Study finds that only 9.5% of fungal biodiversity hotspots fell within existing protected areas
The underground network of fungi that underpins the planet’s ecosystems needs urgent conservation action by politicians, a research organisation has said.
Scientists from the Society for the Protection of Underground Networks (Spun) have created the first high-resolution biodiversity maps of Earth’s underground mycorrhizal fungal ecosystems.
Some are using Final Fantasy and GTA Online as dating sites and long-time lovers are finding comfort and connection through Resident Evil. Could video games be the ultimate relationship tool?
Last week, Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour talked about the role of women in the video games industry. It featured interviews with gaming insiders, from esports presenter Frankie Ward to members of the inclusive online community Black Girl Gamers. It was wonderful to hear so many disparate, expert views on games culture being given so much time on the show.
One of my favourite moments was when presenter Nuala McGovern read out some listener responses to the question: why do you play video games? “I don’t think there’s enough recognition of gaming as an activity for couples,” one replied. “My husband and I bonded over our shared love of gaming. Our honeymoon was playing Borderlands 2 while we saved for a flat deposit, and now, with a young child, we explore stories, we visit new worlds, we solve mysteries … There is an underappreciated romance to gaming – we communicate, encourage, collaborate and celebrate together. It’s a joy.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved a contentious bill weakening Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies
Back to Russia-Ukraine talks, AFP just reported, quoting a source in the Turkish ministry of foreign affairs, that the negotiations will start at 4pm GMT, so that’s 5pm London time and 6pm CEST in large parts of Europe.
The EU has also confirmed that trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič will speak with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick this afternoon as they continue talks on the EU-US trade relations ahead of next month’s deadline for tariffs.
‘When Mustapha leaned forward to look into this old well in eastern Morocco, it seemed part ritual – and part desperation’
I travelled to Merzouga in east Morocco three years ago, hoping to photograph some wall drawings and writings I had seen there earlier – markings that showed the distance from the village to Timbuktu, in Mali, by camel. But when I arrived, the markings had vanished. Faced with this absence, I found myself seeking a new story, something unplanned.
Mustapha was my guide that day. At first, he took me along the typical tourist trails, which didn’t speak to my photographic interests. Then he suggested we explore the sand dunes. Initially, I wasn’t particularly interested in these either, but then we came across this old well. I set up my camera, a 1972 Hasselblad 500, and my tripod. As I started to photograph the well, Mustapha stepped forward, instinctively leaning in to look inside. I hadn’t imagined him in the picture but he didn’t pay attention to me. That spontaneous gesture – part ritual, part desperation – transformed the scene completely. It felt sacred, as though he were praying for the return of something essential: water.
(Warner) Much anticipated set of remixes and lost songs give a glimpse of a great pop mind trying out new tricks
It’s hard to overstate the impact of Ray of Light, Madonna’s seventh album. Released in 1998, it totally reshaped Madonna’s career, embracing trip-hop, electronica and Britpop and essentially proving to an unfriendly public that she was one of pop’s great auteurs. It spawned one of her biggest singles – the haunting power ballad Frozen – and its title track is still a staple of radio and DJ playlists. In the past few years, many of contemporary and underground pop’s most significant names – including Caroline Polachek, Addison Rae, a.s.o., Shygirl and FKA twigs – have referenced Ray of Light, whether directly or indirectly. It’s a fool’s errand to try to make a case for the best or most significant Madonna album – she has at least five strong contenders – but if there’s a consensus pick, it’s Ray of Light.
Which is why the announcement of Veronica Electronica, a full-length Ray of Light remix album, was met with such hysteria from fans earlier this year. Madonna has spoken at length over the years about both Veronica the character – in true Madonna fashion, Veronica stems from a vaguely contradictory concept in which she is both a girl dancing at a club and, somehow, “medieval” – and the album, which she intended to release after Ray of Light but ended up shelving. For diehards, the promised record is something of a holy grail – never mind that this long-awaited release only contains two truly new songs, one of which, an old demo titled Gone Gone Gone, has been floating around on the internet for years.
The EU has threatened to impose nearly €100bn (£87bn) worth of tariffs on US imports ranging from bourbon whiskey and Boeing aircraft in one fell swoop if Donald Trump does not agree a trade deal by the end of next week.
The European Commission said on Wednesday it planned to combine two previously prepared separate lists of US goods to be included in any retaliatory moves against the US president’s import tariffs.
Data shows 34% of men aged 20-34 lived with parents in 2024, compared with less than a quarter of women the same age
Young men are more likely to live at home with their parents than women of the same age, with a third of 20- to 34-year-old men in the UK living in their parental home.
Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed 33.7% of men aged 20-34 lived with parents in 2024, compared with less than a quarter (22.1%) of women the same age.
Suspect allegedly claimed to be adviser or ambassador to made-up places such as ‘Seborga’ or ‘Westarctica’
Indian police have arrested a man accused of running a bogus embassy from a rented residential building near Delhi and recovered cars with fake diplomatic plates.
The suspect impersonated an ambassador and allegedly duped people for money by promising overseas employment, said the senior police officer Sushil Ghule of Uttar Pradesh state’s special taskforce in northern India.
The substation fire that closed Heathrow for almost a day in March cost the airport “tens of millions” of pounds, its chief executive has said.
Giving the hub’s first public estimate on the bill from the blaze, Thomas Woldbye said Heathrow had yet to decide whether to pursue National Grid for damages, as it awaited the findings of the energy regulator Ofgem into the incident.
Speaking to Ruth Rogers, the actor took aim at the film industry’s lack of sustainability, noting he ‘could feed a family with the amount I’m eating’ when bulking up for film roles
Benedict Cumberbatch has called the Hollywood film industry “grossly wasteful”, taking particular issue with its squandering of resources in the aid of set building, lighting – and bulking up physiques for blockbusters.
“It’s horrific eating beyond your appetite,” Cumberbatch told Ruth Rogers on her food-focused podcast, Ruthie’s Table 4, adding that when he was shooting Marvel’s Doctor Strange, he would eat five meals a day. In addition, he would snack on boiled eggs, almonds and cheese, in order to try to ingest enough protein to transform his body.
Medical staff say they are struggling to function well enough to care for injured and malnourished civilians in overwhelmed hospitals
Doctors and medical staff in Gaza say their increasing hunger and the lack of available food is beginning to leave them too weak to provide urgent medical care to patients inside hospitals full of malnourished and injured civilians.
Almost a dozen medical staff across the territory have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) of their increasingly desperate search for food and declining physical health due to hunger.
The public shaming won’t bring real justice. But it fulfills a fantasy of accountability we rarely experience in our own lives
It wasn’t just that a man got caught cheating on his wife. It was that he did it in public. With the whole stadium watching. With Chris Martin, unknowingly, teeing it up. With a camera zooming in at the exact wrong – or maybe karmically perfect – moment. The CEO. The HR director. The affair. The panic. The humiliation. All of it caught, dissected and shared a million times over.
We didn’t watch that video because we love Coldplay (though, don’t we?). We didn’t watch just for the scandal. We watched because – despite our small steps toward enlightenment – we’re all starving for the satisfaction of seeing someone finally get what they deserve.
Scarpaccia is a crunchy polenta flatbread that makes clever use of seasonal courgettes and other summery toppings
Anyone who has ever grown courgettes will know that, come peak season, you have to get inventive with the abundance and come up with new ways to use them before they turn to marrows or perish and melt back into the soil. One fabulous way to cook up a glut is scarpaccia, an Italian classic that’s similar to farinata and a distant cousin of pizza. Thinly sliced courgettes are degorged by tossing them in sea salt to extract their juices, then, true to Italian thrift, the flavourful liquid is used to make a batter that’s then reunited with the courgettes before baking into a thin, crisp slice.
Player served three-month suspension over positive test
Umberto Ferrara blamed incident on physiotherapist
The Wimbledon men’s singles champion, Jannik Sinner, has reappointed his former fitness coach Umberto Ferrara with immediate effect, the Italian world No 1 confirmed on Wednesday.
Sinner parted ways with Ferrara and physiotherapist Giacomo Naldi last year following the investigation into his positive tests for the banned substance clostebol. “The decision has been made in alignment with Jannik’s management team as part of ongoing preparations for upcoming tournaments, including the Cincinnati Open and US Open,” a statement from Sinner’s team said. “Umberto has played an important role in Jannik’s development to date, and his return reflects a renewed focus on continuity and performance at the highest level.”
For a recent visa application for a family member, I submitted 32 documents. Africans aren’t liabilities, we are tourists and friends who deserve better
Hello and welcome to The Long Wave. This week, I reflect on the increasing difficulty of travel and immigration for many from the African continent, and how one country is plotting a smoother path.
Microsoft says Chinese “threat actors”, including state-sponsored hackers, have exploited security vulnerabilities in its SharePoint document-sharing software servers and are targeting the data of businesses that use it.
The US technology company said it had observed three groups – the Chinese state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon, and Storm-2603, which is believed to be China-based – using “newly disclosed security vulnerabilities” to target internet-facing servers hosting the platform.
On the podcast today: England were seconds from being knocked out of the Euros after another quite disappointing performance, but this is ‘Proper England’ and they’ll be lining up against either Germany or Spain on Sunday in Basel. The panel ask how Sarina Wiegman’s side have reached their third consecutive final and whether getting it launched will always be the answer.
No Greater Love strained to serve hungry patrons in Maine, New England’s most food insecure state. Then they lost more than 1,000lb of federally funded goods
One Sunday in June, it’s 20 minutes before opening time at the No Greater Love food pantry in Belfast, Maine, two hours north of Portland. A line of cars stretches down the block and curls around the corner. I lean into a car window and ask the driver if he will speak with me.
Stephanie Dinkins challenges the racialized AI space by highlighting Black ethos and cultural cornerstones
At the Plaza at 300 Ashland Place in downtown Brooklyn, patrons mill around a large yellow shipping container with black triangles painted on its side. A nod to the flying geese quilt pattern, which may have served as a coded message for enslaved people escaping to freedom along the Underground Railroad, the design and container serve as a bridge between the past and the future of the African diaspora. At the center of the art project by the Brooklyn-based transmedia artist Stephanie Dinkins, a large screen displays artificial intelligence (AI) generated images that showcase the diversity of the city.
Commissioned by the New York-based art non-profit More Art and designed in collaboration with the architects LOT-EK, the AI laboratory If We Don’t, Who Will?will be on display until 28 September. It seeks to challenge a white-dominated generative-AI space by highlighting Black ethos and cultural cornerstones.
Don Charles says: ‘It was more of a cultural gathering’
Trainer also praises Tyson Fury for backing his boxer
Daniel Dubois’ trainer Don Charles has played down reports that a party at the fighter’s home hours before his world heavyweight championship bout with Oleksandr Usyk at Wembley on Saturday night disrupted the boxer’s preparation.
Dubois was knocked out in the fifth round by Usyk and Charles does not dispute that his charge did not arrive until 8.20pm at the arena, 90 minutes before his scheduled ring walk time. Footage of what Charles describes as more of a “cultural gathering” than a party emerged on Tuesday, but the trainer insisted that Dubois and his entourage arrived within their allocated time, and had ample time to undergo all pre-fight preparations necessary to face Usyk.
From rebelling against a religious upbringing by memorising Beastie Boys lyrics, to soul-stirring discoveries about dead loved ones – Guardian readers share the musical compilations that defined them
It was 2005, and I had just started going out with a girl who was way out of my league. I called on an old trick – the mixtape. Having been a music nerd all my life, I decided I could use some help from Miles Davis, Cinematic Orchestra, Stereolab and more to woo her. Making the perfect mixtape is an art form. You have to start strong, but you don’t want to cram all the best bits into the first 10 minutes. I needed to show myself as a man of the world – some more obscure choices, a bit of jazz. I sequenced them so they all flowed together nicely, and all this was done in an era where I had to rip the tracks from CDs. And in a final touch, I had to put in a track from a band that were playing very shortly – in this case, The Go! Team! – so I could invite her to the gig.
A fascinatingly uneasy debut from Ryan J Sloan has hints of Lynch and Cronenberg with star and co-writer Ariella Mastroianni radiating suppressed anguish and rage
Here is a paranoid noir chiller from the US, shot on 16mm on the mean streets of Jersey City; it is a fascinating debut for first-time feature director Ryan J Sloan that premiered at Cannes last year and is now getting its much-deserved UK release. A genuine skin-crawling unease seeps out of the screen for every second of its running time, helped by a brooding, moaning electronic score by Steve Matthew Carter. This ineffably creepy, often unbearably tense and disquieting film has a little of early Christopher Nolan (the Nolan of Following and Memento), with hints of Lynch and Cronenberg in its hallucinatory episodes.
Sloan’s co-writer and partner Ariella Mastroianni (reportedly a very distant relative of Marcello) stars as Frankie, a woman living on the edge of poverty, suffering from the neurogenerative disorders ataxia and dyschronometria. This means that she is disoriented and cannot accurately judge the passing of time, a condition she attempts to manage by listening to 30-minute tapes on an old-fashioned Sony Walkman, and by gazing in at the windows of total strangers. Her pinched, sharp, intelligent and discontented face dominates the screen; she radiates suppressed anguish and rage at everything that has happened and will happen to her, and at the idea that her condition means she will have to resign herself to an assisted living facility. The scene in which a harassed doctor puts this to her is itself a masterly set piece of grimness.
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