Motorway stretch plays music as a safety feature but those close to it say ‘intrusive’ noise is constant and distressing
Residents of one of India’s most upmarket neighbourhoods say the country’s first “musical road” has turned their daily lives into a nightmare soundtrack.
A stretch of Mumbai’s recently opened Coastal Road seafront expressway has been engineered to play the pulsating Oscar-winning tune Jai Ho from the movie Slumdog Millionaire when vehicles drive on it at lower speeds.
Jack Hughes lost his front teeth in men’s ice hockey final against Canada before scoring overtime winner
If the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony was a love letter to Italian heritage, the final day was a thunderous operatic finale, a crescendo of clashing sticks, soaring amplitude and the bittersweet tears of legends taking their final bows. As the sun dipped behind the peaks of the Dolomites for the last time this fortnight, the Olympic flame did not just flicker out – it was passed from the high-fashion streets of Milan to the ancient stones of Verona.
The final day’s headline act was the men’s ice hockey final which the weight of a 46-year ghost. Pitting the United States against Canada, the contest fell exactly on the anniversary of the 1980 Miracle on Ice. There was no need for a miracle this time, just the surgical precision of Jack Hughes. After Matt Boldy opened the scoring in the first period, the game transformed into a goaltending masterclass by Connor Hellebuyck, who turned aside 40 Canadian shots in normal time.
George Russell has been purring in a balanced car in pre-season while Aston Martin are still hunting for power
The big four – Mercedes, Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren – have been at pains throughout testing to claim they are not the top dog, in something of an inverse Mexican standoff, each decrying their own strengths. Undeniably, however, Mercedes emerge from the three pre-season tests looking strong.
After their poorest pair of tournament performances in years, Steve Borthwick’s project is inevitably under scrutiny
The band on the stadium concourse were playing a familiar tune in the immediate aftermath of England’s latest debacle on Saturday. “Zombie! Zombie!” the vocalist sang, ostensibly in tribute to Ireland’s record 42-21 victory at Twickenham. Alternatively he might just have been riffing on the horribly listless, blank-eyed performance that ended England’s Six Nations title hopes for another year.
“In your he-ad, in your he-ad…” The old Cranberries anthem, synonymous with Ireland’s 2023 World Cup campaign in France, will be heard a few more times over the next month if Andy Farrell’s team maintain their revitalised excellence and no-nonsense physical intent. For England’s players, though, the past two weekends have been truly grim, a return to the bad old days they had dared to hope were over.
Objectification, hate, rape threats: the politicians debating online abuse mean well, but to truly understand, they need to see what I see
If you’re anything like my parents, you probably wouldn’t even understand most of the content that floods my social media, no matter how hard I try to avoid it.
Here’s a recent example from Instagram: “Do y’all females ever tell ur homegirls ‘Sis chill you letting too many dudes hit?’” Essentially, that means: “Women – do you ever tell your girlfriends that they’re whores and need to stop letting so many guys fuck them?” The reel, posted by a 19-year-old man, appeared on my Instagram feed without me wanting to see it, or ever interacting with any other similar content. The comments that followed were pure misogyny. “Women see body count as a leaderboard and they try to outdo each other,” was one of them. Translation: all women are competitively promiscuous.
In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support for rape and sexual abuse on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
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Like I said right at the beginning, Pierre de Coubertin never wanted a Winter Olympics. If that line sounds a little familiar it might be because you read it here a fortnight or so ago. “The great inferiority of these snow sports is that they are completely useless,” Coubertin wrote, “with no useful application whatsoever.” But it’s true, too, that over time he changed his mind. And by the end of the International Olympic Committee’s very first Olympic “winter sports week” at Chamonix in 1924 he gave a speech in which he told his audience that “winter sports are among the purest”.
Rio Ngumoha lifts Liverpool, the tussle to be Harry Kane’s England deputy and Chelsea self-destruct
Tottenham weren’t quite as dreadful as they were in losing 4-1 to Arsenal in November, but they were still extremely so, devoid of wit, energy, solidity, creativity, quality, and everything else one would hope to see in a football team. Make no mistake, they are in serious danger of going down and, assessing their fixtures, it is not easy to see where they might win enough points to stay up – all the more so given the form of West Ham and Nottingham Forest who are both playing well. Spurs, on the other hand, haven’t won a league game in 2026 and look like they’ve forgotten how – partly, it must be said, because of an awful injury list. So, where does Igor Tudor go from here? It may well be that his only option is to pick both Dominic Solanke and Randal Kolo Muani, get balls into the box, and hope they can make enough of them to save him – which might not be The Tottenham WayTM, but is a lot better than relegation. Daniel Harris
Revisiting the Troubles in 1990s Belfast, Sapling is the result of intensive research in the city. And winning the Women’s prize, says Duncan, ‘is the maddest thing that’s ever happened to me’
It took Georgina Duncan a few seconds to realise that Indhu Rubasingham, when announcing the winner of the Women’s prize for playwriting last week, was talking about her drama, Sapling. The 30-year-old recalls the moment: “The first sentence I heard her say, I was like, ‘That could be any of the plays.’ Then I was like, ‘Holy shit! This is the maddest thing that’s ever happened to me.’”
The news still hasn’t fully sunk in, but anyone who has read Sapling will not be surprised by Duncan’s victory. Set in Belfast in the 1990s, the play follows 16-year-old Gerry, whose older brother Connor was murdered 10 years earlier by another child. “Someone described it as being about the scar tissue behind grief, which I thought was so eloquent,” Duncan says. The play was born out of her own fear of loss: “Grief is something we all experience in our lives. And it frightens me.”
Men tend to burn more energy at rest, but other factors also carry weight
‘Generally speaking, yes,” says Bethan Crouse, a performance nutritionist from Loughborough University, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all rule. Humans burn calories to fuel everything from movement to sleeping. For the general adult population aged from about 19 to 64, guidance puts daily energy needs at about 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men (the requirements are very different in children and adolescents, and tend to fall with age: they decline between 65 and 74, and drop again after 75). But averages hide a lot of variation.
One of the main reasons men typically need more calories is that they usually have a higher resting (or basal) metabolic rate, meaning they burn more energy at rest. This is largely explained by differences in body composition – on average, men have more lean muscle mass, while women tend to have a higher proportion of body fat – and muscle burns more calories than fat.
A rumour on social media brought dozens of fortune seekers to a field on the outskirts of mining town Springs
In a township 30 miles east of Johannesburg, a mechanical digger filled in holes in the dark brown earth, bringing to an end a brief but intense gold rush that saw dozens of fortune seekers descend on what was once a cattle field.
Less than two weeks ago, a rumour spread like wildfire on social media: someone had found gold while digging a hole for a fence post in a field on the edge of Gugulethu, an informal settlement of dirt roads and metal shacks on the outskirts of mining town Springs.
Vickie Hardin Woods was worried she would lose her identity when she retired. Instead, she came up with a plan that made her feel more creative, connected and valued than ever
When Vickie Hardin Woods retired, she knew she needed a plan. “I was worried about losing my carefully crafted identity as a professional. I was looking for something to carry me through that time … What else can I be?”
She decided to do – rather than be – something new. Hardin Woods would bake a pie every day for a year, using fresh ingredients local to her home in Salem, Oregon – and she would give each pie away.
Can a radical proposal to get rid of career politicians really be implemented?
No Donald Trump, Nigel Farage or Liz Truss; no Zack Polanski, Jacinda Ardern or Volodymyr Zelenskyy either. No political parties and no elections, but instead a random bunch of ordinary people chosen by lottery to run the country for two-year spells, like a sort of turbo-charged jury service except with the jurors holding an entire country’s fate in their hands.
If you think this idea sounds intriguing and refreshing, you might love Politics Without Politicians, Hélène Landemore’s argument for radically extending citizen power. If you think it sounds like maddening whimsy, ill-suited to the seriousness of the times we are living through – well, we’ll come to that later. But first, to the argument that politics is so broken as to be beyond repair, and that scrapping electoral representation is the best way of fixing it.
A fabled boutique hotel in the Atlas mountains makes a stunning base for hikes to spectacular viewpoints
Coming up the footpath from Imlil, Hussein and I step aside to let a laden mule go past and I look back. On the wooded lower slopes of the valley are clusters of tall houses, some plumed with wood smoke. There appears to be a lot of building work going on, some of it to repair the damage caused by the 2023 earthquake. The sound of a concrete mixer comes cutting through the cool mountain air mixed with birdsong and human voices. Turning back to face south, I can see the Atlas mountains, austere and aloof, a few snow patches on the upper slopes. That’s where we are going, to the top of Toubkal at 4,167 metres, the highest peak in North Africa.
Hussein has been a guide in this beautiful Moroccan valley all his adult life. “Most people here work in tourism now,” he says, waving a greeting to a muleteer who is passing us. The man is clutching the tail of his animal to steady himself up the steep track. “Twenty years ago everyone grew walnuts and subsistence food,” Hussein says. “Now we’ve still got walnuts, but we’ve also planted apple trees as a cash crop. It leaves time for the tourist work.”
Gabriela Domínguez Ruvalcaba’s meditative documentary follows the traditional daily rituals of Mexico’s Tzotzil women and their deep connection with nature
A poetic calm subsumes Gabriela Domínguez Ruvalcaba’s languid documentary, shot among the mossy hills of Chiapas in Mexico. Here dwells the indigenous Tzotzil community which has kept a pastoral way of life against the march of time. Apart from the odd forest ranger and passerby, Ruvalcaba’s film focuses almost entirely on the Tzotzil women. Together, they tend herds of sheep which they still shear by hand, and use traditional tools for spinning yarns and natural dye for fabrics. Stunning to behold, these traditional practices not only keep cultural heritage alive but also introduce an element of artistry into every day rituals.
The women are often pictured in wide shots that take in the majestic landscape that surrounds them, furthering the deep relationship between the Tsotsil community and their environment in which natural resources are treated with care and respect. At the same time, Chiapas is far from an idyll. One woman says that, although they are now treated by nonindigenous people with more respect, discrimination still exists. Another speaks of gender inequality within her community and how her father prevented her from accessing education.
BBC’s Crime Next Door examines how a 17-year-old vampire-obsessed student took the life of 90-year-old, Mabel Leyshon. Plus, people who have found a better way to approach life
The 2001 murder of 90-year-old Mabel Leyshon at her home on the Welsh island of Ynys Môn (Anglesey) by an assailant who drank her blood made once-friendly neighbours suddenly fearful of one another. Behind the slightly sensationalist title, this podcast from the BBC’s Crime Next Door strand sensitively retells the story, with host Meic Parry contextualising what a case like this meant in a close-knit Welsh community. Hannah J Davies Widely available, episodes weekly
Footage of Punch, a seven-month-old Japanese macaque, has gone viral around the world after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy
A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week.
Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born last July at Ichikawa zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother.
Corporation says there are ‘no favourites’ among MOTD trio Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan
When the BBC split the task of presenting Match of the Day between three prominent broadcasters, executives were clear – there were to be “no favourites” among the new hosts Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman.
That mantra is now being underlined as the corporation prepares its coverage for this summer’s World Cup. It is understood producers are ensuring that the trio have an equal number of programmes to present once the tournament kicks off in Mexico City.
Caistor St Edmund, Norfolk: I can’t tell which birds are male and which are female and, it turns out, neither can they. There is a system, though
The flock of 50 or so pigeons lifts from the barn roof as one. The loud clapping of wings makes the horses jump, even though this happens several times a day. I scan the sky for a peregrine but can’t see signs of danger. They swirl once, then settle back on to the corrugated metal roof.
These farmyard pigeons are a mix of feral and wood pigeons that hang out happily together. The group will reduce soon. Some of the wood pigeons are probably continental winter migrants who will depart. The remaining males will then leave the communal roost and set up territory ready for the breeding season. Each will defend its area diligently, with that resonant, repetitive cooing.
It was a close run thing for a time, but Tottenham’s haplessness prevailed over the idea that the league leaders might be inveterate bottlers
It was a derby but it was also a clash of emerging narratives, which is always a confusing, if thrilling, moment for the great soap opera of the Premier League. In the end, Tottenham’s haplessness prevailed over the idea that Arsenal might be inveterate bottlers, fated to let another title race get away from them. But there was a time in the first half when it seemed like it might be a close-run thing.
It shouldn’t have been. Arsenal are better than Spurs. They outplayed Tottenham for long periods. They had 20 chances to Spurs’ six. They won 4-1 and could easily have won by more. But bottling takes no account of that; indeed, the better the side play the more certain it is that they are bottling if they somehow fail to win. And frankly, the fact that Arsenal were level at half‑time was hard to explain as, for the third league game in a row, and fourth in the past six, they conceded within 10 minutes of scoring. Only the vague sense that this is the sort of thing Arsenal do made it seem like they might drop points, but football is rooted in such anxieties.
Is it to be a degree and heavy debt when graduate jobs are shrinking? Or foregoing a degree, knowing society still worships them? Confused, angry: who wouldn’t be
Some months ago, I was at my old university, speaking to prospective sixth-form and college students about taking a degree in the arts and what future careers they could expect. It was a cohort of teenagers from underrepresented backgrounds: all of them had that glint of ambition in their eyes, a desire to better their circumstances. After the talk, they showed me their precocious LinkedIn profiles already advertising their talents to future employers. I expected them to ask what would be of more value out of a degree in the arts or Stem, but I was unprepared for something more bracing: whether it was worth them going to university at all.
It is a question that keeps on rearing its head, as the graduate recruitment crisis and crippling student debts paint a picture of a pursuit with diminished returns. Those of us in the orbit of young people increasingly wonder whether we can, in good conscience, encourage them to go and get a degree. The options being presented increasingly look like snake oil, so is it any wonder that young people feel disillusioned and deceived?
Jason Okundaye is an assistant Opinion editor at the Guardian
Aromatic snacks stuffed full of flavourful chicken mince, and a comforting Korean stew
I use a lot of rice paper and always have plenty at home, because it can be used in a wide variety of ways. It’s delicious fried, as are most things! These half-moons are filled with an aromatic chicken mince, while tteokbokki is a Korean dish of chewy rice tubes that are often cooked in a stew. They are not always easy to find, but I love them, so I make my own.
This year’s Baftas were a chaotic mix of wild praise and inadvertent insults as the best actor prize was won by an unknown – and one of the nominees seemingly slurred from a man in the stalls
Going into Bafta night, everybody’s secret hopes for a little British movies that could were centred on folkie comedy The Ballad of Wallis Island. In the event though, Ballad wound up with nothing and I Swear, about Tourettes activist John Davidson stormed the show, capped by a jawdropping win for Robert Aramayo in the best actor category. As the man himself said, it was not to be believed that he’d be heading to the podium ahead of the likes of DiCaprio, Chalamet and Ethan Hawke. You probably have to go back to the mid-1980s and Haing S Ngor’s win for The Killing Fields for someone so unheralded to take the prize.
Coincidence or not, the party has timed its congress for the centenary of an infamous Nazi rally. But condemnation didn’t stop Hitler, and it’s not enough now
Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is different from its sister movements across the west.
In a country deeply conscious of its own history, the party, now riding high in the polls, has to decide whether it rejects or embraces Hitler as an ideological antecedent. Rather than answering definitively, the party is deliberately opaque. It flirts with the Nazi legacy without explicitly committing to it. Far from putting voters off, this strategic ambiguity cultivates a surprisingly powerful mix of outrage and plausible deniability.
Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian and journalist. She is the author of Beyond the Wall: East Germany, 1949-1990. Her latest book Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe comes out in May.
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From flooding in Peru to the fight for fair wages, a lot more goes into the price of fruit than what supermarkets charge consumers for
Why have apples increased so much in price in the UK? They seem much more expensive than bananas, even though many are homegrown, and so don’t have to travel halfway around the world.
It seems bananas (sorry) that fruit grown in the country where it is being sold costs more than produce which has been shipped thousands of miles. But, unlike other goods, such as petrol, the price we pay at the supermarket for fresh food has become detached from the cost of getting it there.
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