the artist of the last century whose ideas are everywhere today was a wine merchant who took street art and fashioned it into something extraordinary more than 75 years ago.

After four years of Nazi occupation, you'd think Parisians would have been unshockable. But in 1944, the newly liberated city was sorely provoked by the antics of Jean Dubuffet. Even as the last shots were fired, he was creating newspaper collages bearing the fragmentary graffiti messages he saw in the streets: "Emile is gone again", "Always devoted to your orders", "URGENT". In the next couple of years, he unveiled shapeless, childlike paintings that abandoned all pretence at skill.

Iguanas with chips: Florida seeks solution to invasive reptile problem

Posted: 02 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT

'Tag day' initiative opposed by some owners of exotic pets
State official 'proud that Florida is looked at as a leader'

From Key West's high-summer Hemingway Days, in which bearded hopefuls vie for the title of best Papa lookalike, to the annual hunt for the elusive (and imaginary) skunk ape, Florida is renowned for its calendar of curiosities.

‘I’m bursting with fiction’: Alan Moore announces five-volume fantasy epic

Posted: 02 May 2021 10:01 PM PDT

Exclusive: Watchmen and V for Vendetta writer lands six-figure deal for fantasy quintet Long London and short story collection

Two years after announcing that he had retired from comics, Alan Moore, the illustrious author of Watchmen and V for Vendetta, has signed a six-figure deal for a "groundbreaking" five-volume fantasy series as well as a "momentous" collection of short stories.

Bloomsbury, home to the Harry Potter novels, acquired what it described as two "major" projects from the 67-year-old. The first, Illuminations, is a short story collection which will be published in autumn 2022 and which moves from the four horsemen of the apocalypse to the "Boltzmann brains" fashioning the universe. Bloomsbury said it was "dazzlingly original and brimming with energy", promising a series of "beguiling and elegantly crafted tales that reveal the full power of imagination and magic".

Lily James: ‘All sorts of people can become great loves of your life’

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:30 AM PDT

The actor on her role in the BBC's new Nancy Mitford adaptation, the joy of female friendship, and preparing to play Baywatch star Pamela Anderson

Lily James was born Lily Thomson in Esher, Surrey, in 1989. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and made her TV debut as Ethel Brown in the BBC's Just William (2010) before appearing in Downton Abbey and War & Peace. Her film credits include Baby Driver, Darkest Hour, The Dig, Rebecca, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and the lead in Disney's live-action Cinderella. In 2019 she starred in Ivo van Hove's All About Eve in the West End. James plays the heroine, Linda Radlett, in the new BBC adaptation of Nancy Mitford's 1945 novel The Pursuit of Love.

Were you a fan of Nancy Mitford's book before you took this role?
Absolutely. It was huge fun to immerse myself in the period, although my character, Linda, could almost exist at any time, because she breaks all the rules.

‘It’s like a rotting carcass of its former self’: funeral for an Oregon glacier

Posted: 02 May 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Worried researchers hold ceremony for Clark glacier to illustrate how climate crisis is eroding icepacks

The funeral was a suitably solemn affair. The small casket was placed on a table covered in a black drape, a maudlin yet defiant speech quoted a Dylan Thomas poem, a moment's silence was held.

Inside the casket, however, was not a body, but a vial of meltwater from Clark glacier in Oregon, once an imposing body of ice but now a shrivelled remnant.

Young, Muslim and progressive: is another AOC-style upset brewing in New York?

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:00 AM PDT

Rana Abdelhamid, the daughter of Egyptian immigrants, is seeking to oust a veteran congresswoman in a Democratic primary

Steinway is a bustling and noisy street in the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. The area locally referred to as "Little Egypt" is brimming with people grocery shopping and bicyclists rushing in and out of shawarma shops to deliver their next order. It's a north African, south-west Asian neighborhood made up of small businesses like halal butcher shops, hookah lounges and Middle Eastern restaurants.

For Rana Abdelhamid, this neighborhood is home. On 14 April, Abdelhamid announced her run against the incumbent Democratic congresswoman Carolyn Maloney to represent New York's 12th congressional district, a region made up of a significant portion of Manhattan's East Side, Astoria and north Brooklyn. It ranges from the fantastically wealthy penthouse apartments that line Manhattan's Central Park to the struggling working-class areas where Abdelhamid grew up.

Biden and Xi talk of a clash of civilisations. But the real shared goal is dominance | Richard McGregor

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:00 AM PDT

The US president has challenged the idea that the 'east is rising, the west declining'. Instead, he insists that America's day is far from done

Finally, we have arrived, not at a clash of civilisations, but at the clash of civilisations. Or so President Joe Biden's address to a joint session of Congress would have you believe. The US versus China. The west versus the east. Democracy versus autocracy. Biden's speech last week was rich in laying down markers for Washington in the contest of the century.

"They're going to write about this point in history," Biden told a gathering of US television news anchors before his speech, in remarks later released by the White House. "Not about any of us in here, but about whether or not democracy can function in the 21st century."

On-demand pay a growing benefit – and concern – for small businesses

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:00 AM PDT

We think of payday as a rigid date, but 'pay on the day' is becoming more popular. Here's how to navigate on-demand benefits

As employers – especially small employers – are struggling to bring back workers to their jobs, a relatively new benefit is becoming more attractive: on-demand pay.

Yes, that's right: an employee gets paid on the day the work is performed. Think about it: your babysitter already gets paid right away, and so does the high-school kid who mows your lawn. So why not your employees?

Britain’s overgrown Eton schoolboys have turned the country into their playground | John Harris

Posted: 02 May 2021 05:38 AM PDT

The reckless disdain of Boris Johnson and David Cameron is evidence of the institutional elitism blighting our politics

Over the past fortnight, the news from Westminster has rather resembled a weird play about pre-revolutionary France, or Tsarist Russia circa 1916.

In some parts of the country, the rate of unemployment runs at 15%. Six million people are now reckoned to be on universal credit. I was in Birmingham this week, where I heard lots of talk about the impossibility of finding work, and local businesses hanging on by their fingernails. But every time I switched on the radio, I heard a twisted soap opera about money, taste (or the lack of it) and a prime minister who is reportedly having difficulty getting by on £150,000 a year. Boris Johnson's alleged insistence that he was minded to "let the bodies pile high in their thousands" rather than impose another lockdown suggests a Bourbon or Romanov driven to exasperation by the necessity of difficult choices. There is something similarly monarchical about the swift binning of the £2.6m Downing Street briefing room – further proof, it seems, that austerity need only worry the plebs.

Manchester United fans’ direct action is an expression of powerlessness | Jonathan Liew

Posted: 02 May 2021 12:10 PM PDT

Amid the grievances that have brought fans into the streets in recent weeks there is a yearning to feel something again

A lone saxophonist was playing in the sunshine outside Old Trafford on Sunday evening. This was after the tumult, after the crowds had been pushed back, after the police had regained control of the concourse outside the megastore, before the inevitable 0-0 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool had finally been called off. And on another surreal and poignant day in English football, it was possible to hear in those breezy notes a lament for something that had been lost, something that even now might never be recovered.

Earlier in the day, by all accounts, the mood had been mutinous, bordering on euphoric. We knew on some level that the few dozen United fans who managed to infiltrate the Old Trafford pitch must have been motivated by some intense and bottled anger. But as they cavorted on the famous turf, grabbing souvenirs, hurling tripods, gurning at the deserted directors' box, they didn't look particularly angry. They, like those protesting outside, looked giddy with excitement.

Boxer Félix Verdejo turns himself in after pregnant woman’s body found

Posted: 02 May 2021 07:10 PM PDT

FBI accuses Olympian of killing Keishla Rodriguez, 27
Boxer and attorneys have declined to comment on allegations

Boxer Félix Verdejo turned himself in to federal agents on Sunday night to face charges just hours after authorities identified the body of a dead woman as a 27-year-old believed to be pregnant with his child, officials have said.

A criminal complaint filed by the FBI accuses Verdejo of punching Keishla Rodriguez in the face and injecting her with a syringe filled with an unidentified substance bought at a public housing complex. It alleges that he then bound her arms and feet with wire and tied a heavy block to her before throwing her off a bridge at 8.30am on Thursday. The complaint states that Verdejo then shot at Rodriguez's body as he stood on the bridge.

Premier League and Old Firm Derby: 10 talking points from the weekend

Posted: 03 May 2021 12:00 AM PDT

Fans show their strength at Old Trafford, Torres comes to the party for Manchester City and Leicester nerves jangle again

"We decide when you play." That was the warning handed out to Manchester United by the fans who invaded the club's training centre during the week the European Super League was formed and then expired. It was one they delivered on in getting a blue-riband fixture with Liverpool postponed. They also managed to get Manchester City's collection of the Premier League title postponed. Direct action achieved its aim: embarrassing the club and the Premier League, and reheating the latent outrage the failed breakaway caused. And most of all, reinforcing the detachment that so many supporters have felt during 16 years of ownership by the Florida-based Glazer family. Manchester United's is an often disparate, divided support, with the ownership causing deep rifts between the many fan groups. What happened on Sunday was a show of collective strength and unity between such factions. Football authorities may abhor the actions that took place but they ignored the underlying reasons at their peril. John Brewin

Nascar’s Eric McClure, whose career was ended by health issues, dies at 42

Posted: 02 May 2021 12:49 PM PDT

Driver had suffered at least two concussions during career
Virginia native had also been treated for kidney failure

Former Nascar driver Eric McClure died on Sunday, his family and the series said. He was 42. No details were given about his death. McClure had posted on social media as recently as Saturday.

The Washington county sheriff's office said McClure's body was sent to Roanoke for an autopsy.

Lewis Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win F1 Portuguese Grand Prix

Posted: 02 May 2021 09:02 AM PDT

Valtteri Bottas finishes third, Sergio Pérez fourth
Champion extends lead in drivers' title race with 97th win

Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Portuguese Grand Prix will surely silence anyone who was entertaining even fleeting doubts as to his motivation to take another Formula One world title.

Determined and relentless, the champion delivered his best performance of the season with a fightback to victory serving notice that it is not just Hamilton's talent that must be overcome but a relentless will to win, epitomised at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve by some superlative, courageous overtaking.

Gareth Bale sinks Sheffield United to keep Spurs’ top-four hopes alive

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:21 PM PDT

Although the level of the opposition left much to be desired, this was a reminder that Tottenham still have a team capable of playing devastating football. It is not all doom and gloom in north London, even though there is no end in sight to the search for a new manager.

At least Spurs are doing everything in their power to ensure that whoever takes over from Ryan Mason has European football to enjoy next season. They have won twice in the league since firing José Mourinho and there was a sense of a side enjoying themselves against a wretched Sheffield United, who were powerless to resist in the face of inspired displays from Gareth Bale and Son Heung-min.

Why have sperm counts more than halved in the past 40 years? - podcast

Posted: 02 May 2021 07:00 PM PDT

Dr Shanna Swan has spent more than 20 years examining how chemicals in plastics are causing our fertility to decline – and what we can do about it

Shanna Swan, a professor of environmental medicine and public health at Mount Sinai school of medicine in New York City, talks to Rachel Humphreys about declining fertility in men. Over the past 40 years, average sperm counts among western men have more than halved.

She tells Rachel how certain chemicals can interfere with reproductive health. Phthalates, used to make plastic soft and flexible, are of particular concern. They lower testosterone, which can affect sperm count, though they are bad for women, too, and can increase the risk of miscarriage and premature birth. The reproductive crisis is serious, she says. We need to try and limit our exposure to these chemicals otherwise human survival could be threatened.

Art under attack as top New York gallery urged to cut ties to rich donors

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:30 AM PDT

Demonstrators try to force entry to MoMA, calling on it to give up private philanthropy and sparking debate about art world funding

One of America's most prestigious museums, New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), faces calls to turn its back on private philanthropy amid a fresh debate about how the art world is funded.

On Friday a protest walking tour turned into a confrontation at MoMA, with one of the 50-strong group claiming she was assaulted by the museum's security staff.

Olympia Dukakis obituary

Posted: 02 May 2021 07:34 AM PDT

American stage and screen actor who won an Oscar for her role in the 1987 film Moonstruck

After more than two decades of distinguished work in the US theatre as an actor, director and teacher, and appearances in a dozen or so films, Olympia Dukakis, who has died aged 89, became hugely famous overnight by winning the best supporting actress Oscar in 1988 for her performance as Cher's mother in the romantic film Moonstruck (1987).

The course of her career suggests that her ambitions never lay in the direction of Hollywood. Her theatrical credits read like the canon of classic and modern plays: she had roles in plays by Euripides, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Ibsen, Lorca, Pirandello, Brecht, Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams, on and off Broadway, as well as in various regional theatres across the country. In films, she took on several character roles, making an impression in scores of pictures for more than half a century.

Peaky Blinders investigated over alleged breach of Covid protocols

Posted: 02 May 2021 10:42 AM PDT

Producers accused of putting crew at risk after staff member allegedly continued on set after positive test

The hit BBC drama Peaky Blinders is being investigated over claims it has broken Covid-19 safety rules.

The producers have been accused of putting some of the show's crew at risk after one of the staff working on the sixth and final series of the show is alleged to have continued on set despite recording a positive Covid-19 test.

Could you wear a dress for 100 days?

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:00 AM PDT

When Emma Beddington took part in a challenge to wear the same dress for 100 days, she wasn't expecting to feel the positive force of sisterhood alongside a few neat cleaning hacks

Could you wear the same thing for 100 days? I could, because I don't care about clothes. I do not like how they look on me, a 46-year-old woman whose hobbies are cake and sitting still, so I stick to navy or green trousers in summer and black trousers in winter, coupled with plain tops and jumpers. I suppose that could be chic, or ingenious, a Zuckerberg-esque Silicon Valley hack, but it's neither. It's just a bit depressing.

Sometimes my best friend sends me links to clothes she likes – slinky silk dresses, pretty tops – and I say, "I can totally imagine you in that." I can, but I can't imagine myself in anything other than my tedious uniform. My ugly jumpers and toothpaste-stained trousers are "hate dressing" I fear, a widely reported pandemic phenomenon in which you wear things you do not even like as a sort of fabric protest against the general awfulness of everything.

Comedian Adrian Edmondson traps himself on window ledge

Posted: 02 May 2021 02:21 PM PDT

Star of British comedies The Young Ones and Bottom had to be rescued from the outside of his house by the fire brigade

While many of us have occupied ourselves during the pandemic by performing home improvements, for the comedian Adrian Edmondson the usually straightforward act of cleaning windows took an unfortunate turn for the worse.

Edmondson has described having to be rescued by fire services at the weekend after getting himself trapped on his window ledge, saying he had to ask people passing by to find help and that despite the precarious position, the fire brigade "didn't snigger too much".

Gio Ponti: the real charmer of Italian design

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:00 AM PDT

From the graceful Pirelli tower to his classic super-light chair, the Milanese architect's life and work are celebrated in a huge new tome

At the dedication of Taranto Cathedral in 1970, its 79-year-old architect, Gio Ponti, gave a speech. His words are not well remembered, but his family kept a recording of what preceded it: 10 minutes of applause, like "thunder". This was a figure who, according to some anti-modernist mythologies, was supposed not to exist – a modern architect beloved by the users of his building.

His magic was charm. It was present in this Italian cathedral's openwork tower, a stack of portals, as Ponti put it, "accessible only to the eye and the wind: a facade for the air". It was his wish that vegetation would grow over the building, to which locals responded by bringing plant pots and flowers to the opening. The same quality was present 50 years earlier, in the colourful vases he created for the Richard Ginori ceramics company, which made classical antiquity seem as fresh and alive as a person just stepped from the sea. His letters glow with charm – 99,900 of them over his life, to 6,400 recipients – in which his handwriting is apt to blossom into drawings: hands, faces, clouds, creatures, abstract rhythms of lines and ribbons of colour.

Antitrust: Hawley and Klobuchar on the big tech battles to come

Posted: 01 May 2021 10:00 PM PDT

The Republican senator has written a sort of manifesto for the presidential primary. The Democrat seems focused on the supreme court

Hawley rails at big tech firms but he has invested in them

Antitrust is hot. In February, the Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar introduced the Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of 2021. Weeks later, the Missouri senator Josh Hawley proposed the Trust-Busting for the Twenty-First Century Act. Both bills are pending before the Senate judiciary committee.

Yellen seeks to tamp down concern over US government spending under Biden

Posted: 02 May 2021 09:07 AM PDT

Treasury secretary backs tax rises on rich to pay for big plans
Republicans push back against expansive infrastructure aims

The US treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, on Sunday sought to tamp down concerns that Joe Biden's plans on infrastructure, jobs and families will cause inflation, saying spending will be phased in over a decade.

Elizabeth Warren: Democratic party was reluctant to nominate a woman in 2020

Posted: 02 May 2021 07:16 AM PDT

In new book, Massachusetts senator reflects on why she lost the presidential nomination

In a new book, the Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren suggests part of the reason for her failure in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination lay in the party's reluctance to nominate another woman.

Andrew Brown killing: protesters say police will ‘push town into riot mode’

Posted: 02 May 2021 06:17 AM PDT

Community and advocates in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, say police escalating peaceful protests and 'trying to antagonize city'

Perched on a ladder, Ulysses "Bones" Edwards reached for another can of spray paint, adding a few deft strokes to the mural of Andrew Brown Jr that was slowly starting to take shape on the side of the house where Brown lived in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, a stone's throw from where he was killed by law enforcement last week.

A crowd of marchers passed Edwards as he worked on Thursday. Dozens also gathered over the weekend, ahead of Brown's funeral on Monday, with demonstrations on Saturday marking the eleventh straight day of peaceful protests in the coastal city. At least 16 people have been arrested since the city enacted a curfew earlier in the week.

SpaceX returns four astronauts to Earth in darkness

Posted: 02 May 2021 01:36 AM PDT

Capsule parachutes into Gulf of Mexico at 3am, the first night-time US crew splashdown since 1968

SpaceX safely returned four astronauts from the International Space Station on Sunday, making the first US crew splashdown in darkness since the Apollo 8 moonshot.

The Dragon capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Panama City, Florida, just before 3am, ending the second astronaut flight for Elon Musk's company. It was an express trip home, lasting just six and a half hours.

Bush: ‘Anglo-Saxon’ ideals show pro-Trump Republicans ‘want to be extinct’

Posted: 01 May 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Former president speaks as lone anti-Trump Republican seeks House seat in Texas special election

Romney booed and called 'traitor' at Utah GOP convention

Ahead of a special election on Saturday to replace a Texas congressman who died after contracting Covid-19, former president George W Bush said the ascendancy of supporters of Donald Trump suggest Republicans "want to be extinct".

Matt Gaetz: Democrat calls out ‘bro culture’ as former ally’s letter emerges

Posted: 01 May 2021 09:01 AM PDT

Joel Greenberg says Gaetz 'involved in sexual activities' with 17-year-old as Anna Eskamani decries 'extreme' bro culture

A Florida Democrat who released audio of a strange voicemail from Matt Gaetz has called the scandal-hit Republican congressman "one of the most extreme examples of bro culture", adding: "We can't hold back in calling out a hostile and dangerous culture for women and girls."

Gaetz is reportedly under investigation for matters including allegedly paying for sex with an underage girl. This week, the Daily Beast obtained a letter in which a former ally said he and Gaetz were "involved in sexual activities" with the 17-year-old.

Afghan forces face ‘bad possible outcomes’ against Taliban – US general

Posted: 02 May 2021 10:32 AM PDT

Mark Milley overseeing withdrawal by 11 September
Biden marks 10th anniversary of killing of Osama bin Laden
Car bomb kills at least 21 as US prepares to withdraw troops

Afghan government forces face some "bad possible outcomes" against Taliban insurgents as the withdrawal of American and coalition troops accelerates in the coming weeks, the top US military officer said on Sunday.

Iran’s treatment of Zaghari-Ratcliffe amounts to torture, says Raab

Posted: 02 May 2021 08:17 AM PDT

Foreign secretary says it is 'difficult to argue against' suggestion the dual national is being held state hostage

Iran's treatment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe amounts to torture, the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has said, as the Foreign Office downplayed an Iranian state TV report saying Britain would pay a £400m debt to secure her release.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said the family had "heard nothing" about a deal to secure her release, as hopes were raised by the suggestion that the long-running dispute had been resolved.

‘Real thuggery’: Cornwall boats vandalised amid ‘incomer’ tensions

Posted: 02 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT

Some blame new residents and second-home owners not keen on sight and sounds of 'local' vessels

The spot could hardly be more idyllic. A Cornish creek fringed by apple trees where boats bob at high tide and dogs and children frolic in the mud at low.

But there is trouble in the parish of Feock after a string of acts of vandalism aimed at those bobbing boats led to a wave of anger, fear and suspicion.

Israel holds day of mourning for 45 crush disaster victims

Posted: 02 May 2021 03:09 AM PDT

Questions raised about accountability for deaths at Jewish religious festival at mystic's tomb

Israel observed a day of mourning on Sunday for 45 people crushed to death at a Jewish religious festival, with flags lowered to half-mast and questions raised about accountability for one of the country's worst civilian disasters.

In accordance with Jewish tradition, funerals were held with as little delay as possible. More than 20 of the victims of Friday's disaster on Mount Meron were buried overnight after official identification was completed.

Eight killed as security forces open fire on protesters in Myanmar

Posted: 02 May 2021 05:09 AM PDT

Protests against military rule were some of the biggest in days after a spell of dwindling crowds

Security forces in Myanmar have opened fire on some of the biggest protests against military rule in days, killing eight people, media reported.

The protests, after a spell of dwindling crowds and what appeared to be more restraint by the security forces, were coordinated with demonstrations in Burmese communities around the world to mark what organisers called "the global Myanmar spring revolution".

Narendra Modi loses key state election as Covid grips India

Posted: 02 May 2021 09:38 AM PDT

Prime minister defeated in West Bengal as voters send message over handling of coronavirus crisis

India's prime minister has suffered a rare political defeat in a key state election, amid signs of a voter backlash over his handling of the coronavirus disaster as the country reported a record number of deaths.

Narendra Modi had been expected to make significant gains on Sunday in West Bengal, one of few states where his rightwing Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) does not have a parliamentary majority. Instead, Mamata Banerjee, a powerful regional politician and prominent Modi critic, won a third term as chief minister.

Two arrested after reports of intruders at Queen’s Windsor estate

Posted: 02 May 2021 04:54 AM PDT

Man, 31, and woman, 29, held after report of trespassers in grounds of Royal Lodge

Two people have been arrested after police were called to reports of intruders in the grounds of the Queen's Windsor estate.

Thames Valley police arrested a 29-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man, both from London, after a report that two trespassers had been in the grounds of the Royal Lodge at Windsor Great Park in Berkshire on the afternoon of 25 April.

French Réunion: the postmen of the peaks

Posted: 02 May 2021 11:00 PM PDT

René-Claude and Cyril, the two postmen serving Mafate, French Réunion, walk 90 miles of paths to deliver mail to residents on routes that can last days

The Cirque de Mafate, one of three calderas on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean, along with Cilaos and Salazie, is a valley more than 1,000 metres deep surrounded by huge cliffs and steep peaks which, for nearly two centuries, have been home to the descendants of the "maroons", slaves who fled sugar cane plantations.

The community of 700 Mafatais lives here, almost self-sufficiently, amid palm, banana and filao trees. But there are only two ways to get to the cirque: by foot or by helicopter.

The Kentucky Derby, May Day and a cannabis parade: the weekend’s best photos

Posted: 02 May 2021 05:19 AM PDT

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