Mubeen Blogs

Thames was shown to have high levels of E coli in race buildup Oxford ‘cannot definitively’ identify cause of the illnesses Oxford University Boat Club have confirmed three members of their men’s team were suffering from a stomach bug before their Boat Race defeat by Cambridge on Saturday, but said they could not identify the specific cause. Following a double success for the light blue of Cambridge in the women’s and men’s events Lenny Jenkins, the Oxford men’s seven seat, said: “We’ve had a few guys go down pretty badly with E coli strain … It would have been ideal not to have so much poo in the water.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Nufiqjr

Home sweet home. Aston Villa, whose unlikely surge into contention for Champions League qualification was built on their imperious record in front of their own supporters, regained that homely feeling and with it fourth place in the Premier League after Unai Emery recorded his first win over Wolves. Goals from Moussa Diaby and Ezri Konsa allowed Villa, who had won only two of their previous six home games in all competitions after a scorching 2023 at Villa Park, to make light work of their West Midlands rivals. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FHcg0Xz

Campaign ad shows clips of Trump disparaging Republican rival as president courts ‘broad and diverse coalition of voters’ Joe Biden’s presidential campaign released an ad targeting Republicans who supported Nikki Haley in her losing primary against Donald Trump. “If you voted for Nikki Haley, Donald Trump doesn’t want your vote,” the president’s campaign ad says. “Save America. Join us.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/VPC3mK7

The Oscar winner was a trailblazer who was happy to share the spotlight – and part of a disappearing class of Black acting nobility Preparation went out the window when Louis Gossett Jr became the third Black person to win an Oscar, in 1983, for his supporting role in An Officer and a Gentleman. He had planned to accept the award with his seven-year-old son, Satie – but the boy got stage fright at the last minute and stayed rooted to his seat. The speech Gossett had in mind? “It’s no use,” he told the capacity crowd at LA’s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. “It’s all gone.” So he kept things short and sweet, thanking his family before pivoting to his fellow nominees – a tough crowd that included James Mason and John Lithgow. “All you other four guys,” Gossett said, raising his statuette, “ this is ours.” That was Gossett in essence: magnanimous, dignified, always hitting the mark. After the announcement of his death on Friday, at age 87, Gossett was remembered as a trailblazer who never h

Mayoral races may be important indicator of Starmer’s political momentum as party seeks to turn 20-point national lead into results If a telltale sign of a politician’s confidence is how willingly they expose themselves to direct media scrutiny, then the likely narrative of May’s local elections was on full view on Thursday in Dudley. While Rishi Sunak had followed his Conservative launch speech last Friday with the strictly controlled and limited format of a brief TV clip, Keir Starmer answered journalists’ questions for about 40 minutes, covering everything from council spending to Angela Rayner’s tax affairs. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/pnPkoef

With will and ingenuity, communities, charities, companies and government could work together to rescue millions of people An election year is the time to confront the paralysing gloom and declinist thinking besetting our country and, by rediscovering our moral compass, inaugurate a new age of hope. The British people long to feel part of a shared national endeavour. But instead, near-zero growth is giving birth to a zero-sum mentality , a belief that you can only do better if at someone else’s expense. Young people – historically the most optimistic about the future – yearn to believe in something bigger than themselves, yet this generation is fast losing faith in the very idea of progress . But the most devastating twist in this doom loop is the one created by rising poverty, the despair and divisions it causes, and the mounting public concern about its impact on our social cohesion. To break out of this downward spiral, Britain needs a reason for optimism – and a good starting po

Photos and maps show how Francis Scott Key Bridge snapped after a vessel collision A major bridge in Baltimore in the US state of Maryland collapsed after a container ship collided with it early on Tuesday, sending a number of vehicles into the chilly waters. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tdDIfEc

Teenage skateboarding star and Olympic medallist displays maturity beyond her years and wants to excel in two events Over a breathless hour on Tuesday morning, Team GB’s 15-year-old skateboarding star, Sky Brown, lit up the London skyline with her dazzling repertoire of tricks – all from a floating half-pipe on the River Thames overlooking Tower Bridge. Commuters gawped. Schoolkids pointed. And while a drone buzzed constantly around her, capturing all her handplants, aerials and trademark Japan Air trick for a new campaign for Tag Heuer, she never missed a beat. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/TJyI9DL

Deputy PM, who didn’t really sign up for this, seemed reluctant to declare war on a superpower The deputy prime minister’s statement on cybersecurity and China-backed attempts to undermine UK democracy had been briefed far enough in advance that MPs had had time to sharpen their insults. Iain Duncan Smith said Oliver Dowden’s announcement was like watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse. The SNP member Stuart C McDonald accused Dowden of taking a wooden spoon to a gunfight. Labour’s Chris Bryant called him “wilfully blind, and therefore dangerous”. The inattentive observer might come away from the statement unclear on who posed the greater threat to our national security, Oliver Dowden or the Chinese. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Vc4ByOU

New York attorney general, Letitia James, could begin to seize Donald Trump’s assets as soon as Tuesday morning Eric Trump has come out railing against the $454m fraudulent property valuations judgment against his father Donald Trump , saying bonds the size of the half-a-billion dollar one the former president is being required to put up “don’t exist in this country”. As a court-imposed deadline ticks down on the former president’s family and their businesses to come up with almost half-a-billion dollars, the 40-year-old executive vice-president of the Trump Organization told Fox News on Sunday that bond issuers laughed when he approached them for that sum. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/woitgxe

Bath 42-24 Sale Finn Russell has hand in four of home side’s five tries Every point is going to count over the closing furlongs of the Premiership season and, on this evidence, Bath will have reason to thank Finn Russell when the playoff sums are done. Among the Scotland fly-half’s reasons for relocating to the west country was a desire to compete for silverware and, along with Joe Cokanasiga, he was among the key architects of a significant win which elevates his side to second in the table. A dominant last quarter from Bath’s forwards was also responsible for inflicting Sale’s sixth successive defeat in all competitions but Russell had a hand in four of his side’s five tries, kicked impressively from all angles and, for good measure, also landed the first drop-goal of his Premiership career off his weaker left foot. A brace of tries for Cokanasiga and one for England’s Ollie Lawrence also rammed home Bath’s overall superiority. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://if

The title is still up for grabs as the big three enter final turn and the last of the meetings between the contenders will be vital After 10 games of the Premier League season, Tottenham stood top of the table with Arsenal and Manchester City two points back and Liverpool a further point behind that. But for the VAR snafu that cost Luis Díaz a goal at Spurs , the top three would probably have been the same as it is now, with 10 games remaining. Which tells us what, exactly? That the top three are pretty evenly matched, that they have been consistent over the season and perhaps that, although the sense of this season has been of constant bubbling intrigue, modern league football doesn’t really allow for huge shifts of fortune. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/UeiNly4

Women’s Six Nations: Wales 18-20 Scotland George misses late conversion that would have levelled scores Scotland carved out pieces of rugby history as they defeated Wales away from home in the Women’s Six Nations for the first time since 2004. In a dominant display they took back the bragging rights in the rivalry and it has been a long time coming, with Scotland last beating Wales in the competition in 2021. A late missed conversion from Wales’ back-up kicker, Lleucu George – which would have levelled the scores – handed them the win. Not only did this mean a slice of Women’s Six Nations history but the victory was Scotland’s seventh in succession across all competitions. They have never won that many consecutive games before. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/uyDc8ZK

This England team are constantly battling toxic politics, so perhaps Nike and the FA should have been more careful Flag . noun. A piece of bunting used as an emblem for military or naval purposes, signalling decoration, display, propaganda. Flag . verb. To droop, to flap feebly, to grow spiritless. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Hd80XfY

Catherine has lived life in public eye since meeting Prince William and still commands huge affection For the royal family, Catherine has been a dream princess. After the turbulent years of Diana and Sarah Ferguson, the royals were delighted when William became romantically involved with the nice, middle-class girl from the home counties when the pair were studying at St Andrews University. Since then, there has been a fairytale wedding, three healthy children, and a princess to be proud of: calm, cheerful and devoted to her job as wife and mother to the future king and his siblings. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/yC49Ijc

With the £2.9bn acquisition having big sway over its future, owners should have a say, but democractic governance is blocked Should the members of Nationwide be allowed to vote on their building society’s £2.9bn acquisition of Virgin Money ? Well, of course they should. The concept of mutual ownership can be fuzzy around the edges, but a deal that will expand the society’s assets by about a third is precisely the sort of transaction where the members should have the final say. Indeed, you’d hope the Nationwide’s board would see the sense of checking that the owners are up for the adventure. The Virgin deal is more than an add-on (even before one adds to the headline price the £250m that Sir Richard Branson will get as an exit fee for the brand licence). It is not an everyday piece of business. The cries of outrage about the lack of a vote by members are understandable. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/tN7PAUs

Successive governments failed to explain pension changes. Thousands of women are entitled to compensation The final report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on the way pension entitlement changes affecting women passed into law between 1995 and 2011 is a milestone in a long-running campaign – but not the end. Five years ago the women lost a discrimination case they had brought against the government. Their complaint to the ombudsman was the result, and the verdict vindicates their claim to have been unjustly treated. The ombudsman made an initial set of findings in the women’s favour, and against the Department for Work and Pensions, in 2021. Now, these are added to by further instances of maladministration . While the failures uncovered are serious in their own right, the expectation set out in the report that the DWP will refuse to act on them is also very concerning. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/SBHLt2R

A radical agenda is needed to deal with the crises of economic stagnation, political polarisation and the climate emergency. Rachel Reeves did not offer one On Tuesday night, Rachel Reeves gave an important speech in the City of London, in which she offered an insight into Labour’s economic thinking. In her Mais lecture, the shadow chancellor cast Britain in a “ moment of flux ”, comparable to the end of the 1970s when one economic paradigm replaced another. It was, in many respects, an admirably fluent analysis that highlighted the economic damage wreaked by austerity and the price paid by political instability. A radical agenda is needed to deal with the compounding crises of economic stagnation, political polarisation and the climate emergency. However, Ms Reeves’ response shrank from the scale of the challenge. This raised the question of whether Labour had learned anything from the last decade and a half. The extreme urgency of global heating means Britain can’t risk throttling

Grace Jabbari lawsuit also accuses Marvel actor of intentional infliction of emotional distress, battery and malicious prosecution Jonathan Majors’ former girlfriend has filed a lawsuit accusing the Creed III and Marvel actor of battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution and defamation. Majors, 34, in December was found guilty of misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment in connection to a March 2023 altercation with his then-girlfriend, actor and dancer Grace Jabbari. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/OlYKyqx

Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/xlrpYXe

Labour shadow energy minister will use speech to say Tory approach is also leading to higher bills Ministers are stoking the fires of the culture wars over the UK’s net zero target instead of addressing the urgency of the climate crisis, Ed Miliband will say. The shadow energy secretary will make a pitch directly to Conservative voters who are concerned that the party has made major U-turns on cutting greenhouse gas emissions amid increasingly anti-green rhetoric. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/dhnXIAL

One chef receives three stars at first attempt in 115th edition of the French foodies’ bible A record 52 restaurants in France – including 23 that only opened in the past year – have been awarded one or more Michelin stars for the first time, which the French foodies’ bible said reflected the “cultural dynamism” of a new generation of innovative young chefs. “This year’s is a generous vintage, and also true to our values,” said Gwendal Poullennec, the director of the Michelin Guide , at the launch of its 115th edition on Monday. Well over half of the new laureates were under the age of 40, he said. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/eP4UBsS

One site tweeted of monarch’s purported demise only to later concede: ‘Most likely, the information is fake’ The news broke in the Russian media on Monday afternoon. King Charles III was dead. He was not, but no one really had time to check the details. The saga of the royal family finally had its latest twist: a viral Russian disinformation angle. The rumour went into overdrive when it was shared on a Telegram channel used by Vedomosti, once Russia’s most respected business newspaper. There was a photo of Charles in ceremonial military uniform and the curt caption: “British King Charles III has died.” It made it through Russian internet channels, including Readovka, a pro-Kremlin Telegram channel with more than 2.35 million subscribers. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/r95fcQb

At the beginning of last season, Erik ten Hag oversaw a 2-1 Premier League victory against Liverpool at Old Trafford to ignite his managerial tenure. Nobody had seen it coming after defeats in his opening two matches. It was like a fairytale. It has soured somewhat this season, the difficulties piling up, but now this – another victory here against Liverpool that few had predicted. And, in the heat of the moment at a delirious Old Trafford, as the club looked ahead to an FA Cup semi-final against Mark Robins’s Coventry, it felt like the result which could save Ten Hag. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/wlYxLJ0

Brighton 1-4 Manchester City, Tottenham 1-0 Leicester Manchester United 2-0 Bristol City, Liverpool 3-1 West Ham Manchester City bounced back from successive cup defeats to secure a 4-1 win against Brighton at the ­Broadfield Stadium on Sunday and draw level with ­Chelsea at the top of the Women’s Super League. Gareth Taylor’s side completely dominated the match with Lauren Hemp, Yui Hasegawa and Laura Coombs all influential. Chelsea had opened up a three‑point gap over City on Friday by beating Arsenal 3-1 but that is now closed with only goal difference ­separating the two sides. After City’s win, Taylor was keen to maintain his mantra of one game at a time. “Just the next game,” he told BBC Sport. “We try and keep it as simple as possible, that’s the way to be. We just try and control what we can control. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FIwQ6pJ

Six Nations updates from the final game, 8pm GMT kick-off Sign up for The Breakdown | And feel free to drop Lee a mail An email from Brendan Large “As an England fan the result is not so important (well assuming we avoid a shellacking like last year) but we need to show intent like the last couple of games. In my opinion England have been superior in the last two games. In Scotland we dropped more ball than we caught and Van Der Merwe seemed to catch all those we dropped whereas in Ireland it stuck and they ran them ragged. Another positive display could still be overcome by this top level France team, but a positive display would be more than we expected all those weeks ago.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/juqsSf2

As NHS England prepares to end routine provision for children with gender dysphoria, here’s all you need to know about them Children with gender dysphoria will no longer receive puberty suppressing hormones , also known as puberty blockers, as routine practice after an NHS England review concluded there was insufficient evidence for their safety and effectiveness. Under the new policy, the hormones will be only available for children with gender dysphoria through clinical trials intended to fill gaps in medical knowledge, though provision is expected to be made in exceptional circumstances on a case-by-case basis. Treatment for young people already receiving the hormones will not be affected. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/xSL7o8k

Mo Yan is widely celebrated in China but now faces a lawsuit accusing him of smearing the Communist party amid an increasingly febrile atmosphere online At first glance, a Nobel prize winning author, a bottle of green tea and Beijing’s Tsinghua University have little in common. But in recent weeks they have been dubbed by China’s nationalist netizens as the “three new evils” in the fight to defend the country’s valour in cyberspace. Last month a patriotic blogger called Wu Wanzheng filed a lawsuit against China’s only Nobel prize-winning author, Mo Yan, accusing him of smearing the Communist army and glorifying Japanese soldiers in his fictional works set during the Japanese invasion of China. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/y0Zl4ov

Senior figures including deputy leader want to see MP back in fold but Starmer is firm that he does not want to ‘conflate’ issues When Keir Starmer walked up the steps of the Commons to the green leather benches where Diane Abbott was sitting at prime minister’s questions this week, some took it as a sign of thawing relations. The veteran MP has been sitting as an independent since she had the Labour whip removed almost a year ago, as the party sought to head off a fresh antisemitism storm after she played down suggestions of racism against Jewish people. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/OHEBKXz

The government’s new approach is not a serious effort to tackle rising hatred and division It is never a good sign when a minister needs to spend as long talking about what a new policy doesn’t do as what it does. Much of Michael Gove’s Thursday was occupied with stressing the limits of the new extremism definition . It will not be statutory, the communities secretary pointed out. It will “in no way threaten” free speech. It will not be used against environmental groups. It would not be used in response to an individual comment , he added, responding to the inevitable questions that arose because the crackdown coincided with the Guardian’s  revelation that one of the Conservatives’ top donors, Frank Hester, said in 2019 that Diane Abbott “should be shot”. What the new measure will do, said Mr Gove, is help the fight against extremism. It won’t. Had community cohesion and tackling hatred truly been a priority, a full public consultation and proper engagement with faith groups would h

An incoherent response to the donor’s remarks has raised questions about Rishi Sunak’s political nous As the first minister sent to defend Frank Hester after the Guardian revealed his comments about Diane Abbott, Graham Stuart could not hide his unease. “Clearly it’s uncomfortable, I’m uncomfortable talking about this now, because he was clearly wrong,” the energy minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday morning. “But we need to show understanding – and the important thing was he did apologise.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ic1RFS5

Scandal is hard-wired into a system that makes parties over-reliant on mega-donors, as the opposition will discover soon enough Some political controversies are complicated. The row about offensive remarks made by Frank Hester , a businessman and Conservative donor, is not in that category. What he said was simply racist – declaring an impulse of hatred for all black women induced by the fact of Diane Abbott MP being a black woman. He says he abhors racism. Downing Street belatedly acknowledged the problem, although some Tory MPs still don’t get it. The main reason for such obtuseness is also not complicated. Mr Hester gave the party £10m. The pernicious influence that big money can have on politics is something voters intuitively understand and don’t like. Not all party donations are crudely transactional. Some philanthropists feel a duty to finance democracy. But there are all kinds of access advantages and policy favours potentially available from proximity to power that might ma

Security Risk Assessment Tool – or SRAT – and similar algorithmic tools condemned as ‘abusive’ and ‘unscientific’ The lives of detainees in Australia’s immigration detention centres are controlled by a secret rating system that is opaque and often riddled with errors, a Guardian investigation has found . Developed by Serco, the company tasked with running Australia’s immigration detention network, the Security Risk Assessment Tool – or SRAT – is meant to determine whether someone is low, medium, high or extreme risk for factors such as escape or violence. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/TKvBLgf

Tory stance on businessman who gave party £10m undermines narrative that UK is ‘post-racial society’ Black Britons feel hurt by Hester attack on Diane Abbott, says ex-Tory adviser UK politics – latest updates After Frank Hester’s comments about Diane Abbott were published , the businessman who is the Conservative party ’s biggest donor said in a statement that he accepted he was rude about her but “the criticism had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin”. Despite direct references to both – he said of Abbott that “you just want to hate all black women because she’s there” – the prime minister and ministers sent out on Tuesday morning’s broadcast rounds in effect backed his stance by refusing to describe his comments as racist. They also rebuffed calls to hand back his £10m of donations. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fl7EAjS

This unthinkably terrifying story of satanists, paedophiles and trolls so unstoppable they end up in prison is proof that the internet’s off switch should be flicked immediately Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax reminds you that the internet is the greatest unregulated experiment ever conducted on humanity, and leads you inexorably to the conclusion that it might be time to call a halt to it. If animals were the subjects, we’d have done it long ago on ethical grounds. The basic story is an ancient one: Accused is a documentary about a witch-hunt, but one enabled in terrifying ways by online connectivity. It begins in 2015, when a video is posted on social media of a nine-year-old girl, “Abigail”, and her eight-year-old brother “Joseph” claiming that a group of parents at their school were making them and their classmates “do sex” and adding details that are absolutely chilling to hear come out of children’s mouths. They say that this takes place in a big church nearby and – thou

Civil rights advocates call for release of police bodycam video after Ryan Gainer killed on Saturday by deputy responding to 911 call A sheriff’s deputy in southern California shot and killed a 15-year-old boy who was holding a gardening tool, officials said. The San Bernardino county sheriff’s department was responding to a 911 call on Saturday from a family reporting that a boy, identified as Ryan Gainer, was attacking his family at their home in Apple Valley, east of Los Angeles. The department said he was holding a 5ft gardening tool and approaching the first deputy who arrived at the scene when the deputy shot him. Gainer was later taken to a hospital where he died. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/jxEOYUv

Pickett’s ‘very funny and very angry’ play 1536 follows three women as they discuss the arrest of Anne Boleyn The British playwright Ava Pickett has won this year’s Susan Smith Blackburn prize for female, transgender and non-binary playwrights. Pickett’s winning play, 1536, unfolds in Tudor Essex and follows three women as they discuss the news of Anne Boleyn’s arrest. Pickett called it a “very funny and very angry play” about female friendship. In a ceremony at the Royal Court theatre in London on Monday, she was awarded $25,000 (£19,900) and a signed print by Willem de Kooning. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/j1EfSxk

This was the year that the Academy’s diversity standards were introduced – yet some argue that only structural change will make the film industry truly inclusive • Oscars 2024: full list of winners • Full report: Oppenheimer wins best picture This year’s Oscars will go down as the one where the Academy found its groove again. A big blockbuster with critical plaudits and huge box office won the day, but there was enough frivolity, nudity and politics to create the something-for-everyone evening producers were so keen to manufacture. Nine years on from the # OscarsSoWhite controversy , in which all of the acting nominations went to white performers, one thing was missing from the Barbie-dominated build up and the Oppenheimer aftermath: talk of diversity . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fCrVB9K

Becky Spencer was the hero of Tottenham’s stunning penalty shootout win over Manchester City to send them into the FA Cup semi-finals. Spencer saved two of City’s five spot-kicks, against the England duo Alex Greenwood and Chloe Kelly, with Spurs converting all but one to seal victory. Mary Fowler’s early goal – rewarding the City manager, Gareth Taylor, for her rare start – looked like it would be the difference. It was City’s 11th goal without reply against Spurs this season, but the home team had learned from their three previous meetings, and Bethany England’s 96th minute goal to force extra time and then penalties was well deserved. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qYdam4G

Liverpool and Manchester City managers have brought the best out of one another to usher in golden age of English football It will, as ever, be a clash of contrasts. The joy machine against the tortured genius. Extrovert versus introvert. Low-slung baseball cap versus designer knitwear, ordered chaos versus chaotic order, 4-3-3 versus who-the-hell-knows, blood red versus cool blue, the hair transplant against the immaculate bald pate. For the past eight years, this is the duel that has painted the skies of English football , took it to new and unfamiliar places. And now, the end. For all the antagonism Liverpool and Manchester City fans have developed for each other over the years, Jürgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola could never truly bring themselves to hate each other. The mutual admiration and grudging respect simply ran too deep. “The outstanding manager of my lifetime,” as Klopp put it this past week. “The best rival I ever had in my life,” according to Guardiola. Continue reading..

Report into British agent in the IRA has not resulted in prosecutions but families hope it can at least shed light on his actions After seven years, 1,000 witness statements, 50,000 pages of evidence and £40m, the police inquiry known as Operation Kenova has resulted in zero prosecutions. That blunt fact hangs over the publication of the inquiry’s long-awaited interim report into Stakeknife, the codename of a top British agent in the IRA who was responsible for multiple murders during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YUaDBXM

Rich history to 200 caves – from housing a secret printing press to widow’s shelter – as steps taken to protect the ‘sacred’ sites Hidden behind a tropical garden in the affluent Auckland suburb of Mount Eden is a subterranean secret – a cave opening from the ground like the yawning mouth of a giant. “People come down here and drop their jaws,” says its owner, Sean Jacob, who stands in the centre of the quiet rock chamber. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/sV3tGb9

The uncomfortable truth is that size remains an enormous advantage in retail banking It was a nice idea while it lasted. So-called challenger banks, it was fondly imagined, would emerge after the 2008-09 financial crash and show the UK’s big four banks how the industry should be run. Their weapons would be new technology, superior service and brand names unsullied by bonuses and bailouts. More than a decade later, market shares in the industry haven’t shifted meaningfully, and here comes the latest example of a challenger bank finding the independent life to be challenging. Virgin Money – a combo with the former Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks via a 2018 deal – is provisionally minded to agree to a £2.9bn takeover by the Nationwide Building Society . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iyUo874

Given the options available, Hunt’s scheme to encourage people to invest in UK firms could hardly be more modest British Isas ‘to encourage investment in UK firms’ Budget: key points at a glance It was a good week to announce a British Isa, one could argue. Another two mid-sized UK companies, the haulier Wincanton and the telecoms equipment group Spirent Communications, are falling to foreign buyers, causing fresh agonising over how the unloved UK stock market has become a bargain bin for overseas predators. A British Isa, goes the theory, will incentivise UK investors to prefer UK companies over the excitements of US tech stocks or S&P 500 tracker funds. Here’s the problem. The chancellor’s design for a British Isa could hardly be more modest. He has created a £5,000 allowance, with the same Isa tax advantages, to be invested in purely UK assets (precise definition to follow after a consultation). That’s on top of the existing £20,000 maximum, where investors are free to r

The artist was mostly known for his work in New York yet in the early 80s, he found a new kind of artistic output out west After years creating street art, Jean-Michel Basquiat began his meteoric rise to fame in 1980 with a breakthrough exhibition as part of the Times Square Show. From there, the artist would go on to become the toast of the Big Apple, with a name-making profile in Artforum, his first sale going to the NYC punk icon Debbie Harry, and a budding creative and personal relationship with Andy Warhol. With so many ties to the New York art world, one could be forgiven for not knowing that Basquiat made as much as a quarter of his artistic output thousands of miles away in a sleepy California beach town. In December 1982, Basquiat began living in Venice, California, at the invitation of the art dealer Larry Gagosian – today, one of the most influential figures in the art world, but at the time still a relatively young aspirant who had opened his first gallery just a few year

Instead of sticking to arbitrary limits, politicians should be able to make the case for spending on urgent social repair The UK has had seven sets of fiscal rules since 2010. In a study comparing it with 34 peer nations since 1985, Britain not only changed its rules more frequently but they also had shorter lives. Clearly fiscal rules are not immutable laws of nature but arbitrary, human-made restraints. Implicit in this model is a dim view of human nature: that politicians cannot be trusted to resist the temptation to abuse government spending programmes for political or ideological ends. The result is that, instead of a political leadership that spends too much, Britain has politicians who spend too little. This is no way to run a country when there is urgent social repair needed. Instead, on Wednesday, Jeremy Hunt appears ready to deliver a budget full of tax giveaways and cuts to struggling public services to meet his fiscal rules. Labour should offer an alternative. Unfortuna

Hull FC 28-24 London Broncos Visitors remain winless after last-minute heartache Being 200 miles away from the sport’s traditional heartlands, London Broncos have never been strangers to a unique rugby league situation. But even by their standards this season is completely unprecedented given the reality that, no matter what the Broncos do upon their return to Super League in 2024, they will be asked to quietly collect their belongings and leave later this year. With only the top 12 clubs in IMG’s grading system given a seat at the top table in 2025, the fact London were ranked 24th in the provisional rankings at the end of last season – below clubs such as Batley and Doncaster – means they simply won’t improve enough on and, more importantly, off the field in one season to climb into the top 12. Even winning the grand final, unlikely as it would be, wouldn’t be enough to save them. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/IqxuENT

Manchester City moved to the top of the Women’s Super League table after defeating Everton 2-1. City picked up where they left off in their first match since defeating Chelsea last month, with goals from Khadija Shaw and Lauren Hemp taking them three points clear of Emma Hayes’ side, who visit Leicester on Sunday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/UpInCB9

The tree will be exhibited at the Sill in Hexham, close to where it once stood The largest section of the Sycamore Gap tree unlawfully cut down last December is to go on public display, Northumberland national park has announced. The tree, which stood in a dip next to Hadrian’s Wall, will be exhibited at the Sill, a tourist attraction in Hexham, not far from where it once stood. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/7rc9hGX

It’s the biggest night in British music – can Raye convert her record number of nominations? Join us as we liveblog the whole evening I know it’s a journo cliche to say that someone has dressed up like a Quality Street, but Jacob Collier is wearing three distinct Quality Street wrappers here and you very much suspect he considered a fourth. So all the multifarious reality TV stars who get on the red carpet at about 2pm yesterday have all filed through, leaving us with some actual musicians. Here’s Casisdead, making a brilliant effort with a phalanx of bodyguards branded with his Deadcorp project name. I wasn’t a huge fan of his album last year – I felt like the lyricism didn’t meet the ambition of the overall endeavour – but he admirably does a lot more world-building than most British artists, creating an entire cyperpunk dystopia as a backdrop for his tales of crime and trauma. He’s the outside bet in the rap genre category, up against some big beasts in the form of Central Cee, D

Swan theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Mark Ravenhill’s reimagining of the duo’s work on Gloriana exposes imbalances in the partnership but ultimately is a tragedy of thwarted ambition In 1952, Benjamin Britten was commissioned to write a “national opera” for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in just nine months. He enlisted Imogen Holst – Gustav’s daughter – as his musical assistant and they worked on Gloriana, which garnered a less than glorious critical reception. Mark Ravenhill’s reimagining of their odd, unequal relationship has been excavated from its first life as a radio play in 2013. Ben (Samuel Barnett) and Imo (Victoria Yeates) convene in a room in Aldeburgh, dominated by a grand piano (set design by Soutra Gilmour), and the play at first seems to be about creative collaboration, hinting at how female authorship is erased out of the canon. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2QZPcv3

Bilal el-Essi was among those who died in scenes described as ‘worse than anything in a horror movie’ A few weeks before his own death, Bilal el-Essi took a photo of another man’s body, sprawled under a women’s bike in a Gaza City street, a a child’s pink backpack fallen from the basket. The man was killed trying to find food for his family, Essi told friends and family when he shared the image, a snapshot of the tragedy and desperation in Gaza City. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gB206az