The Guardian |
- Teens and young adults driving record Covid cases in US, health officials say
- Colorado wildfire: three feared dead and nearly 1,000 homes destroyed as Biden declares disaster
- Republicans aim to sow outrage, Trump-style, with an eye on 2022 midterms
- US judge delivers double setback to Prince Andrew’s abuse case battle
- Kentucky state of emergency declared as powerful storms hit
- New Year’s Eve: Times Square crowds return, NYC hails new mayor and Miley Cyrus battles wardrobe malfunction
- What is aquamation? The process behind Desmond Tutu’s ‘green cremation’
- South Korean crosses demilitarised zone in rare defection to North
- New year Brexit changes ‘permanently damage’ EU trade, says food body
- Spanish town comes together in hunt for ‘Galician Rambo’
- Pope calls for end to violence against women in new year message
- ‘Everyone came at once’: America’s national parks reckon with record-smashing year
- Frozen in time: clock that tells tale of Jewish resistance in wartime Amsterdam
- After three years of chaos, six US teens tell us how school could be different
- The art of Yves Saint Laurent: design house marks 60th anniversary
- 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying
- F1 takes the US and Canada take Qatar: our bold sports predictions for 2022
- Wave goodbye: the battle to protect Australia’s surf breaks
- Flashback – Anastacia: ‘Men would say I looked like a sexy librarian, which was gross’
- Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts review – perilously close to emetic
- Ditching the diet – how I learned to accept the body I have
- US experts question whether counting Covid cases is still the right approach
- Grief, needle phobia, lack of trust: why we refused Covid jabs – and what changed our minds
- New Zealand yoga industry suffers as anti-vax sentiment co-opts wellness industry
- I’ve been lied about and others get death threats. Covid has shown the power of misinformation | Devi Sridhar
- Haiti’s New Year’s Day soup has made headlines. But let’s not be naive about its symbolism
- Lighten up the satire? That’s a tall order when life is out-crazying the most vivid fiction | Catherine Bennett
- As a new year dawns expect a fresh assault on big tech | John Naughton
- Dan Reeves, who coached four NFL teams to Super Bowl, dies aged 77
- Virgil van Dijk toils a little now but Liverpool really found a magic bullet | Barney Ronay
- Manuel Lanzini doubles up as West Ham survive late scare at Crystal Palace
- ‘Quite a bit to play out’ in Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open saga
- Arsenal floored but Saka and co left wearing a little halo of hope | Jonathan Liew
- Familiar foes Alabama and Georgia roar into College Football Playoff title game
- Betty White: a true TV genius – and a comedy black belt
- Jamie Dornan’s right, comfort TV is causing our attention spans to desert us | Rebecca Nicholson
- 2022 in books: highlights for the year ahead
- Lost shots of 90s rave culture by Terence Donovan to go on show
- My house was a film set: ‘They were filming sex scenes on our kitchen bench’
- Is that really me? The ugly truth about beauty filters
- New year, same old you! The secret to self-improvement is embracing your messy, imperfect life
- Can’t quit, won’t quit: confessions of a die-hard smoker
- Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for kiri hodi with butternut squash | The new vegan
- A hearty start to the year: Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for brothy winter soups
- Maxwell conviction increases scrutiny of other women who worked for Epstein
- Prosecutors drop charges against officers on duty when Epstein killed himself
- Desmond Tutu laid to rest at state funeral in Cape Town
- ‘Boys and girls have equal freedom’: Kerala backs gender-neutral uniforms
- Exploding New Year’s Eve fireworks kill two in Germany and Austria
- North Korea’s Kim Jong-un warns of ‘life-and-death struggle’ in 10th anniversary speech
- Why does Austria stay silent over dual national’s arrest six years ago in Iran?
- Kashmir stampede at Hindu shrine kills at least 12 people
- China opens embassy in Nicaragua for first time since 1990 after Taiwan ties cut
- That’s a wrap: French plastic packaging ban for fruit and veg begins
- New year’s resolutions: ‘I’m going to give away 10% of my income’
- New Year’s Eve 2021 around the world – in pictures
- ‘Sauna patrons just sit on the icy street’: Manuel Vazquez’s best phone picture
- Twenty photographs of the week
| Teens and young adults driving record Covid cases in US, health officials say Posted: 01 Jan 2022 01:07 PM PST Uptick in Covid among under-50s coincides with surge in cases among young children and increase in pediatric hospitalizations As the US is seeing record numbers of daily coronavirus cases driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, public health authorities nationwide have said that teens and younger adults are helping fuel this increase. The uptick in Covid-19 among the under-50s coincides with a surge in cases among young children – and a troubling increase in pediatric hospitalizations. Continue reading... |
| Colorado wildfire: three feared dead and nearly 1,000 homes destroyed as Biden declares disaster Posted: 01 Jan 2022 05:45 PM PST At least seven reported injured while cause of the blaze remains under investigation Three people are missing and feared dead after a wind-stoked wildfire roared through two towns in Boulder county, Colorado, prompting thousands of evacuations and destroying nearly 1,000 homes, authorities said on Saturday. Officials initially said there were no reports of fatalities or missing residents following the rare urban wildfire that erupted Thursday morning on the northern outskirts of the Denver metropolitan area. Continue reading... |
| Republicans aim to sow outrage, Trump-style, with an eye on 2022 midterms Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST Republicans embrace the culture war battles Trump waged, as a strategy for winning back control of the House and Senate The debate was ostensibly over a stop-gap spending bill that would avert a government shutdown. But Chip Roy, a Republican congressman from Texas, seized the opportunity to accuse Democrats of supporting "unconstitutional" vaccine mandates, critical race theory, "woke gender ideology" and open borders. A vote to fund the federal government, he warned, was a vote to allow "tyranny over the American citizen". The speech infuriated Congressman Tim Ryan, a Democrat from Ohio. Continue reading... |
| US judge delivers double setback to Prince Andrew’s abuse case battle Posted: 01 Jan 2022 03:21 PM PST Pressure grows on duke to settle alleged victim's claim before key hearing this week Two of Prince Andrew's efforts to prevent or stall the progression of Virginia Roberts Giuffre's sex assault lawsuit against him were blocked on Saturday when a US federal judge ordered the prince's lawyers to turn over key legal documents, increasing pressure to settle claims before a crucial court hearing this week. Judge Lewis A Kaplan, in a written order, told the prince's lawyers they must turn over documents on the schedule that has been set in the lawsuit brought by Guiffre who claims she was abused – aged 17 – by the prince on multiple occasions in 2001 while she was being sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading... |
| Kentucky state of emergency declared as powerful storms hit Posted: 01 Jan 2022 06:35 PM PST With the state still reeling from December's deadly tornadoes, the wild weather caused flash flooding, power outages and property damage Just three weeks after deadly tornadoes tore a path of destruction through Kentucky, a state of emergency has again been declared after powerful storms caused flash flooding, power outages and property damage, including from a possible tornado in Hopkinsville. There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but governor Andy Beshear declared the state of emergency on Saturday, with much of Kentucky and West Virginia under a flood warning. Portions of eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama were under a tornado watch. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2021 11:07 PM PST New York tradition brings some normalcy as coronavirus pandemic leads to cancellation of shows around the world A Miley Cyrus wardrobe malfunction, a celebrity rant about outgoing New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, and the traditional dropping of a six-tonne ball in Times Square were among the highlights as America welcomed the new year, and bid good riddance to the old one. The New Year's Eve tradition of crowds at Times Square returned this year, though with only 15,000 of the usual 60,000 spectators there to watch the ball, encrusted with nearly 2,700 Waterford crystals, descend as couples embraced, some still wearing their masks. Continue reading... |
| What is aquamation? The process behind Desmond Tutu’s ‘green cremation’ Posted: 01 Jan 2022 05:23 PM PST The anti-apartheid hero requested an eco-friendly cremation, which uses water instead of flames to process the remains The body of Archbishop Desmond Tutu will undergo aquamation, an increasingly popular and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional cremation methods, using water instead of fire. With aquamation, or "alkaline hydrolysis", the body of the deceased is immersed for three to four hours in a mixture of water and a strong alkali, such as potassium hydroxide, in a pressurised metal cylinder and heated to around 150C. Continue reading... |
| South Korean crosses demilitarised zone in rare defection to North Posted: 01 Jan 2022 09:01 PM PST The fate of the defector is unknown after they crossed the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas A South Korean has crossed the heavily fortified border in a rare defection to North Korea, South Korea's military has said. Years of repression and poverty in North Korea have led more than 30,000 people to flee to the South in the decades since Korean war hostilities ended with an armistice, but crossings in the other direction are extremely rare. Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading... |
| New year Brexit changes ‘permanently damage’ EU trade, says food body Posted: 31 Dec 2021 04:01 PM PST New customs checks will make imports more expensive and slower, says Cold Chain Federation Britain's small businesses should expect trade with the EU to be "permanently damaged" from 1 January, the refrigerated supply chain trade body has said, after new customs checks take effect that it says will make imports from the bloc "more expensive, less flexible and much slower". Amid growing public dismay at the negative impact of Brexit, the Cold Chain Federation said speciality food imports could face the same 70% decline that affected exports of food by small businesses this year after Britain quit the EU single market and customs union. Continue reading... |
| Spanish town comes together in hunt for ‘Galician Rambo’ Posted: 31 Dec 2021 09:00 PM PST Residents of Pontedeume form patrol after brushes with man they suspect is escaped murder convict Alfredo Sánchez Chacón Residents of a town in north-west Spain have banded together to try to track down a convicted murderer – nicknamed the "Galician Rambo" for his multiple jailbreaks and extensive knowledge of survival techniques – who is believed to be living in a nearby wooded area. Alfredo Sánchez Chacón has been on the run since March when he failed to return to prison after being allowed out on a day pass. News that the 63-year-old was missing probably surprised few: Sánchez Chacón, who is due to be in prison until 2025 for a murder in 1996, was already notorious across Spain for slipping out of prison twice. Continue reading... |
| Pope calls for end to violence against women in new year message Posted: 01 Jan 2022 04:49 AM PST Celebrating mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, Francis says violence against women is insult to God Pope Francis has used his new year's message to call for an end to violence against women, saying it was an insult to God. Celebrating mass in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, on the day the Roman Catholic church marks its annual World Day of Peace, Francis wove his new year's homily around the themes of motherhood and women, saying it was they who kept the threads of life together. Continue reading... |
| ‘Everyone came at once’: America’s national parks reckon with record-smashing year Posted: 01 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST Crowds at 'crown jewel' sites have meant more trash, more rescues and unaffordable housing nearby After more than a year of Covid cabin fever, the landscapes of the west called out to cooped up Americans, who arrived in greater numbers than ever before. As a result, 2021 saw bucket-list parks – including Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands and Glacier – smash their previous visitation records. But the mass exodus into the outdoors has come at a cost. The 1960s-era wastewater system in Yellowstone was pushed to the brink. Arches temporarily closed 120 times because all the parking lots were full. The Grand Canyon struggled to cope with a record number of rescues, and an influx of remote workers have driven rents sky high in gateway towns such as Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Continue reading... |
| Frozen in time: clock that tells tale of Jewish resistance in wartime Amsterdam Posted: 01 Jan 2022 07:25 AM PST Artefacts from hideout of family sent to Auschwitz death camp with Anne Frank and her family are put on display in Netherlands A clock that is the sole surviving object from a second world war Jewish hideout will go on display at Amsterdam's Dutch Resistance Museum this year. The round mantelpiece clock may have been one of the last things people saw as they were seized by the Nazis and sent to death camps. Continue reading... |
| After three years of chaos, six US teens tell us how school could be different Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST Covid upended high school in the US. But it also left young people wondering: what else could be possible? Trying to learn AP physics over Zoom. Cancelled standardized tests. The end of Ds and Fs. Masked proms with no slow dancing. While Covid undeniably changed the world for everyone, one place that was truly upended was high school. What started as a short break from in-person class has now affected three different school years. Some changes have been hard: hybrid schedules, masking through eight-hour days, suspended extracurriculars. But the drastic changes have also posed the question: what else could be possible? Could school be more fun, inclusive, different? Continue reading... |
| The art of Yves Saint Laurent: design house marks 60th anniversary Posted: 01 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST Five Paris museums to display fashion designer's creations with artwork that inspired them Simultaneous exhibitions to mark the 60th anniversary of Yves Saint Laurent's first collection are to be held by six leading Paris museums in an unprecedented tribute from the art world to the late French fashion designer. The events at museums, among them the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, will reveal how the celebrated couturier was inspired by some of the 20th century's greatest artists including Picasso, Matisse and Mondrian. Continue reading... |
| 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying Posted: 01 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST Whether it's taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here's a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved … 1 Exercise on a Monday night (nothing fun happens on a Monday night). 2 On the fence about a purchase? Wait 72 hours before you buy it. Continue reading... |
| F1 takes the US and Canada take Qatar: our bold sports predictions for 2022 Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST On the heels of a sports year that was chock full of surprises, Guardian US contributors make their bold predictions for the months to come Here are our bold predictions for 2022 in sports. Please note the bold (or should that be bold?) in bold predictions: these are to be taken with a pinch of salt. Continue reading... |
| Wave goodbye: the battle to protect Australia’s surf breaks Posted: 01 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST Surfing brings joy to millions and is the lifeblood of many towns. But around the country, the beaches that make it possible are under threat There's a reason surfers like to keep their best breaks a secret. For decades, wave riders have blazed a trail into little-known coastal towns – and in their wake come the planners and developers. Continue reading... |
| Flashback – Anastacia: ‘Men would say I looked like a sexy librarian, which was gross’ Posted: 01 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST The singer-songwriter recreates an old photo and talks about tinted glasses, cancer surgery and dealing with lecherous men Born in Chicago in 1968 and raised in New York, Anastacia Lyn Newkirk is the multiplatinum star known for her mezzo-soprano voice. Anastacia became one of the best-selling female singers of the early noughties with her debut album Not That Kind – featuring the career-defining I'm Outta Love. She went on to release six more albums and had No 1 hits in more than 20 countries. She was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time in 2013, 10 years after the first, and has the heart condition supraventricular tachycardia. Her 20th anniversary tour, I'm Outta Lockdown, arrives in the UK in autumn 2022. This was taken in 2000, and I'm almost positive I was in France, promoting something. Looking at it now, I see a little cherub face and a girl who did her own hair and bought her own clothes. In my head I looked really fancy in my shrug, princess fur and T-shirt. And those white pants! I thought white was the colour of fancy people. Continue reading... |
| Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts review – perilously close to emetic Posted: 01 Jan 2022 05:02 AM PST The boy wizard is back! And what a slick, heartfelt rush of nostalgia this reunion is, with secrets spilled and crushes revealed – but there's also a conspicuous absence at its heart The John Williams score plays (with added bells for the festive season), the camera soars above an ersatz Victorian street, wax-sealed letters appear – and just like that, anyone who came of reading or viewing age from 1997 onwards is home. The Harry Potter reunion special Return to Hogwarts, marking 20 years since the first film adaptation of JK Rowling's gamechanging and multi-multi-million-selling fantasy series about the boy wizard was released, hews as closely to the original's aesthetic as possible from the off. Chats among the three main stars, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry himself), Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), take place in the Gryffindor common room, there's an opening set piece in the Hogwarts dining hall, Radcliffe and director of the first two films, Chris Columbus, talk in Dumbledore's office and so on. It provides a rush of nostalgia only heightened as the enduring affection among them all becomes evident. There is much – rising perilously if perhaps inevitably close to emetic levels – of the cast and crew being like a family. There always is in programmes like this, but at least here it is more than usually justified. The actors famously began working on the franchise when they were children, and their audience grew up alongside them pretty much in real time as the films were released between 2001 and 2011. Continue reading... |
| Ditching the diet – how I learned to accept the body I have Posted: 01 Jan 2022 04:00 AM PST A lifetime of hating my body has got me nowhere. If I can't love it, can I at least respect it? Every January, the same old battle cry: this will be the year that I get thin. Last January, I did a week-long juice cleanse, and the year before that, I fasted for three days. It wasn't quite nil by mouth, but almost. At the time, I told myself the science interested me (the fervour with which fasting evangelists assure you that a few days without food can reset your microbiome or stave off cellular ageing is compelling enough to make you ignore the health warnings). Really, though, what I wanted was rapid weight loss, minimum one dress size. I made it to 81 hours. Practically levitating with hunger, I ignored the advice to reintroduce food slowly (soups and juices before solids) by bingeing on a cheese sandwich, which I promptly threw up. Happy new year to me. Continue reading... |
| US experts question whether counting Covid cases is still the right approach Posted: 01 Jan 2022 06:34 AM PST Case counts 'don't reflect what they used to', experts argue, as data suggests Omicron is less severe but more contagious Some US infectious disease experts and public health officials are questioning whether to continue using the number of coronavirus cases as a metric for determining which mitigation efforts are appropriate, as data suggests Omicron is less severe but much more contagious than previous variants. Those experts argue that the US has reached a stage in the pandemic where reports of dramatic surges in case counts prompt unnecessary worries and that government officials and the public should instead review death and hospitalization data when considering precautions. Continue reading... |
| Grief, needle phobia, lack of trust: why we refused Covid jabs – and what changed our minds Posted: 01 Jan 2022 08:24 AM PST Three former refuseniks reveal their misgivings about having the vaccination and what finally convinced them to take the plunge The UK's vaccine rollout has largely been a success: more than 90% of the population aged 12 and over has now had at least one dose, with just over half having had a second dose and the booster. However, there are thousands of people who still haven't had a jab, despite estimates suggesting that 90% of the most severely ill Covid patients in hospital at the moment are unvaccinated. Continue reading... |
| New Zealand yoga industry suffers as anti-vax sentiment co-opts wellness industry Posted: 31 Dec 2021 10:00 AM PST Rejection of Covid vaccines among wellness community has been blamed on popular social media accounts that spread disinformation Many know Wanaka, a picturesque tourist town at the foot of New Zealand's Southern Alps, for its most famous tree. The willow, which blooms uncannily from the glacial lake as if floating on water, represents different things for different people. For some, the miracles of a divine nature, for others, a marvel easily explained by science. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2021 10:00 PM PST Being a public health expert during the pandemic has been disheartening. When the next one comes, we must do better
Before the experience of the past two years of Covid-19, I had assumed that a deadly viral outbreak would be quickly contained by governments. Especially in rich countries with good health systems, public health infrastructure, economic support packages and trust in public institutions. I thought there would be general consensus on what needed to be done, and that people would get their information directly from experts working in universities and public health authorities. I mean, who would want to risk getting a deadly infection? Now, I wonder if an even more deadly virus – like a pandemic-ready version of Mers, a coronavirus which killed 20% of those it infected in South Korea before being contained in 2015 – would be treated the same way as Covid-19. Would thousands of people show up at protests because theyhad read on Facebook that Mers was a hoax? Would there be similar scenarios at every pandemic after that? After my experience of actively working through the Covid-19 pandemic, these possibilities seem horrifyingly possible. Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Continue reading... |
| Haiti’s New Year’s Day soup has made headlines. But let’s not be naive about its symbolism Posted: 01 Jan 2022 01:15 AM PST Sharing soup joumou on 1 January represents what Haitians bring to the world – but remembering that inequality prevails is arguably more important Whispers. Curfews. Never-ending military parades and shows of arms. Opponents' bodies exposed for children to see as some sort of macabre art. And always, that nasal voice of "Papa Doc", François Duvalier, chanting on all radio stations. Those were the days of my childhood under a dictator in Haiti. But on 1 January, Independence Day, there were three things that made a difference. Continue reading... |
| Posted: 01 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST Critics panned Don't Look Up as 'shrill', but it was superb – and caught outlandish reality In 1944, George Orwell got a letter from TS Eliot, a director at Faber, rejecting his political satire, Animal Farm. There were several reasons. First, it was not the right time. Also, said the creator of The Waste Land, "the effect is simply one of negation". The poet took issue, too, with the wholesale disrespecting of pigs, since they were logically the "best qualified to run the farm", being the cleverest. "What was needed (someone might argue) was not more communism but more public spirited pigs." So, if some leading film critics watching Adam McKay's Don't Look Up (currently most-watched on Netflix) have hankered for a less satirical kind of satire, they are in distinguished company. TS Eliot might well have agreed with these reviewers that McKay's savaging of a society too corrupt and deluded to save itself from an urgent threat to life on Earth, in the film's case, a comet, could have been more cheerfully done. For instance, echoing Eliot on pigs, some of the more cartoonish leads could have been made more relatable. How about humanising lead villain Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance being mesmerising), a creepy tech billionaire who, absurdly, intends to live forever? Meanwhile, McKay's US president, the preposterous Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep) has appointed her dreadful son chief of staff. Why can't these grievous weirdos with their silly dialogue be more like, say, Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk? Continue reading... |
| As a new year dawns expect a fresh assault on big tech | John Naughton Posted: 01 Jan 2022 08:00 AM PST Democracies have finally begun to confront the internet giants and their unrivalled and untrammelled power The thing about history is that it sometimes repeats itself. As far as the tech industry is concerned, we saw that in the year just ended and it looks as though we're about to see it again in the year that's just begun. First things first, though: 2021 was the year in which it finally became clear that the free ride that Google and co have enjoyed for two decades was coming to an end – that tech was going to become a regulated industry. Exactly how that was going to pan out was unclear, but the direction of travel was unmistakable. Continue reading... |
| Dan Reeves, who coached four NFL teams to Super Bowl, dies aged 77 Posted: 01 Jan 2022 10:41 AM PST
Dan Reeves, who won a Super Bowl as a player with the Dallas Cowboys but was best known for a long coaching career that included four blowout losses in the title game with the Denver Broncos and the Atlanta Falcons, died Saturday. He was 77. A statement released by his family through former Falcons media relations director Aaron Salkin said Reeves died of complications from dementia. The statement said he died "peacefully and surrounded by his loving family at his home in Atlanta". Continue reading... |
| Virgil van Dijk toils a little now but Liverpool really found a magic bullet | Barney Ronay Posted: 01 Jan 2022 10:00 AM PST The contrasting fortunes of Romelu Lukaku are a reminder of how rarely the 'final piece of the puzzle' lives up to the billing "How have we managed to sign this guy?" There is something a little vague and apocryphal about the oft-quoted reaction of one unnamed Celtic player to seeing Virgil van Dijk in training on his first day at the club. Van Dijk was 22 at the time and a late bloomer, rejected as a teenager by Willem II ("too many limitations"), and more recently by Ajax, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, with two decent seasons at Groningen to recommend him. Continue reading... |
| Manuel Lanzini doubles up as West Ham survive late scare at Crystal Palace Posted: 01 Jan 2022 11:42 AM PST This was the kind of ruthless performance that has defined David Moyes's second spell at West Ham. In front of a raucous New Year's Day home crowd and against opponents who clearly fancied their chances of bloodying the noses of their London rivals, two brilliant first-half goals from Michail Antonio and Manuel Lanzini – and Luka Milivojevic's helping hand – ensured that their Champions League dream remains alive and well despite a late Crystal Palace fightback. Had Jean-Philippe Mateta's last-gasp volley sailed the other side of the post then it could have been a different story but with more than half the season completed, West Ham find themselves within a point of Arsenal and one ahead of Spurs, albeit having played two games more than Antonio Conte's side. Anyone who had already written them off after their mini-blip last month may have to think again. Continue reading... |
| ‘Quite a bit to play out’ in Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open saga Posted: 01 Jan 2022 07:34 PM PST
Australian Open boss Craig Tiley says there is "quite a bit to play out" before the saga around Novak Djokovic's appearance at Melbourne Park is sorted. The World No 1 has continually refused to reveal if he is vaccinated against Covid-19, a requirement to work in Victoria. Continue reading... |
| Arsenal floored but Saka and co left wearing a little halo of hope | Jonathan Liew Posted: 01 Jan 2022 10:00 AM PST For all their flaws and unsolved problems, this team have renewed the air of optimism at the Emirates A strange and unfamiliar noise swirled around the Emirates Stadium at full-time. Strewn across the turf in red and white was the human rubble of a crushing injury-time defeat. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White were out cold. Thomas Partey, hand outstretched, helped them up. And as Arsenal's exhausted players slowly winched themselves to their feet, the four sides of the ground rose to applaud them: a gesture of approval, pride, perhaps even defiance. Yes, Arsenal had lost to Manchester City again. Yes, it had been largely self-inflicted again. But somehow this did not feel like the other times. Continue reading... |
| Familiar foes Alabama and Georgia roar into College Football Playoff title game Posted: 31 Dec 2021 04:24 PM PST
Alabama have a chance to repeat. Georgia have a chance for revenge. Continue reading... |
| Betty White: a true TV genius – and a comedy black belt Posted: 31 Dec 2021 01:12 PM PST With her sweet smile and twinkly eyes, White made her name playing seemingly dopey blondes. But how canny she was – and what a revolutionary Betty White, who had one of the longest careers in TV history playing ditzy blondes, was actually one of the toughest and most wised-up brunettes in showbiz. Yet such was her skill in shaping her public image – through talkshows, gameshows, sitcoms and multiple autobiographies – that from early on she was seen as something more than a mere TV personality: an actual type. In her later years, she was held up by many as the ultimate example of how to be an older person. Amy Poehler, in her book of essays Yes, Please, recalls the time White appeared on Saturday Night Live in 2010: "I asked her what she was going to do after the show. 'I'm going to fix myself a vodka on the rocks and eat a cold hotdog,' she said. It confirmed for me that growing old was awesome," Poehler writes. Continue reading... |
| Jamie Dornan’s right, comfort TV is causing our attention spans to desert us | Rebecca Nicholson Posted: 01 Jan 2022 07:00 AM PST Instant streaming gratification will inevitably lead to bad TV – but first, pass the remote, it's time for another Girls5eva I like to imagine Jamie Dornan – you might anticipate a full stop there, but do carry on – having the same issues as the rest of us over Christmas, craving a second to switch off and so switching the television on. Perhaps he, too, spent time staring at a hectic page on a streaming service, wondering for so long what to watch that scrolling became the activity and then it was time for bed, the evening having been filled by an endless click of the down button, interrupted only by arguments about whether The Wolf of Wall Street or Zero Dark Thirty is more festive or should we do a Girls5eva or three instead? (The answer is always yes.) Continue reading... |
| 2022 in books: highlights for the year ahead Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST New writing from Ali Smith, Marlon James, Elena Ferrante and Jarvis Cocker – a taste of good things to come Continue reading... |
| Lost shots of 90s rave culture by Terence Donovan to go on show Posted: 01 Jan 2022 08:00 AM PST Photographer best known for capturing 'swinging London' photographed revellers on a techno music night in Birmingham in never-seen images Newly discovered photographs of 1990s rave culture taken by the fashion photographer Terence Donovan shortly before he died are to go on public display for the first time. The intimate shots of revellers lost in the sounds of the Que Club in Birmingham, a music venue graced by everyone from David Bowie and Blur to Daft Punk and Run-DMC, are thought to be some of the last photographs Donovan took. Continue reading... |
| My house was a film set: ‘They were filming sex scenes on our kitchen bench’ Posted: 01 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST From bloody crime dramas that left lasting splatters to late-night TV and even X-rated fare, people who lent their homes to production crews share their stories It's been more than 10 years since Alex Gaffey's family home was used as a set for the movie Animal Kingdom, but the house still bears the evidence. "There was a scene that got cut from the film where someone was hacked up by a chainsaw in the bathroom," Gaffey says. "So there was blood splatter everywhere. And because it was this grey Besser brick, the red food dye and tofu chunks were stuck in the wall." Continue reading... |
| Is that really me? The ugly truth about beauty filters Posted: 01 Jan 2022 11:00 AM PST Smoother skin, slimmer faces, plumper lips … how unattainable ideals are harming young users Popping a beautifying filter on the TikTok video she was filming seemed harmless to Mia. It made it look as though she had done her makeup, took away the hint of a double chin that always bothered her, and gently altered her bone structure to make her just that bit closer to perfect. After a while, using filters on videos became second nature – until she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror one day and realised, to her horror, she no longer recognised her own face. Continue reading... |
| New year, same old you! The secret to self-improvement is embracing your messy, imperfect life Posted: 01 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST It's only when you learn to accept who you are, flaws and all, that you can make real, worthwhile change It's the time of year for reinventions – or, perhaps more accurately, preparing for reinventions. For buying the diet book, drawing up the new morning routine, bookmarking the therapists' websites or purchasing the storage cabinets for the soon-to-be-perfectly-organised house. As with all attempts at personal transformation, at new year or otherwise, this is the fun part. You get to experience all the excitement of becoming an entirely different person, without having yet had to put in the effort – and without having failed. Like untrodden early morning snow, the vision of who you'll become remains pristine. Usually, though, something inside you knows the truth: in a few days' time, the whole thing will have turned into unpleasant grey slush. Personal reinventions fail partly for the obvious reasons: you set your goals too high; or your existing obligations at work or home get in the way; or you find (who could have imagined it?) that the unimpressive level of self-discipline you've demonstrated for your entire life until this moment can't magically be tripled overnight. But there's also a deeper problem with quests for wholesale transformation, which explains why they rarely work as intended – and why, as 2022 begins, embracing the existing version of yourself, with all its messiness and imperfections, might be the most transformative thing you've ever done. Continue reading... |
| Can’t quit, won’t quit: confessions of a die-hard smoker Posted: 01 Jan 2022 05:00 AM PST He started in his 30s, has asthma, and can go more than a week without a cigarette – so why does this writer still not think it's time to stop? I have asthma, and there's a fairly major respiratory disease going around, as you may have heard, and also I am a smoker. A quick inventory of my coat pockets: inhaler, face mask, Marlboro Gold. I never fell into smoking as a teenager when everyone else seemed to think it was cool, but took it up in my 30s, as others might develop an interest in birdwatching, or CrossFit. Four or five a day, for the best part of a decade, and more at the weekends. This piece is anonymous because my mother cannot know. I don't have the words to express how unbelievably stupid I feel about all this. There's quite a lot going on here, and not all of it is solely of interest to me and my therapist. You might imagine that a continuing and lung-buggering international emergency which a study says is specifically more dangerous for smokers would mean there were fewer idiots like me. But in fact, stress and boredom are more than a match for serious health concerns: research published in August last year suggested that the number of young adults smoking in England went up by about a quarter during the first lockdown. There was a spike in the number of people across all ages giving up smoking in England during that same first lockdown period – but no sign of the plummeting rates you might rationally expect. Then again, nothing about this habit has ever been rational. Continue reading... |
| Meera Sodha’s vegan recipe for kiri hodi with butternut squash | The new vegan Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:30 AM PST A genius coconut milk curry for the flavour-loving but time-poor cook Kiri hodi, or coconut milk curry, is one of Sri Lanka's most popular dishes, and it is a genius recipe. All you need to do to create this taste of paradise, made using a combination of spices, aromats, citrus and coconut milk, is to bung the ingredients into a pot (largely all at the same time) and pop it on the stove. What joy. It's the perfect thing to cook for time-poor or weary cooks, and the perfect thing to eat to bring some big tropical energy into your life. UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado Continue reading... |
| A hearty start to the year: Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes for brothy winter soups Posted: 01 Jan 2022 01:30 AM PST The perfect sustenance: black-eyed peas with allspice, lamb noodles with sesame sprinkle, and hot-and-sour soup with cabbage and beansprouts There are not many certainties in life, but one thing I do know is that any recipe column published on 1 January is going to be full of ideas for soups and broths. We all want dishes that sustain and nurture on day one of a shiny, new year, to warm our hands as much as our souls. And it's brothy soups I want right now, where the liquid element feels almost medicinal, and just what we need to power up and prepare for the year ahead. UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado Continue reading... |
| Maxwell conviction increases scrutiny of other women who worked for Epstein Posted: 31 Dec 2021 11:41 AM PST Four employees and assistants were described in a 2007 non-prosecution agreement as 'potential co-conspirators'
The conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell on sex-trafficking charges this week has increased the scrutiny of others who worked for or socialized with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein for years, and their knowledge of the pair's activities. Attention has largely focused on prominent male associates of Epstein, including Prince Andrew, who faces a civil suit brought by Virginia Roberts Giuffre. Giuffre alleges the Queen's son had sex with her on three occasions two decades ago when, aged 17, she had been sexually trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, allegations Andrew vehemently denies. Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading... |
| Prosecutors drop charges against officers on duty when Epstein killed himself Posted: 31 Dec 2021 12:10 PM PST Tova Noel and Michael Thomas had allegedly falsified records, indicating they had checked on inmates every 30 minutes when they had not US prosecutors have dropped charges against the two correctional officers on duty the night Jeffrey Epstein killed himself on their watch in August 2019 while he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. The officers, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, had allegedly falsified government records, indicating that they had made their rounds every 30 minutes to check on inmates when they had not, and instead had fallen asleep on the job, according to an indictment. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 800-273-8255. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading... |
| Desmond Tutu laid to rest at state funeral in Cape Town Posted: 01 Jan 2022 05:29 AM PST Ceremony takes place in cathedral the South African cleric and Nobel laureate turned into centre of struggle against racial injustice Just after noon, as the voices of the choir filled the cathedral, the mourners stood, bowed their heads in the direction of the plain wooden casket and then filed out on to Cape Town's streets. The requiem mass for Desmond Tutu, who died aged 90 six days ago, had lasted much of the morning, long enough for a celebration of a life that has inspired tens of millions around the world, a final farewell from his compatriots, and for the unexpected rainclouds that had shrouded his home city overnight to clear. Continue reading... |
| ‘Boys and girls have equal freedom’: Kerala backs gender-neutral uniforms Posted: 01 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST Primary school pupils run free in shorts while a secondary school has gone ahead with uniform changes despite protests It's break time at Valayanchirangara primary school and the pupils run freely beneath the mango trees and palms. Girls race against the boys, hitching up their knee-length shorts, cargo green for girls and teal blue for boys, as they go. It's been three years since this small government primary school introduced gender-neutral uniforms for its pupils, and in doing so set in motion a quiet revolution that is now sweeping across the south Indian state of Kerala. Continue reading... |
| Exploding New Year’s Eve fireworks kill two in Germany and Austria Posted: 01 Jan 2022 07:29 AM PST Several more injured in separate incidents despite Germany introducing ban this year on sale of fireworks for personal use Exploding fireworks killed two men on New Year's Eve, one in Germany and the other in Austria, according to local media. A 37-year-old man died in Hennef, near Germany's western city of Bonn. A 39-year-old was severely injured in the same incident and taken to hospital. Continue reading... |
| North Korea’s Kim Jong-un warns of ‘life-and-death struggle’ in 10th anniversary speech Posted: 31 Dec 2021 05:41 PM PST Kim's focus on food and factories rather than nuclear weapons or US underscores country's economic crisis The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has capped off his 10th year in power with a speech that made more mention of tractor factories and school uniforms than nuclear weapons or the United States. North Korea's main goals for 2022 will be jump-starting economic development and improving people's lives as it faces a "great life-and-death struggle", Kim told a meeting of the ruling party's central committee on Friday. Continue reading... |
| Why does Austria stay silent over dual national’s arrest six years ago in Iran? Posted: 31 Dec 2021 09:00 PM PST Iranian-Austrian Kamran Ghaderi is serving a 10-year sentence for spying and his family are still waiting for answers Six years ago on New Year's Day, an Iranian-Austrian IT businessman said goodbye to his wife and three children and boarded a flight from Vienna to Tehran via Istanbul. Kamran Ghaderi was due to return five to six days later, but instead, on 2 January 2016, he was arrested and has now spent six years in Evin prison in Tehran. In October 2016, he was sentenced to 10 years for spying for a foreign country at a trial in which neither he nor his lawyer were able to say more than two words. His sentencing was based on a confession he gave under what his wife, Harika, says was torture, in the belief she might be in danger. No written judgment has ever been given to his family. Continue reading... |
| Kashmir stampede at Hindu shrine kills at least 12 people Posted: 31 Dec 2021 11:37 PM PST Night-time tragedy at revered site in Indian-administered Kashmir happened as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers At least 12 people have died and 13 were injured in a stampede at a religious shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir as thousands of pilgrims massed to offer prayers. The disaster happened around 3am on New Year's Day while it was still dark on the route to the Vaishno Devi shrine, one of the area's most revered Hindu sites. Continue reading... |
| China opens embassy in Nicaragua for first time since 1990 after Taiwan ties cut Posted: 31 Dec 2021 06:49 PM PST Nicaragua trumpets 'ideological affinity' with Beijing and seizes Taipei's former embassy and diplomatic offices China has opened an embassy in Nicaragua for the first time since 1990, less than a month after the central American country cut ties with Taiwan. The Nicaraguan foreign minister, Denis Moncada, said there was an "ideological affinity" between the two countries and thanked China for donating 1m doses of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine. Continue reading... |
| That’s a wrap: French plastic packaging ban for fruit and veg begins Posted: 31 Dec 2021 08:51 AM PST Law bans sale of carrots, bananas and other items in plastic as environment groups urge other countries to follow A law banning plastic packaging for large numbers of fruits and vegetables comes into force in France on New Year's Day, to end what the government has called the "aberration" of overwrapped carrots, apples and bananas, as environmental campaigners and exasperated shoppers urge other countries to do the same. Emmanuel Macron has called the ban on plastic packaging of fresh produce "a real revolution" and said France was taking the lead globally with its law to gradually phase out all single-use plastics by 2040. Continue reading... |
| New year’s resolutions: ‘I’m going to give away 10% of my income’ Posted: 01 Jan 2022 03:00 AM PST We talk to five people about their money aims for 2022, whether it is saving more or donating to charity Money plays a key role in many people's new year's resolutions to change their lifestyle, so we asked five people to tell us about their financial goals for 2022 and how they plan to achieve them. The rising cost of living and the uncertainty over the pandemic are just two of the challenges that people are having to deal with, so what are some of the things that individuals are planning to do differently this year? Continue reading... |
| New Year’s Eve 2021 around the world – in pictures Posted: 31 Dec 2021 09:28 AM PST New Year's Eve is celebrated across the globe despite Covid restricting some events Continue reading... |
| ‘Sauna patrons just sit on the icy street’: Manuel Vazquez’s best phone picture Posted: 01 Jan 2022 02:00 AM PST To find out why Finland is the happiest place in the world, the photographer visited a steam room in Helsinki In 2019, the UN named Finland the happiest place in the world, and Manuel Vazquez and journalist Ana Alfageme were sent by a Spanish magazine to find out why. Saunas are a big part of life there; the country has more than 2 million in residential and public settings. The pair agreed that they'd be good places to find locals to interview. This photo was taken on a sub-zero November day, when only six hours of light can be expected. The pair had already tried out a swanky coastal sauna. "I didn't think I'd be able to do it," Vazquez laughs. "But it really does liberate the endorphins. It's exhilarating." Next, Vazquez wanted to seek out a more authentic, traditional version that used wood. He had heard of a particularly popular one in the Helsinki neighbourhood of Kallio. "In winter, the practice is to alternate between the sauna and a body of water, like a lake or the sea," he says. "But because this sauna is in the city, patrons just go and sit on the icy street." Continue reading... |
| Twenty photographs of the week Posted: 31 Dec 2021 11:20 AM PST Wildfires in Colorado, the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, floods in Brazil and hardship in Afghanistan: the most striking images from around the world this week Continue reading... |
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