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‘A space of their own’: how cancer centres designed by top architects bring hope to patients

Exhibition at the V&A Dundee celebrates Maggie’s Centres created by Zaha Hadid, Richard Rogers, Norman Foster and others

Maggie Keswick Jencks received her weekly breast cancer treatment in a windowless neon-lit room in Edinburgh’s Western general hospital. Her husband, the renowned landscape designer Charles, later described it as a kind of “architectural aversion therapy”.

It was then, in the early 1990s, that the Scottish artist and garden designer imagined her own blueprint that would allow cancer patients “a space of their own” within the alienating, clinical confines of the hospital estate, one where they might “not lose the joy of living in the fear of dying”.

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© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

© Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

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UK government ‘effectively allowed’ child sexual abuse, campaigners say

Maggie Oliver Foundation taking action over government’s alleged failure to adopt changes recommended by inquiry

Campaigners have accused the UK government of in effect allowing child abuse to continue by having an “inconsistent and arbitrary” approach to implementing recommendations from a seven-year statutory inquiry.

The claim was made at the high court in London, where a judge said a legal action against the Home Office could continue.

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© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

© Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

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Seven countries to boycott Paralympics ceremony over flag-flying Russians

  • No ParalympicsGB athletes will be present in Verona

  • IPC say Russian presence ‘determined by members’

Seven nations and the British government will boycott the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympics in protest at the inclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes, organisers have confirmed.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said that the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine would not be sending athletes or officials to the ceremony on Friday night.

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© Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters

© Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters

© Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters

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The US and Israel are waging war on an Iran they think they know. The reality is very different | Ali Vaez

Is the Islamic Republic a messianic theocracy or a brittle dictatorship? It’s neither – as those attacking it are finding out

When the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran on 28 February, the campaign was structured like a textbook air war: destroy defences, degrade retaliatory capabilities and decapitate leadership. Iranian air defences – already battered in last summer’s war – were further dismantled to secure uncontested skies. Missile factories, drone infrastructure and naval assets were hit to erode Iran’s ability to retaliate. And a steady cadence of precision strikes removed senior commanders in what amounted to a sustained attempt to disorient Tehran’s decision-making.

From a purely operational perspective, the advantages have been stark. Once skies are open, the war becomes cheaper: plentiful, relatively inexpensive munitions can replace the long-range systems that defended airspace typically demands.

Ali Vaez is Iran project director and senior adviser to the president at the International Crisis Group

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

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© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

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