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Birmingham Rep Rae Mainwaring’s award-winning drama about a young woman with multiple sclerosis is given a playful production This play’s title refers to the patches of an MRI scan that indicate multiple sclerosis but Rae Mainwaring’s play crackles with bright places of its own. Based on her experience of having the degenerative condition since she was 23, it is funny as well as reflective, raucous as well as sad. Tessa Walker’s playful touring production for Carbon Theatre picks up on the youthful energy of the script, winner of a Peggy Ramsay/Film4 award. For the character in Bright Places, MS strikes at a time of dating, dancing and forging a career. At Birmingham Rep until 2 November. Touring until 13 December Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/maMfWsv

The chancellor played to packed Labour benches as the party relished its first budget in 15 years It was quite the moment. The first Labour budget in 15 years. The first ever UK budget delivered by a woman. Labour backbenchers had been queueing up since 8.30am to get their place in history. The moment the doors were opened three hours later, they dashed for their seats. Within minutes even the standing room was gone. The Tory MPs, not so much. Ten minutes before the largely pointless prime minister’s questions began there were still plenty of seats free on the opposition side of the chamber. One of the upsides of having only 121 MPs is that there is no premium on space these days. Up in the gallery above, Theresa May sat impassively apart from the odd shake of the head. The Maybot never gives much away. She inhabits a world of her own. Taking the Lead by John Crace is published by Little, Brown (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com ....

Maybe my own childhood with a narcissistic, abusive, seductive father was what gave me eyes to see Trump for what he is I went to the Trump rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday. Or I tried to. I wanted to see it, to feel it, to know it. I spent two hours smushed in a crowd of thousands, waiting in the cold, unable to move, in the midst of belligerent conversations, alcohol consumption, rantings and racist posturings. There were older Jewish men, Black families, Asian couples and young Latina women. I heard south Asian men calling Kamala Harris hateful slurs, others saying women needed to just shut up and listen to men. I saw working men showing off their jackets with artistic renderings of Trump as bullfighter slaying the deep state dragon. What I mainly heard and felt was grievance. I’ve always thought America was a mean place. And what I mean by that is that it’s structured for meanness. It’s a place of winners and losers, people who matter and those who can be disposed of, a c...

Badenoch and Jenrick appeal to worst instincts of Tory members, though few seem to care about what is clearly a temporary appointment First the good news. In just a few days time you won’t be subjected to a constant stream of unconsciousness from Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick. Now the bad news. In just a few days time, either KemiKaze or Honest Bob will become the new Tory leader and you will get yet more white noise from one of them. Most likely Kemi. It’s enough to turn anyone to drugs. There again, maybe you’re the type of person who can easily zone out the moment certain annoying sound frequencies kick in. Clearly you’re not alone. The more KemiKaze and Honest Bob battle for headlines, the greater the indifference. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tH5uJbL

The Democrat’s cozy chat with the vulnerability expert was largely apolitical – which could play well with a key demographic In the quest to win over white female voters – 53% of whom showed up for Donald Trump in 2020 – Kamala Harris made her case on a podcast hosted by one of their beloved avatars, the vulnerability researcher Brené Brown. The episode, released on Monday, was a mostly fluffy discussion about leadership, trauma and the notion of voting as agency in an uncontrollable news cycle. Brown, a University of Houston professor and bestselling author who has spent two decades studying social sciences, became an overnight celebrity after giving a 2010 Ted Talk called “the power of vulnerability”. One could argue the talk, which birthed Brown’s Oprah-approved speaking empire, also spawned our culture’s current obsession with therapy-speak. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/WdXxrzQ

Erroneous announcement traced back to briefing note prepared by Treasury officals, ahead of PM’s Samoa trip When Keir Starmer announced a shake-up in his No 10 operation last month he hoped to put an end to the missteps of his first few months in office. But an embarrassing error by Downing Street this weekend demonstrates how many pitfalls there are for a new government still learning the ropes. In a press release on Friday, Downing Street said five new freeports would be announced in the budget. The Guardian and other outlets covered the news , which was given first to reporters who had travelled with Starmer to Samoa for the Commonwealth summit. Both the prime minister and his aides answered questions on the policy they had unveiled. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jH6O9lb

Manager questions process after West Ham’s late penalty ‘Three times this season we feel injustice’ Erik ten Hag cried injustice after a controversial video assistant referee decision led to a 2-1 defeat for Manchester United against West Ham at the London Stadium. United were left seething when Michael Oliver, one of the game’s senior and most respected officials, instructed David Coote, the on-pitch referee, to review a collision in the area between Matthijs de Ligt and the West Ham striker Danny Ings. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9E7klNo

Exeter 19-36 Harlequins Will Evans scores two tries in dominant away win Some relief for England but still no satisfaction for a winless Exeter. If the sight of Henry Slade proving his fitness ahead of the opening stanza of the Autumn Nations Series on Saturday was a boost for the national head coach, Steve Borthwick, there was only further pain for the out-of-sorts Chiefs as they slumped to a club-record sixth successive league defeat. Slade, playing his first game since mid-July following shoulder surgery, was busy on both sides of the ball and played 54 minutes before being whistled ashore. England are desperate to pick him in their midfield against New Zealand if possible and the chances of him performing some kind of role against the All Blacks have duly been enhanced. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/IHsUSWq

Marco Silva has known nothing but success since returning to Goodison Park with Fulham. He was on course to maintain a 100% record at the club who sacked him in December 2019, with Alex Iwobi also returning to haunt Everton, when the substitute Beto salvaged an unlikely point for Sean Dyche’s side. Iwobi illuminated an otherwise forgettable evening with an excellent opener engineered by Emile Smith Rowe. It was just reward for Fulham and look set to extend their winning sequence at Goodison until Beto, part of an unlikely double act up front for Everton with Michael Keane, beat the rarely troubled Bernd Leno with a 94th minute header. Fulham have certainly had Everton’s number in recent years. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/aUND8G4

There’s no way to see this decision other than as an appalling display of cowardice and a dereliction of their public duty The choice for president has seldom been starker. On one side is Donald Trump , a felonious and twice-impeached conman, raring to finish off the job of dismantling American democracy. On the other is Kamala Harris , a capable and experienced leader who stands for traditional democratic principles. Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4Qts86N

TV presenter praises and thanks staff at Birmingham women’s hospital for ‘exceptional’ care his partner received The comedian Joe Lycett has announced he has become a father to a baby boy. Lycett, 36, shared a picture on Instagram of him holding the infant, whom he said was born at Birmingham women’s hospital. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/URIyTPh

Commonwealth leaders have been surprised at Labour’s position – and campaigners have even called the PM’s stance ‘offensive’ It was meant to be a historic moment for the UK: the first time a sitting prime minister has visited a Pacific island nation. But the focus instead has been on the anger and deep frustration sparked by Keir Starmer’s blunt refusal to discuss the issue of reparations. No 10 confirmed the government would not issue an apology for the UK’s role in slavery in the run-up to Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm). And while travelling to the conference, Starmer told reporters he wants to “look forward” rather than have “very long endless discussions about reparations on the past”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JieFqH7

Tom Hardy’s agreeably silly Marvel franchise wraps things up in a patchy final adventure that needed a tighter, and funnier, script The recent, long-awaited, cratering of the superhero movie (with a notable Deadpool-sized exception) has led to a mad scramble – release dates pushed, marketing strategies tweaked, Robert Downey Jr bribed – and a concerned question mark over what the future might hold for Hollywood’s most commercially lucrative contemporary genre. The Venom franchise, which launched in 2018 to surprise success, had already felt like a throwback to an earlier time – a glossy and light-hearted burst of mid-00s nostalgia – but now, with its third and final chapter releasing at such a fraught time, it also feels like a reminder of a more recent time when these films used to mean more to audiences. Whether or not something like Venom: The Last Dance will jolt enough of a response remains to be seen (the second film saw a $350m drop at the global box office and the third is t...

After weeks of speculation, chancellor will tell IMF in Washington that UK’s debt measure will be redefined to permit borrowing for investment Rachel Reeves will announce at the International Monetary Fund a plan to change Britain’s debt rules that will open the door for the government to spend up to £50bn extra on infrastructure projects. After weeks of speculation , the chancellor will confirm at the fund’s annual meetings in Washington on Thursday that next week’s budget will include a new method for assessing the UK’s debt position – a move that will permit the Treasury to borrow more for long-term capital investment. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/QO7GBn5

Trump didn’t work a real shift: the franchise was reportedly closed for normal business hours and the customers were all pre-screened Remember the creepy clown sightings that started in 2016? All over the world, scary clowns started popping up, terrifying small children. The trend also frightened executives at McDonald’s, who started to phase out Ronald McDonald as a result of the “current climate around clown sightings in communities”. Eight years later there has been another spooky clown sighting at a McDonald’s in the Feasterville, Pennsylvania, community. On Sunday Donald Trump popped into the Philadelphia-area fast-food restaurant to serve french fries to hungry passers-by . Or, more accurately, to take photos of himself cosplaying as a minimum wage worker. The former president didn’t work a real shift: the franchise was reportedly closed for normal business hours and the customers who passed through the drive-thru in the 30 minutes he stuck around were all pre-screened. Arw...

Some government workers given time off to help prepare for royal visit and Commonwealth leaders’ meeting as excitement on the island builds In the small village of Siumu, south of the capital Apia, locals have been busy cleaning the sides of the road and hoisting British flags as they prepare for a historic visit from King Charles III. Bamboo has been planted on the roadside, coconuts and houses painted blue, white and red in the colours of the Samoan flag. Children will line the road to welcome the King and Queen Camilla to Siumu on Wednesday. School is on a semester break and more than 200 teachers have been pulled in to help prepare for the event. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/isARPZ9

The Tory leadership hopeful believes that if he shouts the same things a bit louder, everyone will eventually come round to his way of thinking You can only conclude that some politicians are simply untreatable. Their egotism and self-delusion so deeply engrained that reality never gets a look-in. I give you Robert Jenrick. Exhibit A. He is a worthy successor to Liz Truss as one of the dimmest solipsists you could hope to meet. After trailing in a distant second in last week’s televised Q&A , you’d have thought Honest Bob might have taken a day or two to regroup. After all, if the most Tory-friendly audience imaginable at GB News doesn’t much like you then most people would reasonably conclude they had a problem. If you can’t connect with the few remaining diehard Tory members, then your chances of appealing to the rest of the country are vanishingly small. Taking the Lead by John Crace is published by Little, Brown (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy...

Leicester 29-26 Gloucester Tigers recover from 11-point deficit to win Sometimes it helps having a double World Cup champion in your side. There are numerous reasons why Leicester Tigers overturned an 11-point deficit to win a thrilling contest against Gloucester under blue skies and swirling winds. Their experienced bench played a role, as did greater accuracy in the backline after a disjointed opening. They rode their luck on occasion and it did not hurt playing against the most porous defence in the league. A key factor, though, was the presence at fly-half of Handrè Pollard, who scored a crucial try at the start of the second half while kicking nine points in a three-point win. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/90UEhCA

Formal identification has yet to take place but family of missing man have been informed, say Surrey police A body has been pulled from the River Thames during a search for a man who went missing after a rowing boat capsized. A man in his 60s was the only person who was not accounted for after the vessel capsized at Sunbury Lock in Surrey on 11 October, which sent six people into the water. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/v5XdFcm

New Zealand 158-5; South Africa 126-9 – NZ win by 32 runs Kerr scored 43 and took three key wickets in final success New Zealand secured a maiden T20 World Cup title, defeating South Africa by 32 runs after a mammoth effort from the all-rounder Melie Kerr, who was named player of the tournament. After top-scoring with 43 from 38 balls, Kerr was rendered barely able to walk because of cramp brought on by the Dubai heat, but nevertheless she snatched the wickets of Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch at both ends of the 10th over, turning the match on its head. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tH9arM6

Harlequins 24-26 Bath Bath go second after comeback victory If any more proof of Bath’s determination to go one better than losing finalists this season were needed, here it was, writ large. A close-range try from replacement prop Francois van Wyk sealed a dramatic victory over Harlequins to move Bath to second in the table and reassert their credentials as title contenders. Harlequins had led from the opening few minutes and looked to have established a winning position at 10 points up in the second half. Marcus Smith was enjoying himself and Bath were behind the eight-ball but tries from Thomas du Toit – also a replacement prop – and Van Wyk ground out a gritty victory in south-west London. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/l9nJkdb

Case of Anthony Thomas ‘TJ’ Hoover II is under investigation by state and federal government officials A man who had gone into cardiac arrest and been declared brain dead woke up as surgeons in his home state of Kentucky were in the middle of harvesting his organs for donation, his family has told media outlets. As reported Thursday by both National Public Radio and the Kentucky news station WKYT , the case of Anthony Thomas “TJ” Hoover II is under investigation by state and federal government officials. Officials within the US’s organ-procurement system insist there are safeguards in place to prevent such episodes, though his family told the outlets their experience highlights a need for at least some reform. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ay3XIZ0

Most businesses were closed on Friday as officials blamed deteriorating infrastructure and fuel shortages for failure Cuba’s entire national electrical grid has shut down after one of the island’s major power plants failed, Cuba’s energy ministry said, plunging the entire country into a blackout. Earlier on Friday, the communist-run government had closed schools and non-essential industry and sent most state workers home in a last-ditch effort to keep the lights on for residents. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/AVtmCfv

After a year-long hunt, IDF soldiers encountered and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar without knowing it was him Middle East crisis – live updates In the end, after a year-long, multi-agency manhunt involving the latest technology, Israel’s best special forces and American assistance, Yahya Sinwar appears to have been killed by regular soldiers who had stumbled into him and had no idea whom they had killed. According to the initial reports, they were not there on an assassination operation and had no prior intelligence that they could be in the vicinity of the elusive Hamas leader, architect of the 7 October attacks, the man Israel most wanted to kill. It was only after they took a closer look at his face and found identity documents on him that the troops realised they had got Sinwar . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/uesFyvB

Goal seems to be for people ‘to lose confidence in the system’, says Brandon Fried after devices found in Birmingham and Leipzig Russia is aiming to disrupt western confidence if it is proven to be behind an incendiary device plot that led to two parcels catching light at DHL sites in Birmingham and Leipzig in July, an expert has said. The dangerous packages are not thought to have been sophisticated but in both cases appear to have evaded security checks . German authorities warned this week that a plane could have been downed if a device had ignited in mid-air transport. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/zgciEy7

Exclusive: Housing secretary wants billions more to meet new-homes target but chancellor is set to limit spending Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves are at loggerheads over a major programme of social housebuilding, in the latest sign of cabinet tensions over this month’s budget. Rayner, the housing secretary, has been pushing Reeves, the chancellor, for billions of pounds more for affordable housing, which she argues will be needed to hit Labour’s target of building 1.5m new homes across five years. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/81dhRrE

With its futuristic panels, airy tunnels and elegantly unified design, the 73-mile addition to the tube is a worthy winner of the prestigious Stirling prize – and puts the rest of the creaking, sooty network to shame With the longest platforms, the biggest tunnels and the fastest trains on the entire London underground, the Elizabeth line boasts a dizzying list of superlatives, carrying more people a day than any other train line in the country. It is now deemed to have the best design, too – being named as the winner of the 2024 RIBA Stirling prize for the finest architecture in the UK. The competition was stiff : from the National Portrait Gallery in London to the renovation of the Park Hill estate in Sheffield, from a Dorset dairy farm conversion to a street of social housing in Hackney and the 67-acre regeneration of King’s Cross. The Lizzie line is a worthy winner, providing a dazzling demonstration that, for all chaos surrounding HS2 , Britain is still capable of pulling off ga...

Highway patrol says carpool lanes are for ridesharing for living humans, not lifeless bony impostors Drivers looking to beat California’s endless traffic can use designated carpool lanes, provided they have others in their car. But there’s one pesky requirement: those other people have to be alive. That was not the case for a driver stopped this weekend near San Jose for using a fake companion , police say. Riding in the passenger seat was a plastic skeleton. In an apparent effort to add to the illusion, the skeleton was wearing a mask with a giant mouth, reminiscent of the Scream films. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/LkZYEKu

London film festival Bill Nighy, James Norton and Thomasin McKenzie form the unlikely trio who doggedly, quietly and courageously made the discovery that would change lives around the world There is sympathy, warmth and directness – though perhaps not much in the way of explicit joy – in this intensely English true story that made headlines and changed lives around the world. Screenwriters Jack Thorne, Emma Gordon and Rachel Mason, and director Ben Taylor, dramatise the heartache and strain and triumph that led to the first ever birth of what the press with a mixture of hostility and awe called “a test-tube baby” – that is, a baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation – on 25 July 1978: a little girl called Louise Brown (middle name Joy). Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/mrtA5uI

In often-combative conversation with Bloomberg editor in Chicago, Trump says ‘tariff’ is his favorite word Donald Trump doubled down on his promise to levy tariffs on all imports in a bid to boost American manufacturing, a proposal that economists say would probably mean higher prices for consumers while angering US allies. “To me, the most beautiful word in the dictionary is ‘tariffs’,” Trump said in an often-combative conversation with John Micklethwait, editor-in-chief of Bloomberg News, at the Economic Club of Chicago on Tuesday. “It’s my favorite word.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/QVN61TX

Chancellor’s words will be interpreted as signal she will not give in to ministers over cuts she imposes in budget Rachel Reeves has told the cabinet that the UK still faces a £100bn black hole in the public finances over the next five years amid concerns that ministers are yet to grasp the full scale of the fiscal deficit ahead. At a meeting of the political cabinet, the chancellor said the £22bn gap this year – which the government has blamed on their poor economic inheritance from the Tories – would be a recurring cost each year of this parliament. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/HR5JCxQ

Mosley was working on this TV version of his hit podcast packed with easy ways to boost your health when he died – and the results could not be more moving When Dr Michael Mosley died in June, while on holiday in Greece, he was working on Just One Thing, a television version of his hugely popular BBC podcast/radio series of the same name, which had been running since 2021. He filmed enough for just two episodes, and this look at the benefits of cold showers is the first. Each instalment of the podcast was a short slice of simplicity. In less than 15 minutes, usually, Mosley would examine the idea that one easy shift in habits could improve your health. From doing yoga to eating nuts, from dancing to scoffing (a small amount of) dark chocolate and drinking coffee, his warm approach to discussing body and mind made change seem easy, understandable and, crucially, possible. Here, he sticks to the Just One Thing format, but it’s longer and has visuals, so we get to see the effects of his...

‘Undue influence’ from politicians is said to have led to Met giving US star VIP protection en route to Wembley shows Ministers are struggling to shake off claims that they pressed the Metropolitan police into giving Taylor Swift a motorbike escort as she travelled to Wembley for her sold-out summer shows. Downing Street and Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, have repeatedly insisted the Met makes decisions independently from politicians. How much of a problem is this for Labour? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/uDXMFAt

Chicago Bears 35-16 Jacksonville Jaguars Williams throws four touchdown passes North London was orange (and a bit blue) as the Chicago Bears rekindled their relationship with British fans and treated a partisan crowd to a blowout victory against a limp Jacksonville Jaguars side for good measure. In the battle of the first-round draft picks, the Bears’ rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had the edge over his opponent Trevor Lawrence (top pick in 2021). Williams threw four touchdown passes and rushed for 58 yards, the decisive contribution in the match. But his performance passed the entertainment test too, the 23-year-old’s adaptability and the pinpoint power of his arm showing the 60,000 crowd why he has been marked out as a prospect of some talent. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/P5LQCrW

It was little late and a little lucky too, but the European champions did eventually get the goal that completed their homecoming. Kasper Schmeichel had resisted for 79 minutes but then almost out of nowhere, Martín Zubimendi, the man Liverpool couldn’t convince and whose coach calls the second best midfielder in the world after the man he came to replace, hit a volley that squirmed through the hands of the Denmark keeper and into the net. Just when it seemed that they wouldn’t get a goal to go with the Henri Delaunay trophy, 29,870 people erupted in Murcia, the party ending rather well after all. Twenty-four shots it had taken, a deflection too, but Spain had defeated Denmark to go top of the group and mark the occasion with a victory that had looked like it might evade them. Schmeichel had made five saves until then, two of them one-on-ones with Álvaro Morata, but ultimately carried some of the responsibility for defeat on a night when Denmark had their moments. And yet while there ...

Wigan 9-2 Hull KR French’s first-half score only try in Super League final Matt Peet’s Wigan Warriors became the first club in the Super League era to complete a remarkable clean sweep of every domestic ­trophy on offer in a season after securing back-to-back Grand Final triumphs courtesy of ­victory against Hull KR. Rugby league has had some truly extraordinary sides throughout its 129-year existence and there can now be no doubting that this Wigan squad belongs among them. Only four sides had ever swept the board in a single season before and won all four major trophies and the Warriors became the fifth here with an industrious victory against a Rovers side whose wait for a major honour will extend into a 40th season. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/f64CTpj

Legal battle between Manchester City and the Premier League highlights the game’s existential crisis – is it too late to save it? Don’t look up! As the families of Westeros squabble, the undead gather beyond the Wall. As senior monks jockey to be the new abbot, viking longboats mass on the horizon. As the left bicker interminably over infinitesimal doctrinal differences, right-leaning billionaire tech-bros fund the march of quasi-fascistic populism. The problem with existential threats, from the climate crisis to Conquistadors to Covid, is that they always seem distant, somehow unreal. People are always predicting the end of the world, which makes it easy to dismiss the doom-mongers. When we’ve had so many warnings of the apocalypse, why should anybody listen now? But some day one of those prophets is going to be right. Nothing is eternal. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qQoH59a

Broadcaster says she was admitted to hospital and blames ‘burnout’ brought on by working seven days a week Carol Vorderman is to leave her Sunday LBC radio show after a “health scare” two weeks ago during which she was admitted to hospital. The former Countdown co-host said she was following the advice of her family and friends after an incident that she attributed to “burnout” brought on by seven-day working weeks. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/wj6QsFA

A new survey suggests that young people are shunning AI algorithms and online retailers to experience the joy of visiting bookshops Gen Z’s cultural tastes are heralded, maligned and mythologised in almost equal measure. But one stereotype persists above all: that young people are addicted to their phones, keen to live their lives primarily through a screen. But is this the whole picture? A survey commissioned by the Booksellers Association ahead of Bookshop Day tomorrow has found that gen Z and millennials are more likely to buy a book based on a bookseller’s recommendation – in person, in a bookshop – than older age groups: 49% and 56% respectively, compared with 37% of gen X and 31% of baby boomers. Booksellers from around the UK told me this wasn’t surprising – that, in the last few years, they’ve noticed a sharp rise in young readers coming into their shops seeking out human guidance, eager to be in a physical store rather than filtering through AI and influencer-recommended ti...

After complaints over pay and life in government, Labour’s special advisers seem placated by Morgan McSweeney’s more conciliatory tone Clashes between powerful figures inside Downing Street and special advisers are nothing new. Dominic Cummings – Boris Johnson’s right-hand man inside No 10 – had several high-profile bust-ups with spads, as they’re known, which even led to the departure of a cabinet minister. Theresa May’s pugilistic chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill became known for their confrontational style. Hill, in particular, made herself unpopular with ministers, Tory MPs and advisers alike with her blunt text messages. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/f6JTX4V

Inspired by a true story, this feelgood Indian film is about some Bollywood superfans making their own movies with a cheeky but admirable DIY ethos Here is a thoroughly enjoyable, big-hearted movie about building a better life through showbusiness. It is a feelgood underdog adventure set in the Indian city of Malegaon, inspired by a real-life situation and by Hollywood’s cherished tradition of let’s-do-the-show-right-here. The starting point was a 2008 documentary called Supermen of Malegaon that became a sleeper hit for its lovable story about an irrepressible bunch of Bollywood superfans producing DIY spoof-homage versions of their favourites on video. Now here is the full feature film treatment, on the kind of scale its original heroes and heroines could only dream about. Directed and co-written by Reema Kagti, it is a boisterous, knockabout movie all about a band of Bollywood-crazy brothers, which mixes comedy, drama and tragedy but also meditates on the vital importance of unor...

New Diorama theatre, London Sisters navigating a harsh immigration process conjure up an unnerving helper in Sonali Bhattacharyya’s drama Sonali Bhattacharyya’s shivery new play begins with a jolt of panic. Pre-show waltz music cuts out; lightning flares, then leaves us in darkness. Nerves jangle from the first moment, and never get a chance to calm during this cracking show that nudges activist drama into atavistic horror. On an unnamed island not so different to our own, sisters Nikita and Riya navigate a stern immigration process. They’re of migrant heritage ( Kali theatre , the co-producers, presents work by South Asian women, though no background is specified in the play), and they needle each other as only sisters can. Nikita ( Zainab Hasan , fervent and troubled) works with young migrants, but Riya’s own resident status is uncertain. They seek help from Ayesha Dharker ’s glitteringly malign auntie, who proffers sickly endearments (“my beautiful little orphans”) and murky mag...

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3LNjZvf

The publicity round for Unleashed – and its author’s need to fend off anything approaching reality – has been exhausting Crack dens are going up in the world. Time was when you knew where you stood with a crack den. Assorted pipes and other paraphernalia. Blood on the walls. Tatty curtains blocking out the light from the windows. Now we are asked to believe that while Theresa May was prime minister, the flat at No 10 doubled up as a crack den. An upmarket concern, decorated throughout by John Lewis, for the more discerning drug addict. The sort of den to which Michael Gove could only aspire. You should see the state of his kitchen on a Saturday night. Taking the Lead by John Crace is published by Little, Brown (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply. A year in Westminster: John Crace, Marina Hyde and Pippa Crerar. On Tuesday 3 December, join Crace, Hyde and Crerar as they look back at a political year like...

Reports of strategy reset leave campaigners saying company is prioritising profits over planet Green groups have reacted with fury to reports that BP has dropped a target to cut its oil output in the next five years, saying the company was prioritising profits over the health of the planet. Campaign groups including Greenpeace and Reclaim Finance slammed the move that would potentially result in the oil company scrapping its plan to reduce oil and gas output by 25% by 2030 under a strategy reset by the company. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/cQzB90s

The double Olympic champion on why the shorter sprint could drive him to another Games, the lack of support for his female coach and what needs to change in anti-doping “I think the 50m sprint is a great opportunity for me,” Adam Peaty says with a glint in his steely gaze as he reveals that, after winning two golds and a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke at three successive Olympic Games, he is ready to keep swimming until 2028. After a bid from World Aquatics, the sport’s governing body, to persuade the IOC to include more sprint events at the Los Angeles Olympics, the greatest breaststroke swimmer in history could resist retirement. “If the 50 metre is part of that I will 100% dedicate myself to getting there,” Peaty continues. “If the 50 metre isn’t part of that then it’s a big question mark. It’s a 50-50 decision.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ChM1HIu

But in the end, Simonetta Wenkert managed to combine her two vocations It was only meant to be for a year. The restaurant was my husband Avi’s dream, not mine. As a time-poor novelist and mother of three, the very last thing I needed was another commitment to take me away from my desk. But I also knew that my comfortable London life as a freelance writer and stay-at-home mother was only possible because Avi was our family’s main bread winner. So when, in 2006, he was made redundant from his detested job in IT, I felt I owed it to him to help make his dream a reality. It was the late Anthony Bourdain who declared that the desire to be a restaurateur was “a strange and terrible affliction”, but it was one which I, thankfully, had been spared. Don’t get me wrong: I liked restaurants as much as the next foodie and I could appreciate the provocative plainness and simplicity of Italian cuisine, which left the dishonest cook nowhere to hide. But I was also a child of the 70s and had been b...

Battersea Arts Centre, London Mixing the personal and political into one consciousness-raising ‘anti-biography’, Khalid Abdalla’s solo show takes in western colonialism, 9/11, British identity, the typecasting of Arab actors, Hamas’s terror and the war in Gaza K halid Abdalla ’s audacious avant-garde solo show is not so much a meditation on belonging as its opposite. Somewhere in its multimedia depths of images, audio voiceovers, personal stories, song and dance, we hear Theresa May’s infamous words on citizenship : “If you believe you are a citizen of the world, you are a citizen of nowhere.” Abdalla brings an intelligent twist to this thesis, asking where you belong when the country in which you were born or raised does not want you or has become too dangerous for you to stay. How does it feel to belong in Nowhere-land? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ER6hbdJ

England, 118-7, bt Bangladesh, 97-7, by 21 runs Left-arm spinner stars in first World Cup game since 2018 England began their World Cup campaign with a win against Bangladesh thanks to the left-arm spinner Linsey Smith, who bagged two wickets and a run-out in her first World Cup match since November 2018. Jon Lewis’s decision to recall Smith to the England side earlier this year was grounded in his belief that her powerplay bowling is “up there with the best in the world” and she lived up to that billing here, finishing with two for 11 from her four overs and helping restrict Bangladesh to a 20-run power play – a slow start from which they found it impossible to recover. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Z1TmrAx

Measures to stop children from vaping could be included in forthcoming tobacco and vapes bill Ministers are reportedly planning to ban vaping in playgrounds, hospital grounds and near schools in an attempt to prevent children from taking up the habit. Wes Streeting, the health secretary, is considering restricting the use of e-cigarettes outdoors in England with Chris Whitty, the country’s chief medical officer for England, said to favour the move. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/s7Ct1vY

When men were away at sea for weeks at a time, a community developed on Stewart Island that was led by women. Today, that way of life continues and thrives On a cloudy afternoon on New Zealand’s remote Stewart Island, Helen Cave is juggling multiple demands with aplomb: her latest haul of crayfish is due at the wharf, clients in China are phoning her about business and her grandson wants to take his new drone for a spin. “I’ve always been a bit hyperactive,” she says, peering through her window overlooking Horseshoe Bay, where her cray boat is set to appear. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/G4N7iCV

Beth Rigby’s withdrawal after not being allowed to record conversation follows BBC cancellation over notes gaffe Sky News has pulled out of an interview with Boris Johnson after its political editor, Beth Rigby, was told she could not make an audio recording or transcript of the talk. The former prime minister had promised to “reveal what really happened during my time as [London] mayor, foreign secretary and PM” during the conversation next week as he promotes his memoir Unleashed . Johnson’s interview with the BBC was dropped earlier this week after the presenter Laura Kuenssberg mistakenly sent him her briefing notes . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/pvyX9ca

All the fancy verbiage in the world cannot disguise the emptiness at the heart of this self-serving, solipsistic book Written once their authors have lost power, most prime ministerial memoirs try at some level to be reflective. David Cameron’s begins by confessing that he still has daily anxieties about having called the Brexit referendum. John Major’s starts even more disarmingly, by wondering why he went into politics at all. But Boris Johnson does not do reflective. He never has and he never will. And nor does his new memoir, with its unnerving title, Unleashed. It covers his time as London mayor, Brexit campaigner, foreign secretary and prime minister. But if it is heart-searching and confessions you seek from the pen of Britain’s most iconoclastic prime minister, you can stop now. It wasn’t just the physical distress; it was the guilt, the political embarrassment of it all. I needed to be bee-oing-oing back on my feet like an india rubber ball. I needed to be out there, leadi...

Mark Chavez, 52, signed a plea agreement in which he admitted to obtaining ketamine from his former clinic One of two doctors charged in the investigation of the death of Matthew Perry pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a federal court in Los Angeles to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. Dr Mark Chavez, 54, of San Diego, signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in August and is now the third person to plead guilty in the aftermath of the Friends star’s fatal overdose last year. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/H5OG27M

Conflict in the Middle East, a strike at US ports, problems at the Panama Canal … a rush of problems could create a crisis for exporters With a pandemic that upended global trade through lockdowns and travel restrictions still fresh in managers’ minds, international supply chains are again under pressure. Shippers are facing myriad issues, from the conflict in the Middle East and drought in Central America to strike action in the US, and companies are finding it more difficult – and more expensive – to transport supplies. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/v6C4py0

Family of Laura Winham, who was mentally unwell and lived in social housing, raised concerns two months before her remains were found The family of a vulnerable woman whose dead body lay in her social housing flat unnoticed for more than three years had raised concerns about her welfare two months before she was discovered, an inquest has heard. Laura Winham’s remains were found by her brother in her flat in Woking, Surrey, in May 2021, after the family asked police to break in. They previously said she had been “abandoned and left to die” by social and mental health services. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FSvHAzM

Suppliers say gen Z and millennials are driving trend for 1970s-style fixtures as well as other bright colours Wild sage, lemon, peach, sorbet, mint, and avocado: not the makings of a bizarre fruit salad, but some of the forgotten shades of Britain’s bathrooms that were popular in the mid-20th century. The colourful suites disappeared from homes as whites and minimalist, neutral designs took over in the 1990s. But avocado-coloured bathrooms are back, and it is gen Z and millennials driving the trend. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/KNjgFzl