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© Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
© Photo Illustration by Kevin Van Aelst
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First they had to give birth in custody, then their babies were taken away. Sometimes they never got them back. Here’s what 29 women told the Lost Mothers Project
One by one, 29 women sat before Dr Laura Abbott in similarly small, nondescript rooms across five UK prisons, and described losing their babies. They were not bereaved in the conventional sense – although they were clearly holding in grief, as once the guards had left, they let rare public tears fall. Prisoners who had given birth in custody, they had been separated from their newborn children. In some cases this had happened within four or five days of becoming mothers.
“It was worse than giving birth,” said one woman. “That was the hardest pain of my life. I’ve never felt pain like it … It was in my chest, in my heart. Even in my belly.”
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© Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
© Photograph: SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
As Israel’s aid blockade continues and humanitarian zones disappear, there is talk of a ‘second Nakba’ being realised
Like so many others across the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hakimi felt a weight lift from his shoulders for the first time in over a year when Israel and Hamas agreed a long-delayed ceasefire in January.
He cried and hugged his five children tightly. “I slept deeply, free from the sound of bombing, destruction and death,” he said.
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© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won final grand slam titles at the same age. The odds of beating that mark seem long, but the Serbian has always been ruthlessly determined
On a clear September New York evening in 1981, following a soul crushing loss to John McEnroe in the US Open final for the second consecutive year, Björn Borg disappeared into the night and vanished from the sport. He was only 25. He had accumulated an extraordinary 11 grand slam titles by then, but it left one to wonder how many more championships he could have amassed had he not retired so young. His conqueror that day had a much longer career and played until he was 33. But McEnroe, like Borg, won his last grand slam singles title at 25.
Back in those old days of the first phase of Open tennis (which I’ll date from 1968-1985; most of the top pros didn’t start playing the Australian Open regularly until the mid-1980s), players reached their peaks in their mid-20s and winning majors as one approached 30 was considered unusual.
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© Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
© Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
Vibe at meeting could hint at future relationship between the two countries and their two leaders
Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, was due to meet with US president, Donald Trump, on Tuesday in a closely watched encounter at the White House that could hint at the future relationship between the two countries and their two leaders.
Over the weekend, Trump said it was “highly unlikely” he would use military force to annex Canada, a key trading partner and political ally. In recent months, the president has repeatedly threatened to use economic coercion to weaken Canada to the point that it accedes to Trump’s wish to make it the 51st state.
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© Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP
© Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP
Because of the blockade, hunger is part of our daily reality now. It is deep and cruel, and there is no relief
It has been more than 30 hours since I last ate. At times, I go as long as two days without food. For most people around the world, the word hunger is a fleeting feeling, easily fixed with a trip to the kitchen or a nearby store. Saying “I’m hungry” is routine, almost meaningless. But imagine if every time you felt hungry, there was nothing to eat – no food, no relief, just emptiness. This has been my daily reality in the Gaza Strip for over a month.
Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli occupation has controlled the quantity and type of food allowed into Gaza. When a ceasefire was agreed, I hoped that everything I had endured was behind me. I held on to the hope of a better life, convinced that hunger would become something in my past. But just as I began to regain my health, the bombing and destruction returned – and with them, the starvation.
Aya Al-Hattab is a writer in Gaza
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© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Real Madrid have approached Liverpool in an attempt to bring forward the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold so that he is available to play in the Club World Cup, which starts on 14 June in the United States. The right-back is set to join the Spanish side when his contract expires at the end of June but Madrid are eager to take him earlier.
Any agreement would lead to Liverpool receiving a fee. Fifa has implemented a two-window summer to benefit those playing at the Club World Cup, with the first lasting from 1 to 10 June and the window reopening on 16 June. Madrid’s first fixture is on 18 June against Al-Hilal at the Hard Rock Cafe in Miami.
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© Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
© Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters
The US president’s bizarre talk of 100% levies on films from ‘foreign countries’ combines trolling with a hazy grasp of facts
Another day, another bizarre, mischievous, headline-hogging pronouncement from the US president.
Steve Bannon famously advised him to flood the zone with shit – a Maga-Maoist permanent revolution of provocative, toxic nonsense. Trump is flooding the zone with tariffs, then he pauses, walks back and climbs down on tariffs, and then adds more tariffs. The latest is his bizarre plan to hit movies made in “foreign countries” with 100% tariffs. He has solemnly announced his grave concern that Hollywood was “dying” at the hands of foreigners like the UK, who give tax breaks to multinationals.
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© Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters
© Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters
Benjamin Netanyahu announced new ‘intensified’ offensive aimed at ‘conquering’ Gaza Strip
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said Beijing is “highly concerned about the current Palestine-Israel situation”.
“We oppose Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza, and hopes all parties continuously and effectively implement the ceasefire agreement,” Jian said.
The government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hopes that the Israel Defense Forces’ call-up of tens of thousands of reservists, the threat of the new offensive and the prospect of Israel seizing swaths of territory will force Hamas’s leaders to make concessions.
If it fails to do so, then physical possession of terrain will offer useful leverage in future negotiations and allow Hamas to be squeezed further in the meantime…
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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Toy company Mattel says it will reduce imports into the US from China to below 15% by 2026
Barbie maker Mattel has said it will increase prices for some products in the US in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs while carmaker Ford said the US president’s measures would cost it about $1.5bn (£1.1bn) this year.
The US represents about half of Mattel’s global toy sales, and the company imports about 20% of its goods sold in the country from China. Mattel said it would reduce imports into the US from China to below 15% by 2026.
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© Photograph: Andy Wong/AP
© Photograph: Andy Wong/AP
A mixed-race musician is drawn into the unfamiliar milieu of an upper-class family in this plotty debut
The unnamed narrator of William Rayfet Hunter’s debut novel, a mixed-race aspiring musician from Manchester, is plunged into an unfamiliar milieu when his posh university friend, Lily, invites him to spend a summer at her parents’ chateau in the French countryside. There’s an undercurrent of unease – at one point he is mistaken for staff – but the family are welcoming. Lily’s bisexual brother, Felix, a handsome actor and enfant terrible who has just emerged from a stint in the Priory, is especially friendly. A relationship develops, which brings perks for the narrator: Felix’s father gives him a cushy job at his property firm, and his mother promises to pull strings and get him an audition with the Royal Academy. It all seems too good to last – and so it proves.
Sunstruck is a story about identity and belonging. The protagonist had hung out with goth kids at school; his black best friend, Jasmine, teasingly nicknames him “WhiteBoy” because he is so out of touch with black pop culture. But when the action moves to London in the second half of the novel, and particularly after a black friend of Jasmine’s is badly beaten up by police at the Notting Hill carnival, a racial consciousness gradually awakens within him. He suspects that he’ll never be truly accepted in Felix’s world, and their relationship is troublingly imbalanced. Yet he can’t quite tear himself away: “The intoxicating sense of belonging, of moving through a space I didn’t know existed … this is something I cannot give up.”
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© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
© Photograph: Hemis/Alamy
Documentary investigates the whereabouts of the model who played an influential corporate character, as well as the relationship between race and technology
Back when computers were still new, Mavis Beacon was an icon for generations of children learning IT skills. Her name, along with the accompanying image of a smiling, suited Black woman, graced countless editions of some popular software that taught typing through interactive lessons and games. For Black students, to see someone who looked like them in a position of authority and knowledge, inspired assurance and aspiration. Mavis Beacon, however, did not exist; she was a fictional character represented by a photograph of Renée L’Espérance, a Haitian model whose story is now lost to history. Eager to reclaim her legacy, film-maker Jazmin Jones and collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross embarked on a years-long quest to track down the woman behind the image.
The resulting documentary is anything but conventional. Describing themselves as “E-girl detectives”, Jones and Ross draw on a wide variety of sources for their investigation. In addition to a physical headquarters – complete with an evidence board not unlike those seen in detective films of yore – there is a virtual dimension to their pursuit. We see what presumably is the cybersleuths’ desktop screen, on which memes, Google maps and search results multiply like mushrooms after the rain.
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© Photograph: Publicity image
© Photograph: Publicity image
We would like to hear about how the costs of festivals might have affected your plans
Festival season is upon us, and ticket prices are as high as ever. The most basic Glastonbury tickets are £378, with coach tickets on top anywhere between £60 and £160. Meanwhile Latitude starts at £308, and even day festivals such as Field Day can exceed £80.
With this in mind, we would like to hear about how the costs of festivals might have affected your plans. Do you save up for festival season, or take out a loan? Do you go as a volunteer? Or has the cost of festivals got so high you can’t go any more?
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© Photograph: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella
© Photograph: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Coachella
We’d like to hear from small business owners in the UK and elsewhere about any impact of changing tariffs
China has raised tariffs on US imports to 125% in an escalation of the trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies.
US tariffs on Chinese goods now total 145%, while most other countries, including the UK, have maintained a 10% tariff on goods following Donald Trump’s announcements on Wednesday pausing “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days.
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© Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images
© Photograph: Oscar Wong/Getty Images
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