© Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian
© Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian
© Illustration: Edith Pritchett/The Guardian
Alex, 31, an academic, meets Rachel, 28, a university caseworker
What were you hoping for?
A good plotline, a fun evening and the chance of a connection.
© Photograph: Jill Mead/Martin Godwin/The Guardian
© Photograph: Jill Mead/Martin Godwin/The Guardian
© Photograph: Jill Mead/Martin Godwin/The Guardian
After Tim Davie’s resignation, the next director general will face internal strife, external noise and looming talks over the corporation’s existence and purpose
As BBC senior editors arrived at its New Broadcasting House headquarters in central London on Monday, the most pressing question was what had convinced Tim Davie, the corporation’s director general, to quit suddenly. Like any good BBC drama, it was a plot twist no one had seen coming.
As they assessed the brutal pressures that had finally proved too much for Davie, a second question soon arose. Was running the BBC now simply an impossible job?
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
© Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
© Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA
Sydney Sweeney has become the poster child of a predicted rightwing cultural domination. So why is no one watching her films?
I was on a walk around my local area in London when I was stopped in my tracks by a young man sauntering past me, wearing stone-wash jeans, a pair of shades and a “Reagan-Bush ’84” T-shirt. He gave off an incredibly smug air but, to be fair, he did look good. It’s a nice T-shirt, not like those garish Reform-branded football kits, so I could see why it might be appealing. A quick search informed me that for gen-Z rightwingers in the US, it has become the “conservative take on a band shirt or the once-ubiquitous Che Guevara tee”.
That casual display of conservative aesthetics reminded me of something else too: a much discussed cover of New York magazine from earlier this year, after Trump 2.0’s inauguration, which showed young rightwingers celebrating as they “contemplate cultural domination”.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
© Photograph: Image Press Agency/NurPhoto/Shutterstock
Swamped by lobbyists and hobbled by a lack of urgency, there are fears Cop could become a sprawling spectacle that betrays those who depend on it most
Thousands of diplomats, activists, journalists and lobbyists are gathering in the sweltering, tropical heat of Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon, for the Cop30 climate talks.
Since Brazil was awarded the hosting duties three years ago, hopes have been high that the Amazonian Cop – taking place in the country that hosted the Earth summit where the global fight for the climate first began – could be a turning point in the fight against climate breakdown.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Pablo Porciúncula/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pablo Porciúncula/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Pablo Porciúncula/AFP/Getty Images
Embattled Hungarian leader says he won an indefinite reprieve from sanctions on oil and gas from Russia, but the US has since disputed this
As Viktor Orbán would tell it, he had the perfect meeting with Donald Trump.
After visiting the White House last week, the embattled Hungarian prime minister quickly declared victory, saying he had secured an indefinite exemption from US sanctions on oil and gas imported from Russia. The deal would shield Hungarians from skyrocketing energy prices ahead of parliamentary elections next year and potentially boost Orbán’s chances of extending his 15-year rule.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
© Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
The table is laid by 12.30pm and we’ve even ironed the napkins. At 1pm the meat is resting. At 1.30pm it’s time to make a phone call …
My wife and I are having people to lunch – another couple; old friends. It’s supposed to be an informal affair, but it’s necessarily been a long time in the planning because, unlike us, our guests are busy people, and hard to nail down.
Besides, if you have weeks to plan a lunch it can’t be that informal – you don’t want to make it seem as if you woke up that morning still having no idea what you were going to cook, even if that is the case.
Continue reading...
© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian
© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian
© Illustration: Selman Hosgor/The Guardian
She’s Hollywood’s biggest character actor who terrified a generation of men with her ‘bunny boiling’ turn in Fatal Attraction. Now, Close alternates the glamour of the red carpet with living in a red state. She talks about the joy of her ‘undefined’ life
Most of us don’t live our lives in accordance with a governing metaphor, but Glenn Close does. The 78-year-old was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, a town in the north‑east of the US that, to the actor’s enduring irritation, telegraphs “smug affluence” to other Americans. In fact, Close’s background is more complicated than that, rooted in a childhood that was wild and free but also traumatic, and in an area of New England in which her family goes back generations. “I grew up on those great stone walls of New England,” says the actor, chin out, gimlet-eyed – Queen Christina at the prow of a ship. “Some of them were 6ft tall and 250 years old! I have a book called Sermons in Stone and it says at one point that more energy and hours ran into building the New England stone walls than the pyramids.”
If the walls are an image Close draws on for strength, they might also serve as shorthand for the journalist encountering her at interview. Close appears in a London hotel suite today in a military-style black suit, trim, compact, and with a small white dog propped up on a chair beside her. For the span of our conversation, the actor’s warmth and friendliness combine with a reserve so practised and precise that the presence of the dog in the room feels, unfairly perhaps, like a handy way for Close to burn through a few minutes of the interview with some harmless guff about dog breeds. (The dog is called Pip, which is short for “Sir Pippin of Beanfield”. He is a purebred Havanese and “they’re incredibly intelligent”. Most dog owners in the US have the emotional support paperwork necessary to get them on a plane but, says Close, laughing, “That’s really what he is!”)
Continue reading...
© Photograph: David Vintiner
© Photograph: David Vintiner
© Photograph: David Vintiner
Michael Neser added to first Test squad already missing Pat Cummins
England’s Mark Wood available after being cleared of hamstring injury
Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the first Ashes Test after a second scan on the hamstring injury he initially reported during the recent Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and Victoria found a low-grade tear.
The news came hours after England announced that scans on Mark Wood, whose own participation in the opening Test had been thrown into doubt after he reported stiffness in his left hamstring on the first day of their warm-up game against the Lions at Lilac Hill, had found no injury.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
© Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Australia lose 1-0 to La Vinotinto as Jesús Ramírez scores in 38th minute
Debutant goalkeeper Patrick Beach impresses in friendly in Houston
Houston, do we have a problem? After starting the Tony Popovic-era with an 11-game unbeaten run, an experimental Socceroos lineup fell to their second-straight defeat, going down 1-0 to Venezuela at Houston’s Shell Energy Stadium. While there was a certain level of fight to their 2-1 loss to the United States last month, this was a much more passive, flatter defeat.
Just 20 minutes in, the 50th-ranked Venezuela had three-quarters of possession, which only fell to 66% at game’s end. It was a sharp contrast between the approach of interim boss Fernando Aristeguieta and his predecessor Fernando Batista, who was sacked after they failed to qualify for the World Cup with an average possession rate of just 39% during the qualification campaign.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Karen Warren/AP
© Photograph: Karen Warren/AP
© Photograph: Karen Warren/AP
Ukrainian minister says more than 800 attacks recorded since start of year as Moscow seeks to destroy country’s logistical capabilities
Ukraine has recorded a threefold increase in the number of attacks on its railway system since July, according to a senior minister, as Moscow seeks to scupper one of Kyiv’s key logistical systems.
Oleksii Kuleba, a deputy prime minister with responsibility for infrastructure, said attacks on the network since the start of 2025 had caused damage totalling $1bn (£760m).
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Oleksii Kuleba/TELEGRAM/Reuters
© Photograph: Oleksii Kuleba/TELEGRAM/Reuters
© Photograph: Oleksii Kuleba/TELEGRAM/Reuters
Observers say that welcoming of guests including Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci and Spike Lee is a move to raise pontiff’s profile
A host of Hollywood celebrities will meet Pope Leo on Saturday, a gathering Vatican observers say is aimed at giving some star power to the pontiff, who is the first US pope in the history of the Catholic church.
Cate Blanchett, Monica Bellucci, Chris Pine and Adam Scott are among the actors who will join a special audience with Leo at his Apostolic Palace residence, along with the Oscar-winning directors Spike Lee, George Miller and Gus Van Sant.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Giuseppe Lami/EPA
© Photograph: Giuseppe Lami/EPA
© Photograph: Giuseppe Lami/EPA
Survey finds 60% of key cities councils are planning to sell assets to meet costs of adult and children’s social care
English councils are planning to sell social clubs, sports centres and shopping arcades as they bet on a fire sale of assets to balance the books, according to a survey of local authorities.
The key cities group of councils, which represents second-tier cities in England, said 60% of councils were planning to sell assets to meet the escalating costs of adult and children’s social care.
Continue reading...
© Photograph: Ian Francis stock/Alamy
© Photograph: Ian Francis stock/Alamy
© Photograph: Ian Francis stock/Alamy
This back yard creature must be kept under constant chemical constraint, or it risks becoming more liability than asset
I’ll call him Bruce. He’s any of the 3.1 million Australians living in a house with a pool or spa. Over my long career in hardware, listening to the woes of so many Bruces, I’ve discovered that owning a pool is not all fun and bubbles at cocktail hour.
In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad. On first viewing his bayside property, Bruce already believed the agent’s claim that by far the most desirable addition to any home is a pool. It did look nice, glistening blue in the back yard. And weren’t the kids rapt. But now, years later, Bruce isn’t.
Continue reading...
© Composite: Alamy/Getty Images
© Composite: Alamy/Getty Images
© Composite: Alamy/Getty Images
© Dave Sanders for The New York Times
Connexion