Around the country, peaceful protesters see their actions as the legitimate exercise of free speech. The police often disagree – and that’s a problem for our democracy
I packed a toothbrush, books and a notepad in a small rucksack, took my laptop from the house and hid it, gave my phone to a friend to look after and put a “bust card” (lawyers’ details and legal advice) in my back pocket. I wasn’t certain I would be arrested, but I wanted to be ready. Then I stepped, with other, much braver people into a legal labyrinth.
So broad are sections 12 and 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, and so madly oppressive is the government’s order applying it to the proscribed protest group Palestine Action that it is difficult, when contesting it, to tell which side of the law you might be on, and what the response of the authorities might be. When people who oppose all forms of violence, who are trying to stop war and terrorism, are arrested on terrorism charges, nothing makes sense any more.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
On Tuesday 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach and other special guests at the Guardian’s climate assembly, live at the Barbican in London and livestreamed globally. Book tickets here or at Guardian.Live
Pesticide-free movement has grown, but many local authorities still spray weedkiller linked to wildlife declines and cancer
More than half of councils in the United Kingdom continue to use pesticides in parks, playgrounds, pavements, playing fields and housing estates, research revealed on Wednesday.
But increasingly, local authorities are taking action to end or reduce their use of pesticides, according to research by the Pesticide Action Network.
One in five young viewers go to platform first when they turn on TV, as older people also watch more of its content
Children are now heading to YouTube from the moment they turn on the television, in the latest sign of the video platform’s migration from the laptop to the living room.
YouTube is the most popular first TV destination for generation Alpha, according to a comprehensive survey of the UK’s viewing habits by Ofcom, the communications regulator.
Melon, cucumber and tomato in a coriander pesto, and a spicy summer vegetable stew
Adjapsandal is one of my favourite Georgian go-tos, no matter the season. Its more traditional form is broody and stewy, designed to burble away on a winter stove a bit like ratatouille, but with more fresh herbs. In summer, while the barbecue’s on and veg dishes of this kind are va-va-voom, it makes sense to just chuck them on the barbie instead and perhaps team with a spicy shortcut adjika paste using a jar of roast peppers. And, second, a very adaptable carpaccio for any firm fruit in your fridge or fruit bowl: melons, stone fruit – heck, even pineapple! The key is to use a sharp knife and slice against the grain for the best mouthfeel, much as you might sashimi.
‘We knew we had to get out of that country,’ says former Canada coach
Move to A-League Women side an opportunity to ‘reset’ her career
Former Canada women’s football coach Bev Priestman has said she “didn’t feel safe” living in North America following her one-year ban for spying at the Paris Olympics.
Wellington Phoenix announced Wednesday that Priestman would take over as head coach of their women’s team, returning to football in the country she was banned for spying on with a drone, New Zealand. She has signed a two-year contract.
Cambodia has previously denied breaking the truce, which came into effect on Tuesday after five days of violent clashes
Thailand has accused Cambodia of a “flagrant violation” of a truce to end cross-border fighting, claiming Cambodian troops launched an overnight attack on the frontier.
Many of those affected by flooding that killed 30 people in China’s capital have no insurance while official support is limited
Wang Rongying was lying in bed at 6pm on Monday evening when her phone started pinging with messages. Neighbours said that the heavy rainfall Wang could hear outside was starting to cause the water levels on the street to rise to worrying levels. When she opened her front door to see for herself the flood water came rushing in.
“I was so scared … never since the 1980s have I seen such heavy flooding. We didn’t receive any warning in advance,” Wang said, surveying the soaked remains of her two-storey home in Miyun, a district on the outskirts of Beijing that was hit by heavy floods on Monday evening. By midnight, 28 Miyun residents were reported to have died.
Grandson of valet Alf Edwards and kitchen maid Caroline Palmer donates dozens of their personal objects to English Heritage
He was a valet, she was a kitchen maid and more than a century ago they met because of his passion for photography and desperate need of a warm place to use as a makeshift studio.
Alf Edwards and Caroline Palmer worked at opposite ends of an imposing country house, set in a huge estate with hundreds of employees, and there was little other reason for their paths to cross.
DJ Mehdi perished in a tragic accident aged 34. A new documentary, Made in France, restores his pivotal role in the electronic music revolution that grew out of 00s Paris
The late DJ Mehdi had a talent for bridging divides. At the height of the musician’s fame, Mehdi’s cousin Myriam Essadi recalls in a new documentary, he had to jet straight from a nightclub in Ibiza to his grandfather’s funeral in Tunisia. “He was wearing red glasses, white jeans and a jacket with a cross. In Tunisia! For our grandfather’s funeral!” Essadi laughs. “We didn’t get it. And in Tunisia you don’t mess with religion.”
DJ Mehdi: Made in France, a six-part documentary now available with English subtitles on Franco-German broadcaster Arte, revisits the life and tragic death of one of the most fascinating, influential and misunderstood French musicians of his generation.
From the Balfour declaration of 1917 to Tony Blair’s role as envoy, the UK has struggled to make meaningful progress towards peace in the Middle East
The former British prime minister Harold Macmillan once said that there was no problem in the Middle East because a problem has a solution. Keir Starmer is the latest incumbent in No 10 to try to prove Macmillan wrong through a plan that has been described by Downing Street as “pathway to peace” for Gaza and the wider region. The record of Britain’s previous interventions do not augur well.
A string of recent cases has highlighted the dangers for women in countries across the continent using harmful creams and lotions
Two months after first going to hospital, a 65-year-old woman was dead – and her doctors are blaming the cosmetic creams she used on her face and body for decades.
The anonymous patient, from Togo, is one of a string of recent cases reported in medical journals of cancers in black African women linked to skin-lightening creams and lotions, prompting dermatologists to call for better regulation.
The shocking scene in Northern Ireland is the result of a decade spent militarising Europe’s fringes – and dismissing the human cost
The burning of an effigy of refugees on a boat to the cheers of a riled-up crowd in Moygashel, Northern Ireland shows where we are today. A decade has passed since Europe’s border crisis in 2015 and the shock caused by the image of Alan Kurdi, whose little body was found washed up on a Turkish beach. Sentiments of welcome and solidarity were short lived and have given way to a seemingly never-ending obsession in Europe with “stopping the boats” and reducing the number of migrant arrivals.
In the decade since Angela Merkel’s “we can do it”,we have become used to hearing that 2015 must not be allowed to happen again. Across Europe, politicians routinely vow to fight migration, “smash” smuggling gangs, ramp up border controls and build up detention and deportation capacities. A much-criticised migration pact was agreed upon while the annual budget of Frontex, the EU border agency, has seen a staggering increase, from €97.9m in 2014 to €922m in 2024. Entire border zones have become militarised and the guarding of borders has been “externalised” so that non-EU countries can prevent migration on Europe’s behalf.
Dr Maurice Stierl is a migration and border researcher at the University of Osnabrück, Germany
First response should be chest compressions rather than preventing ‘tongue swallowing’, researchers suggest
It is the simple life-saving sequence taught in many a first aid lesson: when someone collapses, first check their airways, then breathing and finally circulation before starting chest compressions if needed.
But experts have warned this approach to CPR could be increasing the risk of death for athletes experiencing a cardiac arrest.
Almost unknown a decade ago, Ninja sold nearly $3bn worth of products last year – and a good chunk of them were to me. Are we getting value for money?
I have a problem. It has spanned many years, cost me hundreds of pounds and earned the derision – and concern – of friends and family. Don’t worry: it isn’t anything sordid but it does give me an absurd number of ways to cook chicken or use up a bag of potatoes.
My poison is Ninja appliances. Anyone who walks into my tiny kitchen is taken aback by my extensive collection. My prized trio are the Foodi, the Foodi Max Health Grill and Air Fryer and the Creami, which collectively give me the ability to air-fry, grill, sear, roast, pressure-cook, slow-cook, steam or even dehydrate my dinner, and transform a frozen mishmash of protein powder, yoghurt and sweeteners into an ice-cream-like dessert.
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