Mubeen Blogs

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/XZIenWY

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/HytNFxn

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/OszbjQE

Lennie James and Sharon D Clarke are exquisite in this bold, spiky tale of a gay man who starts to regret living a lie. The awards are sure to flood in Mr Loverman, adapted from the Booker prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo’s novel, is about what it means to have a good life built on lies. A good life, but a half-life. Written by Nathaniel Price, it stars Lennie James as Barrington, the Mr Loverman of the title, Barry to his friends. Barry is a charming 75-year-old dandy (we move with him through the decades and the costume department plays a blinder throughout) and a successful businessman, husband, beloved father and grandfather. He is also the secret lover, for 50 years and counting, of Morris De La Roux (Ariyon Bakare). They have been friends since their boyhood in Antigua and soulmates since they were old enough to know what the word meant. Their relationship is a beautiful thing. When they are together, their happiness is almost palpable. Continue reading... from The G

‘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/mQG2roH

Composed midfielder demonstrated the ability to do the right thing again and again that is vital to his position The English Toni Kroos does not exist. Nor does the English Andrea Pirlo, the English Luka Modric, the English Rodri. Instinctively, everybody knows this. England doesn’t have earthquakes, England doesn’t grow citrus fruit and England doesn’t produce technical central midfielders who can control a game and dictate the tempo of play. That’s just the way it is. And so on a clear and bracing Helsinki night, into this paradox steps Angel Gomes. Paradoxical because in many ways the player Gomes is trying to be, the role he is being fitted for, is something that doesn’t actually exist. Naturally, because football fans are impatient and adore the dopamine rush of making instant sweeping judgments, the impulse is to measure him against this stratospheric, borderline-impossible standard. He’s either the English Pirlo. Or he isn’t. Good luck. Continue reading... from The Guardian

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 two No 1 overall draft picks, the Bears’ rookie quarterback Caleb Williams had the edge over his opponent Trevor Lawrence, who the Jags selected first in 2021. Williams threw four touchdown passes and rushed for 58 yards, the decisive contribution in the game. 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/rNpj21t

Leicester 24-8 Northampton Defending champions suffer bruising three-try defeat Back to the rugby we all know and love. Hard, cold, a burst of torrential towards the end, four yellows, four tries and one old rival delighting in rubbing another’s face in the dirt. Northampton may be champions, but Leicester remain Leicester. They love nothing more than turning screws and making people from down the road weep. If the latter could also be denied tries three times by the closest of calls, so much the better. Michael Cheika described his side as “gritty”, which was something of an understatement. Julián Montoya, back from duty with the Pumas and immediately reinstated as captain of the Tigers, picked up a cut to his eye in the first half, which continued to swell throughout the game, until he could see no more out of it. Alongside him, Ollie Chessum further ingratiated himself with the England coaches. And behind them Freddie Steward won player of the match, which must have been all th

Whoever gets into the White House – Donald Trump or Kamala Harris – they will need the two chambers of Congress to align with their values to get a lot of what they want to achieve done. And the race for the Senate is really hotting up. This week Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jessica Taylor , Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report , about whether Senate Democrats can defend their narrow control over the upper chamber, and what happens if the person who wins the White House doesn’t see eye-to-eye with those in power in Congress Archive: CBS 58, Fox News, KPRC Click 2 Houston, KHOU 11, MSNBC Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ix2XrQZ

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/QsLr6TY

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/DAOqPle

Assessment of workplace culture launched after series of scandals and will focus on ‘preventing abuse of power’ Nobody at the BBC should “ever feel fear or worry while working” for the corporation, its chair said, as it launched an independent review of its workplace culture. The review , which will be led by a management consultancy firm, comes after a series of damaging scandals at the broadcaster, which led to questions being raised about how it prevents abuse by and of those working for it. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qrcyF6j

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/IjHiCBK

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

Player was found dead in his swimming pool, say police Greece international joined Panathinaikos this summer The former Sheffield United and Greece defender George Baldock has died at the age of 31. According to police sources, his body was found on Wednesday in a swimming pool at his home in Glyfada, southern Athens, but the cause of death remains unknown. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/BpqYFDk

This disturbing documentary about the attack on Be’eri kibbutz is full of troubling interviews and phone/CCTV footage. Sadly, it also demonises Gazans as either killers or looters Eight-year-old Emily was holed up in the bomb shelter of her friend Hila’s house when Hamas terrorists found the two girls – along with Hila’s mum, Raaya. The doors, like those in many kibbutz shelters throughout southern Israel, had no locks, because death was anticipated from the air, not from killers going home to home. “When they arrived, we just opened up, because if we held the door they would have shot and the bullets would have hit us,” recalls Emily. It was noon on 7 October last year at Be’eri kibbutz, ostensibly a paradise of a farming community for 1,200 Israelis located 50 miles from Tel Aviv and three from Gaza. Emily and Hila had spent the previous night having a sleepover, watching The Vampire Diaries. They woke to a reality much more bloodthirsty. Continue reading... from The Guardian ht

Tata, described as ‘a truly uncommon leader’, credited with transforming Tata Group into a global conglomerate The Indian tycoon Ratan Tata, who is credited with transforming the Tata Group into a globally renowned conglomerate, has died at age 86, the company has said. “It is with a profound sense of loss that we bid farewell to Mr Ratan Naval Tata, a truly uncommon leader,” Tata Group said in a statement on X. The firm is one of the largest companies in India, with annual revenues of over $100bn (£76.5bn). Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/BGTliVF

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

Billionaire says it would be pointless to kill ‘puppet’ vice-president in interview with Tucker Carlson Elon Musk has said it would be “pointless” to try to kill Kamala Harris weeks after a pressure campaign led to him to delete a social media post expressing surprise that no one had tried to assassinate the vice-president or Joe Biden . The Tesla and Space X entrepreneur re-entered the murky waters of political assassinations in a web video interview with the former Fox New host Tucker Carlson which Musk then posted on the X platform that he owns. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/OsRuikx

Court told Khalife, 23, allegedly picked up money from Iranian handlers before contacting UK security services A former British soldier accused of escaping prison by strapping himself to the underside of a delivery truck had contacted Iranian intelligence before offering to work as a “double agent” for MI6, his trial has heard. Daniel Khalife, 23, is alleged to have contacted a well-known individual connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards in 2019, before picking up an envelope containing £1,500 that was left by his Iranian handlers in a dog poo bag in a park in north London. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/nR8tFmi

Downing Street reset means PM and his team only have themselves to blame if they fail to communicate purpose and vision Office politics can be complicated. And Westminster can get obsessed with personalities behind the scenes and where someone sits on the office floor plan. But with all that being said, it is true to say that relations between Sue Gray, Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff, and some others in the early days of Keir Starmer’s government were, if anything, worse than reported. She is not the first outsider who found it impossible to gel with Starmer’s close-knit and fiercely political team who ran his leadership campaign and worked on Labour’s election strategy. His former chief of staff Sam White departed after just over a year. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Z9wpIqg

Many who last week couldn’t have got within 500 miles of Mauritius on a map now can’t bear it taking the archipelago What a difference a week makes. Just last Wednesday, you could have put money on most MPs being totally clueless about the exact location of the Chagos Islands. Give them a map and many would have better luck being blindfolded. Even a hint wouldn’t have made much difference. Are they east, west, south or north of Mauritius? To be in with a shout, you have to know where Mauritius is. And most MPs wouldn’t get within 500 miles. The Indian Ocean is bigger than you think. And don’t get them started on Diego Garcia. Surely he’s the younger brother of the titular character in the 1974 Sam Peckinpah film Bring me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/cwgfdaS

Linguistic body has relaxed rules on use of apostrophe to show possession, not traditionally correct in German A relaxation of official rules around the correct use of apostrophes in German has not only irritated grammar sticklers but triggered existential fears around the pervasive influence of English. Establishments that feature their owners’ names, with signs like “Rosi’s Bar” or “Kati’s Kiosk” are a common sight around German towns and cities, but strictly speaking they are wrong: unlike English, German does not traditionally use apostrophes to indicate the genitive case or possession. The correct spelling, therefore, would be “Rosis Bar”, “Katis Kiosk”, or, as in the title of a recent viral hit , Barbaras Rhabarberbar. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4zPRQWj

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/vMnego9

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

As most flee Lebanon’s capital to the mountains and beyond, a new generation is experiencing terror under Israeli attack As a powerful barrage of Israeli airstrikes pummelled Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight, cousins Nader Ismail and Lyne Nassar sat on a balcony in a nearby Baabda overwhelmed with shock. Ismail said the terror made him freeze where he sat, while Nassar said she stood up suddenly before sitting down and attempting to calm herself about what is now a near nightly occurrence. “It felt like we could feel the pressure waves from the bombings washing over us,” said Nassar. “The windows shook, the whole building shook. It was traumatising.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/usTkDbC

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/BxehlK9

Over five windows and a £600m spend, few arrivals have made a significant positive impact at Manchester United The first signing of the Erik ten Hag era, ticking the key criterion of coming from the Eredivisie. It’s difficult to say too much about a player who last featured in June 2023. The left-back made a lot of appearances in his first season but a knee injury has kept him out for 16 months. Rating 1/5 Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/LDXMk5s

City went 1-0 down at home for third time this season Guardiola praise for two-goal midfielder Mateo Kovacic Pep Guardiola denied he has any concerns about Manchester City’s defence after they conceded the first goal in their 3-2 win against Fulham , after doing so earlier in the season in the victories over Ipswich and Brentford . Andreas Pereira scored the opener for Marco Silva’s side in the 26th minute. Against Ipswich in August Sam Szmodics did the same after seven minutes and Yoane Wissa for the Bees inside a minute at the Etihad last month. Guardiola was asked if this was a cause for worry. “I would say except Wissa against Brentford, in the other ones we were playing good,” he said. “It’s not nice to come back from 0-1 but we created chances today to go 1-0 and 2-0.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ybhM9Gn

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/e3pSRLM

Met Office warns of unsettled weather as tail end of extreme category 4 storm sweeps towards northwest Europe Britons may have to brace for a blast of wind and rain next week as the tail end of Hurricane Kirk passes by. The Met Office warned of unsettled weather over the weekend, before potentially disruptive conditions from midweek brought about by the remnant of the extreme storm as it sweeps towards north-west Europe. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Hr1lSXI

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/VhUvJRM

It could be that she is being sincere, but that does not mean her choice to make them now is not cynical Just how stupid does Melania Trump think we are? On Wednesday, my colleagues at the Guardian published a leaked excerpt of the former first lady’s memoir, in which the Slovenian-born former model and Donald Trump’s third wife claims to be passionately pro-choice . The leak comes just a month before November’s presidential election, a contest in which Trump’s hopes of returning to the White House are severely threatened by voter anger over the 2022 reversal of Roe v Wade, and the suffering of women caused by sadistic abortion bans across the country. In her memoir, Mrs Trump speaks of abortion rights as a matter of women’s dignity and fundamental freedom. “It is imperative to guarantee that women have autonomy in deciding their preference of having children, based on their own convictions, free from any intervention or pressure from the government,” she wrote. She later reiterat

Deveca Rose’s two sets of twins were seen as well brought up yet their mother, who has been convicted of manslaughter, struggled with her mental health Woman found guilty over deaths of four home-alone sons in fire All it took was 30 minutes. Deveca Rose, a 27-year-old single mum, left her four young boys home alone to go to Sainsbury’s. When she returned, her house was up in flames and her children lay on the pavement fighting for their lives. Firefighters found the boys limp and unconscious under a bed. They were taken to hospital but were all pronounced dead within an hour of each other. Rose screamed “not my boys, not my boys” as doctors tried and failed to keep them alive. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iC3YtKe

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/CE8WtFa

First charter flight has left Beirut, says David Lammy, with officials planning ‘sea and air’ rescues if situation worsens Middle East crisis – live updates The UK has laid on a charter flight to evacuate Britons from Lebanon and said it is ready to commission more for the 5,000 nationals and their dependants remaining in the country. Beirut’s international airport remains open but ministers and officials are preparing contingency plans for sea and air rescues via Cyprus should the security situation in Lebanon deteriorate to the point at which commercial flights are stopped. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/i6j8mAd

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/2mEv97l

‘Unprecedented’ filings include allegations from both men and women, ranging in age from nine to 38, and spanning two decades Sean “Diddy” Combs , the hip-hop mogul who was arrested last month after an indictment by a federal grand jury, is now facing even more allegations of sexual misconduct. On Tuesday, Tony Buzbee, a Texas-based attorney, revealed at a press conference that he is representing 120 accusers who allege misconduct against Combs over the course of two decades. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/C7d0oap