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.
While Gilmour Space’s Eris rocket lasted only 14 seconds in the air above Bowen, nascent Australian space industry says failed orbit attempt is a launchpad for future success
The spaceship hovered for less than a minute before crashing in a giant plume of smoke, but it was history-making nonetheless – the attempted launch of an orbital rocket designed and made in Australia.
The Eris rocket was built by Gold Coast-based Gilmour Space and briefly blasted off from the Bowen orbital spaceport in north Queensland on Wednesday morning, after months of waiting for the right conditions.
The Taiwanese government insists Lai Ching-te’s visit was delayed due to domestic issues, including natural disasters and tariff negotiations
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te will delay an expected trip to his country’s remaining allies in Latin America, amid conflicting accounts of the reason for the postponement.
Lai was expected to travel to the Americas next month, as his government seeks to shore up support in a region where many countries have cut diplomatic ties in favour of relations with China, which claims Taiwan as its territory.
At least 18 wounded in latest missile strike, army says; US president says Russia has 10 days to end invasion or face new sanctions. What we know on day 1,253
At least three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 18 wounded in a Russian strike on a military training camp, the Ukrainian army announced early on Wednesday. “The enemy launched a missile strike on the territory of one of the training units of the ground forces” on Tuesday, the army said on Facebook. At least “three servicemen are dead and 18 wounded,” it added, without specifying where the attack took place.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian attack on a prison on Tuesday in which 16 people were killed and dozens injured, was deliberate. “The Russians knew it was a civilian facility. They could not have been unaware,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. “Each such Russian strike, each instance of Russian arrogance in response to global calls to end the war, all this only confirms that pressure is necessary.”
Hours after Tuesday’s attacks US President Donald Trump shortened his deadline for Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine or face new sanctions to 10 days. Trump told reporters flying with him back from a visit to Scotland that he had not heard from Putin, adding “It’s a shame.”
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it had “taken note” of Trump’s earlier statement. “The special military operation continues,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, employing the term that Moscow uses for its war effort in Ukraine.
However former president Dmitry Medvedev, who is deputy head of the country’s Security Council, warned Trump against threatening Russia. “Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” Medvedev wrote on social platform X.
A Russian court jailed a journalist and former volunteer for Alexei Navalny for 12 years on Tuesday under laws that ban cooperation with the opposition activist’s organisations – even if it happened in the past. Olga Komleva, 46, volunteered for the party run by Navalny – who died last year – before it was banned as “extremist” in 2021, according to independent media outlet Mediazona. She was also found guilty of criticising the Russian army as she covered Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and anti-government protests for independent outlet RusNews. The journalist did not admit guilt on either charge.
Zelenskyy on Tuesday signed a law allowing Ukrainian people over 60 to join the armed forces, which are struggling to find recruits. The law will allow them to sign a one-year contract for non-combat roles if they pass medical tests, according to an explanatory note on the parliament’s website.
The EU is set to make a reduced aid payment to Ukraine from its wartime fund for the first time, after Kyiv failed to fulfil all required reforms, Brussels said Tuesday. The European Commission has proposed paying Kyiv just over 3bn euros ($3.5bn) instead of 4.5 bn euros originally foreseen in a latest instalment of aid, spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said. That comes after Ukraine admitted in June that it had missed three of 16 reform benchmarks, including concerning the appointment of judges to an anti-graft court.
Russian airline Aeroflot cancelled dozens more flights on Tuesday but said it had now stabilised its schedule after a major cyber-attack a day earlier, and the transport ministry said the issue had been resolved. Two pro-Ukraine hacking groups claimed on Monday to have carried out a year-long operation to penetrate Aeroflot’s network. They said they had crippled 7,000 servers, extracted data on passengers and employees and gained control over the personal computers of staff, including senior managers.
President says pair fell out because Epstein poached staffers, including Epstein accuser who died in April
Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that Jeffrey Epstein, the late sex offender he socialized with for more than a decade, “stole” Virginia Giuffre and other young female staffers whom he hired away from the president’s Mar-a-Lago country club.
Speaking to reporters onboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Scotland, Trump was asked to elaborate on his earlier comments about falling out with Epstein because he took employees from his business. The president said on Monday that he had kicked Epstein out of his club “because he did something that was inappropriate” – specifically, that “he stole people that worked for me”.
TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant that suffered a triple meltdown triggered by the 2011 tsunami, has announced that discharge of treated water contaminated by the disaster has been suspended until today’s tsunami warnings are lifted.
Personnel engaged in the ongoing decommissioning work at the plant have also been temporarily evacuated.
Las Vegas is set to host the 2026 Fifa World Cup draw on 5 December, according to multiple reports, marking the second time the Nevada city will stage the tournament’s group-stage ceremony. But despite widespread speculation, the Sphere will not be hosting the event due to a scheduling conflict.
Sources told ESPN that Las Vegas was chosen over candidate cities in Canada and Mexico, though Fifa has not yet confirmed either the date or location. The draw will assign the 48 participating nations into 12 groups of four, reflecting the first time the men’s tournament will feature an expanded 48-team field and span three host countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This documentary about a porn star who has made millions from ‘barely legal’ videos fails to really take her to task. Its maker is no match for the steel of the interviewee
For those of you pure of heart and internet search history, Bonnie Blue (real name: Tia Billinger) is famous for being one of the most popular and highest-earning content creators to have appeared on more-or-less porn site OnlyFans. To fulfil her ambition of earning £5m a month from subscribers she needed a USP. She found it in pursuing “barely legal” sex – traditionally one of the most searched-for terms in porn – with the twist that instead of men searching for videos of other men having sex with teenage (or teenage-looking, depending on how many internet layers you’re prepared to sift through for your purposes) girls, Billinger offered herself to young men.
She had sex with them for free on condition that they gave permission for her to upload the footage to her OnlyFans account, where her subscribers pay to access her content. “She is a marketing genius,” says one of the team she has gathered round her to help administrate her growing empire. She has, in essence, introduced an entirely new way of doing porn-business. If she were working in any other field – if she had stayed in her previous job as a finance recruiter for the NHS, perhaps – and innovated to the same extent, she would probably be hailed as an extraordinary entrepreneur.
1000 Men and Me: The Bonnie Blue Story is available on Channel 4.
Music mogul to be sentenced in October on prostitution-linked offenses after acquittal on more serious charges
The music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is asking a judge to free him on a $50m bond while he awaits sentencing in October after a jury found him not guilty of the most serious federal charges he faced earlier this month.
In a court filing on Tuesday, Combs’s lawyer argued that conditions at the Metropolitan detention center in Brooklyn were dangerous, noting that others convicted of similar prostitution-related offenses were typically released before sentencing.
The Past Lives and Materialists writer-director is set to pen a follow-up to the dark, Julia Roberts-led 1997 favourite
A sequel to the 1997 comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding is in the works with Celine Song tapped to write the screenplay.
According to Collider, the playwright turned writer-director, who broke out with the Oscar-nominated drama Past Lives, has reportedly been hired by Sony as the film enters early development.
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