/international Latest international news, sport and comment from the Hunturdeals en-gb Hunturdeals News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2020 Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:54:52 GMT 2020-12-27T17:54:52Z en-gb Hunturdeals News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2020 https://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.png /politics/2020/dec/27/boris-johnson-admits-brexit-deal-falls-short-for-financial-services <p>PM says agreement ‘does not go as far as we would like’ over sector’s access to EU markets</p><p>Boris Johnson has conceded that the Brexit trade deal “perhaps does not go as far as we would like” over access to EU markets for financial services, while insisting he had achieved an accord his critics said would be impossible.</p><p>In an <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/12/26/exclusive-brexit-deal-delivers-fundamental-things-voted-saysboris/">interview with the Sunday Telegraph</a>, the prime minister said he had defied accusations of “cake-ism” – seeking the impossible – in getting a trade deal that allowed divergence from EU standards.</p> <a href="/politics/2020/dec/27/boris-johnson-admits-brexit-deal-falls-short-for-financial-services">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Boris Johnson Financial sector Business European Union Politics UK news Trade policy Economic policy Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:51:31 GMT /politics/2020/dec/27/boris-johnson-admits-brexit-deal-falls-short-for-financial-services Photograph: David Mbiyu/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: David Mbiyu/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock Peter Walker Political correspondent 2020-12-27T09:51:31Z /world/2020/dec/26/tump-us-coronavirus-relief-package-shutdown <p>The president indicated he may veto the 5,000-page bill that he calls a ‘disgrace’ which would extend benefits to Americans</p><p>As unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans on Saturday, Donald Trump, who spent Christmas playing golf in Florida, continued to block a $900bn pandemic relief bill that would extend them.</p><p>The package, which Congress passed with bipartisan support on Monday after months of negotiations, would keep unemployment benefits in place until March and expand state benefits by $300 a week – as well as extending an evictions moratorium, providing federal loans to small businesses and $600 direct payments to many Americans.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/26/tump-us-coronavirus-relief-package-shutdown">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Donald Trump US politics Trump administration US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:51:16 GMT /world/2020/dec/26/tump-us-coronavirus-relief-package-shutdown Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images Miranda Bryant 2020-12-27T13:51:16Z /world/live/2020/dec/27/coronavirus-live-covid-vaccine-inoculation-lockdown-eu-uk-news-latest-updates <p>Latest updates: first vaccine doses <a href="/world/live/2020/dec/27/coronavirus-live-covid-vaccine-inoculation-lockdown-eu-uk-news-latest-updates?page=with:block-5fe84b9a8f08b66486e27901#block-5fe84b9a8f08b66486e27901">administered across Europe</a>; Germany rollout delayed <a href="/world/live/2020/dec/27/coronavirus-live-covid-vaccine-inoculation-lockdown-eu-uk-news-latest-updates?page=with:block-5fe8932e8f08b66486e27bc8#block-5fe8932e8f08b66486e27bc8">after potential irregularities in cooling of Pfizer shot</a></p><ul><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/27/putin-to-receive-russia-made-sputnik-v-vaccine-against-covid">Putin to receive Russia-made Sputnik V vaccine against Covid</a></li><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/27/eu-launches-mass-covid-19-vaccination-new-variant-spreads-pfizer-vaccine">EU launches mass Covid-19 vaccination as new variant spreads</a></li><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/27/vaccination-rolls-out-across-europe-but-anger-remains-over-late-start">Anger over late start to Europe vaccine rollout</a> </li><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/27/scientists-call-for-nationwide-lockdown-after-rapid-spread-of-covid-19-variant">UK scientists call for nationwide lockdown after spread of variant</a></li><li><a href="/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></li></ul><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2020-12-27T17:20:47.001Z">5.20pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p>Hospitals in <strong>England</strong><strong> </strong>have been told to free up beds, due to the growing number of coronavirus patients.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/society/2020/dec/27/hospitals-in-england-told-to-free-up-all-possible-beds-for-surging-covid-cases">Hospitals in England told to free up all possible beds for surging Covid cases</a> </p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2020-12-27T17:11:39.478Z">5.11pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><strong>South Africa’s </strong>president, <strong>Cyril Ramaphosa,</strong> called an emergency meeting of the country’s national coronavirus command council, amid a rise that has taken the country to nearly 1 million confirmed cases. He is expected to announce new restrictions to try and curb its spread. A total of 26,521 people have died from the virus. </p><p>Like the UK, it has detected a new coronavirus variant which is thought to be more contagious and has become one of the reasons behind another wave of infections.</p> <a href="/world/live/2020/dec/27/coronavirus-live-covid-vaccine-inoculation-lockdown-eu-uk-news-latest-updates">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Infectious diseases Vaccines and immunisation UK news Health Politics World news Europe Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:41:16 GMT /world/live/2020/dec/27/coronavirus-live-covid-vaccine-inoculation-lockdown-eu-uk-news-latest-updates Photograph: Marios Lolos/EPA Photograph: Marios Lolos/EPA Harry Taylor (now) and Matthew Weaver (earlier) 2020-12-27T17:41:16Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/nashville-blast-investigators-examine-5g-paranoia <p>Blast caused damage to dozens of buildings and hurt three people as police reportedly search home of a person of interest<br></p><p>Investigators are reportedly examining whether a suicide bomber with a fear of 5G technology could be behind a Christmas morning explosion in Nashville’s historic downtown that injured three people.</p><p>The blast, which caused extensive damage to dozens of buildings in Tennessee’s biggest city, took place outside a facility owned by the telecommunications company AT&amp;T and knocked out or impaired mobile phone services in several other cities.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/nashville-blast-investigators-examine-5g-paranoia">Continue reading...</a> Nashville Tennessee US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:11:21 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/nashville-blast-investigators-examine-5g-paranoia Photograph: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images Photograph: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images Richard Luscombe 2020-12-27T17:11:21Z /world/2020/dec/27/syrians-refugees-flee-lebanon-camp-after-tents-set-on-fire <p>Three people wounded in clash between camp residents and youths near coastal city of Tripoli</p><p>Hundreds of Syrian refugees have fled their makeshift camp in north Lebanon after their tents were set alight when fighting broke out between local youths and camp residents.</p><p>At least three people were wounded in the clash on Saturday in the Miniyeh region near the coastal city of Tripoli, after which youths set fire to the camp, Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency said.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/syrians-refugees-flee-lebanon-camp-after-tents-set-on-fire">Continue reading...</a> Lebanon Syria Refugees Middle East and North Africa World news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:23:26 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/syrians-refugees-flee-lebanon-camp-after-tents-set-on-fire Photograph: Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Ibrahim Chalhoub/AFP/Getty Images Reuters 2020-12-27T17:23:26Z /technology/2020/dec/27/facebook-to-close-controversial-irish-holding-companies <p>Intellectual property to be repatriated to the US after tax authorities claimed it owed $9bn</p><p>Facebook is winding up Irish holding companies it has used to channel billions of profits to avoid paying taxes in the US, the UK and hundreds of other countries.</p><p>The company’s main Irish subsidiary paid $101m (£75m) in tax while recording profits of more than $15bn in 2018, the last year for which records are available. Facebook companies around the world paid the Irish holding company for use of Facebook’s intellectual property.</p> <a href="/technology/2020/dec/27/facebook-to-close-controversial-irish-holding-companies">Continue reading...</a> Facebook Ireland Europe Media Technology Tax avoidance Business Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:42:51 GMT /technology/2020/dec/27/facebook-to-close-controversial-irish-holding-companies Photograph: Johanna Geron/Reuters Photograph: Johanna Geron/Reuters Julia Kollewe 2020-12-27T15:42:51Z /world/2020/dec/27/far-right-israeli-football-fans-rebel-over-beitar-jerusalems-new-arab-owner <p>Hardcore group threaten boycott and hold protest at training session after Abu Dhabi sheikh buys 50% stake in top team</p><p>An Israeli premier league football team whose most hardcore fans chant “Death to Arabs” faces a crisis of introspection following a landmark deal that saw the club part-sold to an unlikely new owner: an Arab sheikh.</p><p><a href="/football/beitarjerusalem" title="">Beitar Jerusalem</a> – the only Israeli team never to have fielded an Arab player – has been grappling with the news that, as of this month, a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, now owns 50% of the club.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/far-right-israeli-football-fans-rebel-over-beitar-jerusalems-new-arab-owner">Continue reading...</a> Israel Football Race Middle East and North Africa World news Sport Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:35:39 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/far-right-israeli-football-fans-rebel-over-beitar-jerusalems-new-arab-owner Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/Getty Photograph: Ahmad Gharabli/Getty by Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum in Jerusalem 2020-12-27T08:35:39Z /world/2020/dec/27/un-thailand-protesters-royal-insult-law-lese-majesty <p>Students among those who could face long sentences under sweeping lese-majesty law </p><p>Thailand’s authorities must stop targeting pro-democracy protesters with draconian legal action and instead enter into dialogue, according to the UN’s special rapporteur for freedom of assembly, who warned the country risks sliding into violence.</p><p>Clément Voule said he had written to the Thai government to express alarm at the use of the fierce lese-majesty law against dozens of protesters, including students as young as 16.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/un-thailand-protesters-royal-insult-law-lese-majesty">Continue reading...</a> Thailand Human rights Protest Freedom of speech Asia Pacific Law World news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 11:31:22 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/un-thailand-protesters-royal-insult-law-lese-majesty Photograph: Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Image/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Image/REX/Shutterstock Rebecca Ratcliffe in Bangkok 2020-12-27T11:31:22Z /world/2020/dec/27/liu-xiaoming-quit-chinese-ambassador-britain <p>Critic of UK decision to ban Huawei from 5G networks to be replaced by China’s vice-foreign minister<br></p><p>China’s long-serving envoy to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, a staunch defender of closer UK-China economic ties and the imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong, is standing down, marking the end of an era in relations between the two countries that hit a high in 2015 but has since worsened markedly.</p><p>He is being replaced by his country’s vice-foreign minister, Zheng Zeguang, a former Cardiff University law student once tipped to become China’s ambassador to the US, and still seen as a candidate for that post in a couple of years’ time.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/liu-xiaoming-quit-chinese-ambassador-britain">Continue reading...</a> China World news UK news Huawei Uighurs 5G Hong Kong Xi Jinping Asia Pacific Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:37:18 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/liu-xiaoming-quit-chinese-ambassador-britain Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters Photograph: Simon Dawson/Reuters Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor 2020-12-27T14:37:18Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/georgia-runoff-elections-democrats-fundraising <p>Races will decide which party controls the Senate and, in turn, the legislative power of President-elect Joe Biden</p><p>Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, both running for crucial US Senate seats in Georgia that will decide the fate of Joe Biden’s new administration, have raised over $100m each in just two months.</p><p>The announcement of the recent record-breaking hauls – which considerably exceed that of their Republican opponents – comes with less than two weeks to go until the runoff races are decided in special elections on 5 January.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/georgia-runoff-elections-democrats-fundraising">Continue reading...</a> US elections 2020 Georgia Democrats US politics US Senate US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:30:41 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/georgia-runoff-elections-democrats-fundraising Photograph: John Arthur Brown/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock Photograph: John Arthur Brown/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock Miranda Bryant 2020-12-27T09:30:41Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/girl-scouts-boy-scouts-lawsuit-recruitment-war <p>Lawyers say the organization is now directly competing with the Boy Scouts for female recruits and that it’s not a fair fight </p><p>The Girl Scouts are in a “highly damaging” recruitment war with the Boy Scouts after the latter opened its core services to girls, leading to marketplace confusion and some girls unwittingly joining the Boy Scouts, lawyers for the century-old Girl Scouts organization claim in court papers. </p><p>The competition, more conjecture than reality two years ago, has intensified as the Boy Scouts of America organization – which insists recruits pledge to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind” – has unfairly recruited girls lately, according to claims in legal briefs filed on behalf of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. </p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/girl-scouts-boy-scouts-lawsuit-recruitment-war">Continue reading...</a> US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:09:08 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/girl-scouts-boy-scouts-lawsuit-recruitment-war Photograph: Elaine Thompson/AP Photograph: Elaine Thompson/AP Hunturdeals Staff 2020-12-27T15:09:08Z /world/2020/dec/27/the-great-opportunity-how-covid-transformed-global <p>2020 led to surges in everything from domestic abuse to black markets in fake vaccines</p><ul><li><a href="/world/series/coronavirus-live/latest">Coronavirus – latest updates</a></li><li><a href="/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></li></ul><p>By the end of March, one week into the UK’s first lockdown, recorded crime in Lancashire had <a href="https://crimesciencejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40163-020-00121-w">dropped</a> by a startling 40% compared with the four-year average.</p><p>“At first there was some mild panic,” says DCI Eric Halford, of Lancashire Constabulary. “Most senior officers expected a surge in demand.”</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/the-great-opportunity-how-covid-transformed-global">Continue reading...</a> Organised crime Coronavirus Crime Drugs Human trafficking Domestic violence Child protection Law Society World news Police Cybercrime UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:32:20 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/the-great-opportunity-how-covid-transformed-global Photograph: Robert Michael/AP Photograph: Robert Michael/AP Laura Spinney 2020-12-27T13:32:20Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/consultant-infectious-diseases-long-covid-not-mild-illness-seriously-debilitated-new-clinics <p>Nine months on from the virus, I am seriously debilitated. This is how the new NHS clinics need to help thousands of us</p><p>With the excitement of the Covid vaccine’s arrival, it may be easy to forget and ignore those of us with “<a href="/world/2020/oct/15/long-covid-what-we-know-so-far">long Covid</a>”, who are struggling to reclaim our previous, pre-viral lives and continue to live with debilitating symptoms. Even when the NHS has managed the herculean task of vaccinating the nation, Covid-19 and the new mutant variants of the virus will continue to circulate, leaving more people at risk of long Covid. Data from a King’s College London study in September suggested <a href="/society/2020/sep/08/60000-may-have-long-covid-for-more-than-three-months-uk-study">as many as 60,000</a> people in the UK could be affected, but the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics suggest it <a href="/society/2020/dec/16/long-covid-alarm-as-21-report-symptoms-after-five-weeks">could be much higher</a>. </p><p>I was acutely ill in March, though – like many people with long Covid – mine was defined as a “mild” case not requiring admission to hospital. Nine months on, I am seriously debilitated, with crashing post-exertional fatigue, often associated with chest pains. On bad days, my brain feels like it doesn’t want to function, even a conversation can be too much. I have no risk factors, I’m in my 50s, and have always been fit, but remain too unwell to work – ironically as a consultant in infectious diseases. Watching the pandemic unfold from the sidelines when I should have been working in the thick of it has only added to the frustration of my protracted illness.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/consultant-infectious-diseases-long-covid-not-mild-illness-seriously-debilitated-new-clinics">Continue reading...</a> Long Covid Coronavirus Infectious diseases Medical research Microbiology Biology Science World news Health Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:06:41 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/consultant-infectious-diseases-long-covid-not-mild-illness-seriously-debilitated-new-clinics Photograph: Alamy Photograph: Alamy Joanna Herman 2020-12-27T14:06:41Z /world/2020/dec/27/putin-to-receive-russia-made-sputnik-v-vaccine-against-covid <p>Announcement follows health ministry’s approval of vaccine use by elderly people</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/world/series/coronavirus-live/latest">Coronavirus – latest updates</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></strong></li></ul><p>The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, will receive the Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus, the Kremlin spokesman told state TV channel Rossiya 1.</p><p>“He said he will be vaccinated, he made this decision and was waiting until all formalities are completed,” said Dmitry Peskov.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/putin-to-receive-russia-made-sputnik-v-vaccine-against-covid">Continue reading...</a> Russia Coronavirus Vladimir Putin World news Europe Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:51:54 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/putin-to-receive-russia-made-sputnik-v-vaccine-against-covid Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters Photograph: SPUTNIK/Reuters Reuters in Moscow 2020-12-27T13:51:54Z /world/2020/dec/27/scientists-call-for-nationwide-lockdown-after-rapid-spread-of-covid-19-variant <p>Stricter measures needed as cases of mutated virus, linked to UK travellers, are reported across globe</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/world/series/coronavirus-live/latest">Coronavirus – latest updates</a></strong></li><li><strong><a href="/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></strong></li></ul><p>Cases of the new variant Covid-19 virus were confirmed in several European countries on Saturday, including Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. All were linked to people who had arrived from the UK.</p><p>Meanwhile, Japan has announced it is banning all new entries of foreign nationals from Monday following the discovery of the variant in travellers from the UK.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/scientists-call-for-nationwide-lockdown-after-rapid-spread-of-covid-19-variant">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Infectious diseases World news Microbiology Medical research Science Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:30:38 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/scientists-call-for-nationwide-lockdown-after-rapid-spread-of-covid-19-variant Photograph: Natchavakorn Songpracone/Alamy Stock Photo Photograph: Natchavakorn Songpracone/Alamy Stock Photo Robin McKie, Toby Helm and Jamie Doward 2020-12-27T07:30:38Z /books/2020/dec/27/kiley-reid-interview-such-a-fun-age <p>The novelist’s hit debut, a witty spin on race, feminism and sex based on her time as a nanny in New York, has even won fans among her former employers…</p><p>This time last year, Kiley Reid was a tantalising rumour, the truth of which was known only to her publishers and to the film company that had optioned her debut novel two years before it was ready to see the light of day. When <em><a href="/books/2020/jan/07/such-a-fun-age-by-kiley-reid-review">Such a Fun Age</a></em> was published – on New Year’s Eve in the US and a week later in the UK – the rumour checked out: here was a smart comedy of manners, which treated interracial relationships of the early 21st century with the sort of needling wit that Jane Austen had applied to class 200 years earlier.</p><p>It was the start of a year in which Reid seems to have been travelling in the opposite direction to the rest of the world. By the time the Covid pandemic shut everything down, she had introduced the novel to 19 cities, including London. Reese Witherspoon had picked it for her book club; in July, it was longlisted for the Booker prize. </p> <a href="/books/2020/dec/27/kiley-reid-interview-such-a-fun-age">Continue reading...</a> Books Fiction Culture Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:00:47 GMT /books/2020/dec/27/kiley-reid-interview-such-a-fun-age Photograph: David Goddard Photograph: David Goddard Claire Armitstead 2020-12-27T15:00:47Z /tv-and-radio/2020/dec/27/speaking-with-the-serpent-my-encounters-with-serial-killer-charles-sobhraj <p>The notorious murderer who preyed on 70s backpackers is the subject of a new BBC drama. Our writer recalls his bizarre meetings with a charmer and psychopath</p><p>At the beginning of <em>The Serpent</em>, the new BBC drama series based on the exploits of a real-life serial killer, a title page declares: “In 1997 an American TV crew tracked Charles Sobhraj down to Paris where he was living as a free man.”</p><p>The ABC team were not the only ones back then to speak to Sobhraj, who was suspected of committing at least 12 murders. I too made the journey to Paris and managed to arrange an interview for the <em>Observer</em> with the Vietnamese-Indian Frenchman. He had just been released from jail in India, where he had spent 20 years on various charges (but not for any of the murders for which he was alleged to be responsible).</p> <a href="/tv-and-radio/2020/dec/27/speaking-with-the-serpent-my-encounters-with-serial-killer-charles-sobhraj">Continue reading...</a> TV crime drama India Nepal Drama South and Central Asia Television Sun, 27 Dec 2020 11:00:42 GMT /tv-and-radio/2020/dec/27/speaking-with-the-serpent-my-encounters-with-serial-killer-charles-sobhraj Photograph: Krishnan Guruswamy/AP Photograph: Krishnan Guruswamy/AP Andrew Anthony 2020-12-27T11:00:42Z /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/fearne-cotton-interview-observer-magazine-i-have-found-clarity <p>She was the face of popular culture, but then Fearne Cotton reached crisis point. Now she has found her voice again...</p><p>Fearne Cotton keeps a pile of notebooks next to her computer, each brimming with plans for projects. Many of us have struggled to focus during the pandemic, but for Cotton, the past nine months have been among the most productive of her professional life. “I’ve found this time really creative,” she says, in that presenter voice of hers, so soothingly familiar. “It’s like when I go on holiday. In moments I’m forced to do nothing, I find this clarity.”</p><p>It’s 10am on a grey December morning when we meet over Zoom and her schedule, when she takes me through it, sounds exhausting. Her lockdowns have been <em>busy</em>. She’s written two books since the pandemic started and has kept up her popular wellness podcast, <a href="https://www.officialfearnecotton.com/news/2018/2/26/happy-place-podcast" title="">Happy Place</a>, alongside her weekly Radio 2 show. And though the second instalment of her annual summer wellness event, <a href="https://www.happyplacefestival.com/" title="">Happy Place Festival</a>, could have become another Covid casualty, Cotton and her team took the programme online. She juggled all this with home schooling her kids.</p> <a href="/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/fearne-cotton-interview-observer-magazine-i-have-found-clarity">Continue reading...</a> Health & wellbeing Fearne Cotton Culture Television & radio Life and style Books Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:00:42 GMT /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/fearne-cotton-interview-observer-magazine-i-have-found-clarity Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/Kintzing Photograph: Stephanie Sian Smith/Kintzing Michael Segalov 2020-12-27T10:00:42Z /world/2020/dec/27/karen-race-white-women-black-americans-racism <p>The image of a white woman calling police on Black people put the lie to the myth of racial innocence</p><p>There was no direct connection between the “Central Park Karen” incident in New York City and the police killing of 46-year-old George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, beyond the coincidence of timing. Time in the pandemic has been elastic and confusing, and reports of the separate incidents did not emerge immediately, but the two events occurred on Monday 25 May, Memorial Day.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/world/2020/dec/27/sisters-in-hate-review-tough-but-vital-read-on-the-rise-of-racist-america">Sisters in Hate review: tough but vital read on the rise of racist America</a> </p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/karen-race-white-women-black-americans-racism">Continue reading...</a> Race Gender US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 06:00:38 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/karen-race-white-women-black-americans-racism Illustration: Michelle Thompson/The Hunturdeals Illustration: Michelle Thompson/The Hunturdeals Julia Carrie Wong 2020-12-27T06:00:38Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/when-every-set-looks-like-contagion-inside-hollywoods-pandemic-year <p>Actors are slowly returning to work after a long shutdown caused vast economic damage: ‘How many people gave up their dreams?’</p><p>For decades,<em> </em>the sound stages of Hollywood have built alternate universes in the middle of Los Angeles – fictional courtrooms, hospitals, homes and offices. Today, they all resemble the set of Contagion.</p><p>Make-up artists walk around in astronaut helmets. Actors take breaks inside plastic bubbles. And healthcare professionals swab everyone’s nose to test for a deadly infection before they’re allowed inside.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/when-every-set-looks-like-contagion-inside-hollywoods-pandemic-year">Continue reading...</a> Los Angeles Film California US news Culture Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:00:39 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/when-every-set-looks-like-contagion-inside-hollywoods-pandemic-year Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA Sam Levin in Los Angeles 2020-12-27T08:00:39Z /books/2020/dec/27/feed-your-soul-the-31-day-literary-diet-for-january-2021-culture-books <p> Looking for a more positive new year resolution? From a Shirley Jackson short story to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 30-minute Ted talk, nourish your mind with our one-a-day selection of literary treats <br></p><p>Our revels now are ended and January looms, with its exhortations to get fit, lose weight, dry out. So here’s a radical alternative diet: instead of depriving yourself, how about making it a month of treats – but feeding your brain instead of your face? Our one-a-day calendar will take you into magical realms of poetry and prose, argument and imagination. It will transport you to some places you always wanted to explore, but couldn’t find the time, and to others you never knew existed, where you will find strange and wonderful things.</p><p>In fact, this calendar very nearly didn’t happen because I kept disappearing down rabbit-holes so deep and fascinating that, had I been the white rabbit himself, someone would have had to drag me out by the ears. Some entries – such as John Huston’s film of Malcolm Lowry’s mescal-fuelled modernist masterpiece <em>Under the Volcano </em>(20 January) – come with the authority of a full year’s leisurely burrowing (it is among the <a href="https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/100-great-films-streaming-netflix-amazon-prime-updated">BFI’s list of 100 great films</a> to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime, which was a comfort and joy through lockdown, and is handily still being updated).</p> <a href="/books/2020/dec/27/feed-your-soul-the-31-day-literary-diet-for-january-2021-culture-books">Continue reading...</a> Books Culture Poetry Fiction Blogging Essays Film Sun, 27 Dec 2020 11:30:43 GMT /books/2020/dec/27/feed-your-soul-the-31-day-literary-diet-for-january-2021-culture-books Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer Claire Armitstead 2020-12-27T11:30:43Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/history-britain-ruling-class-created-crisis-boris-johnson-brexit-covid <p>Boris Johnson’s run of bad decisions on Brexit and Covid have their roots in a saga of elite entitlement and superficiality</p><p>When the novelist <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/18/le-carre-death-loss-public-figures-intimate-mourn-mourning">John le Carré died</a> earlier this month, among the passages quoted by journalists was a short excerpt from <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2020/12/john-le-carre-england-politics/617379/">The Secret Pilgrim</a>, published in 1990. In the book, the words are spoken by Le Carré’s fondly loved character George Smiley. “The privately educated Englishman – and Englishwoman, if you will allow me – is the greatest dissembler on Earth,” he says. “Was, is now and ever shall be for as long as our disgraceful school system remains intact. Nobody will charm you so glibly, disguise his feelings from you better, cover his tracks more skilfully or find it harder to confess to you that he’s been a damned fool.”</p><p>The words are a cutting summary of the far-off era of upper class treachery and cold war subterfuge, but also fit the less romantic time of Brexit, the pandemic and a Conservative party whose leadership by two public schoolboys has so pushed us into disaster. Therein lies a huge part of the national tragedy that, amid <a href="/world/2020/dec/21/lorry-drivers-fear-being-stuck-in-dover-for-christmas-as-borders-close">stranded lorries</a>, a shamefully high death toll and some of the greatest peacetime blunders this country has ever made, has recently seemed to be reaching some kind of awful climax. Of late, some of the best writing about the mess we are in has focused on Boris Johnson’s character flaws, which are undoubtedly a big part of the tale. But what has been rather less examined is the fact that his shortcomings blur into a much longer story about our longstanding ruling class, and its habit of creating crisis after crisis.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/history-britain-ruling-class-created-crisis-boris-johnson-brexit-covid">Continue reading...</a> Class issues Boris Johnson Politics Conservatives Coronavirus Brexit Inequality David Cameron Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:08:26 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/history-britain-ruling-class-created-crisis-boris-johnson-brexit-covid Photograph: Pippa Fowles/No10 Downing Street Photograph: Pippa Fowles/No10 Downing Street John Harris 2020-12-27T15:08:26Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/trump-fed-our-worst-instincts-his-global-legacy-is-toxic-and-immoral <p>The US president rampaged across the world, leaving a trail of random destruction, division and conflict in his wake</p><p>How much damage did Donald Trump do around the world, can it be repaired, and did he accomplish anything of lasting significance? Assessing the international legacy of the 45th US president is not so much a conventional survey of achievement and failure. It’s more like tracking the rampages of a cantankerous rogue elephant that leaves a trail of random destruction and shattered shibboleths in its wake. <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/23/donald-trumps-latest-wave-of-pardons-includes-paul-manafort-and-charles-kunsher" title="">Last week’s wild pardoning spree</a> is a case in point.</p><p>First, the big picture. Trump’s confrontational manner, combined with his “America First” agenda, seriously undermined transatlantic relations and US global leadership. Joe Biden promises to set this right, but it will not be easy. France’s Emmanuel Macron exploited US introspection to advance ideas of European autonomy and integration. Leaders in the UK, Hungary and Poland cynically flattered Trump for their own political purposes.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/trump-fed-our-worst-instincts-his-global-legacy-is-toxic-and-immoral">Continue reading...</a> Donald Trump Joe Biden US foreign policy US news World news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:00:41 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/trump-fed-our-worst-instincts-his-global-legacy-is-toxic-and-immoral Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP Simon Tisdall 2020-12-27T10:00:41Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/the-guardian-view-on-britain-out-of-the-eu-a-treasure-island-for-rentiers <p>There’s no sign that ministers will use the twin shocks of the pandemic and Brexit to fix a broken system that is failing too many people</p><p>When the UK entered the coronavirus age in March, <a href="https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/innovation-and-crisis-comparing-wartime-strategy-our-covid-19-response/" title="">state resources and collective commitment</a> were mobilised on a scale not seen since the second world war. Decades ago, Britain had revealed itself, thanks in part to being able to marshal the industrial might of the empire, to be a formidable world power. Its economy was energised with breakthroughs in <a href="http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/the-haldane-principle-and-other-invented-traditions-in-science-policy" title="">radar, atomic power and medicine</a>. </p><p>Although the story of the pandemic has not yet ended, there appears to be no such transformation in sight under Boris Johnson. Rather depressingly, familiar trends of greed, incompetence and cronyism are reasserting themselves. This is bad news for an economy where there has been a collapse of socially useful innovation. Britain’s lack of hi-tech manufacturing capabilities, <a href="/commentisfree/2020/apr/02/the-guardian-view-on-the-uks-testing-failure-much-to-learn-from-germany" title="">notably in medical diagnostic testing</a>, was cruelly exposed by the pandemic.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/the-guardian-view-on-britain-out-of-the-eu-a-treasure-island-for-rentiers">Continue reading...</a> Economic policy Economics Economic growth (GDP) Communities Inequality Banking Society Money Privatisation Politics Business Utilities Brexit European Union Conservatives Boris Johnson Manufacturing sector Regulators Poverty Social exclusion Coronavirus Corporate governance Foreign policy Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:23:43 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/the-guardian-view-on-britain-out-of-the-eu-a-treasure-island-for-rentiers Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Editorial 2020-12-27T15:23:43Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/english-covid-a-truly-world-beating-virus <p>Our unstoppable British strain shows that yes, we can prosper outside the EU</p><p>If the United Kingdom can take one positive thing from the Covid-19 crisis, it is that the <a href="/news/audio/2020/dec/22/the-new-strain-of-coronavirus-that-has-cancelled-christmas">most powerful and virulent version of the virus</a> is perceived globally as being British, faster and stronger than its puny foreign counterparts. And the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, has rightly declared this the sort of thing that makes our island nation “a much better country than every single one of the others”. Up yours Delors! Take back control!!</p><p>Due to festive blockages, I had to file this “so-called” “funny topical column” six days ago, though I’m not under as much stress this week as Boris Johnson’s anal sphincter. Indeed, there were only so many times the prime minister could blame Dilyn the dog before Carrie Symonds, <a href="/uk-news/2020/nov/29/carrie-symonds-profile-boris-johnson-fiancee-dominic-cummings">the power behind the porcelain throne</a>, realised some privileged knowledge had set her babyfather’s bowels aquiver. Stranded Dover hauliers must envy Johnson’s endless torrent of just-in-time perishable goods deliveries.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/english-covid-a-truly-world-beating-virus">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Brexit Asian Dub Foundation Boris Johnson Politics UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:00:41 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/english-covid-a-truly-world-beating-virus Illustration: David Foldvari/The Observer Illustration: David Foldvari/The Observer Stewart Lee 2020-12-27T10:00:41Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/so-long-we-will-miss-you-we-europeans-see-how-you-have-helped-to-shape-us History will judge that the near 50-year relationship between the UK and Europe has been good for both. Best to forget the rancorous ending<p>Now that a deal has been done, the end of Britain’s life as a member of the European Union can be decently mourned. As funeral orations go, the one William Shakespeare put into the mouth of Mark Antony in <em>Julius Caesar</em> is, well, world-beating: “The evil that men do lives after them,/ The good is oft interred with their bones.” Before we throw the last handful of earth on the corpse of Britain’s membership of the European Union, we might briefly disinter the good things about the relationship.</p><p>A bad ending gets projected backwards. A messy divorce obliterates the years of reasonably happy marriage. Brexit has projected into the future a sour story of resentment and rancour. Almost 50 years of history are squeezed into a deterministic story of irreconcilable incompatibility. The evil lives on; the good rots in the earth.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/so-long-we-will-miss-you-we-europeans-see-how-you-have-helped-to-shape-us">Continue reading...</a> Brexit UK news European Union Foreign policy Europe World news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:00:40 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/so-long-we-will-miss-you-we-europeans-see-how-you-have-helped-to-shape-us Illustration: Dom McKenzie/The Observer Illustration: Dom McKenzie/The Observer Fintan O’Toole 2020-12-27T09:00:40Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/america-healthcare-system-coronavirus-covid-long-haul <p>The US already has sky-high rates of chronic illness. Now comes a wave of Covid patients who never seem to fully recover<br></p><p>Post-viral fatigue syndrome (PVFS) isn’t new, but that won’t stop <a href="/commentisfree/2020/aug/19/we-know-too-little-about-covid-19-long-haulers-we-need-a-comprehensive-study">Covid “long-haul” syndrome</a> from toppling an already unsteady medical system. The <a href="/commentisfree/2020/aug/05/brain-fog-phantom-smells-and-tinnitus-my-experience-as-a-covid-long-hauler">symptoms</a> faced by so-called long-haulers – Covid patients who don’t seem to fully recover, even months after infection – can be debilitating. Understanding the similarity of long-haul syndrome to previous outbreaks (as well as the differences) should advise an incoming administration on the need for massive healthcare reform.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/us-news/ng-interactive/2020/aug/11/lost-on-the-frontline-covid-19-coronavirus-us-healthcare-workers-deaths-database">Lost on the frontline: US healthcare workers who died fighting Covid-19</a> </p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/america-healthcare-system-coronavirus-covid-long-haul">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Long Covid US news World news Society Sun, 27 Dec 2020 11:23:43 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/america-healthcare-system-coronavirus-covid-long-haul Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Jennifer Lutz and Richard Carmona 2020-12-27T11:23:43Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste The intelligence officer turned KGB agent who has died at 98 never belonged to Kim Philby’s elite traitors’ club<p>The death of the former senior MI6 officer <a href="/world/2020/dec/26/george-blake-mi6-spy-cold-war-double-agent-dies-aged-98" title="">George Blake</a> brings to a close a cold war chapter of betrayal and treachery inside the intelligence service. The life, career and activities of his fellow officer and traitor Kim Philby are well known and endlessly pored over. In recent years, Blake’s treason has been subject to the same process but in less detail, partly because his status is perhaps less exalted than Philby’s. </p><p>Why is that?</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/27/george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste">Continue reading...</a> Espionage Cold war MI6 World news Kim Philby John le Carré Books UK security and counter-terrorism UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:15:38 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/27/george-blake-treachery-born-of-idealism-still-a-waste Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images Stephen Dorril 2020-12-27T07:15:38Z /commentisfree/2020/dec/26/americans-acceptance-of-trumps-behavior-will-be-his-vilest-legacy <p>Trump has brought impunity to the highest office in the land, wielding a wrecking ball to American democracy</p><p>Most of the 74,222,957 Americans who voted to re-elect Donald Trump – 46.8%of the votes cast in the 2020 presidential election – don’t hold Trump accountable for what he’s done to America.</p><p>Their acceptance of Trump’s behavior will be his vilest legacy.</p> <a href="/commentisfree/2020/dec/26/americans-acceptance-of-trumps-behavior-will-be-his-vilest-legacy">Continue reading...</a> Donald Trump US politics Trump administration Law (US) Sun, 27 Dec 2020 06:00:37 GMT /commentisfree/2020/dec/26/americans-acceptance-of-trumps-behavior-will-be-his-vilest-legacy Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images Robert Reich 2020-12-27T06:00:37Z /news/audio/2020/dec/24/culture-2020-a-look-back-at-the-best-tv-music-and-books-podcast <p>The Hunturdeals’s deputy music editor, Laura Snapes, the assistant TV editor, Ammar Kalia, and <a href="http:/books">books site</a> editor, Sian Cain, discuss their favourite music, TV and books from the past six months and what they’re looking forward to hearing, watching and reading in 2021</p><p>The Hunturdeals’s deputy music editor, <strong>Laura Snapes</strong>, the assistant TV editor, <strong>Ammar Kalia,</strong> and the <a href="http:/books">books site</a> editor, <strong>Sian Cain,</strong> tell<strong> Rachel Humphreys </strong>about their favourite music, TV and books from the past six months. </p><p>Laura looks at why it’s been such a good year for disco, with Dua Lipa, Kylie and Sophie Ellis-Bextor all releasing albums. She also discusses the stars who made music from home including Taylor Swift, who released not one but two albums this summer. Ammar says Schitt’s Creek carried him through some of the most depressing days of lockdown. ‘It’s just an incredibly heart-warming show. It was nice to watch something that was so divorced from the horrors of reality.’ Ammar also discusses why Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe series are both such standout pieces of work. </p> <a href="/news/audio/2020/dec/24/culture-2020-a-look-back-at-the-best-tv-music-and-books-podcast">Continue reading...</a> Television Books Music Thu, 24 Dec 2020 03:00:02 GMT /news/audio/2020/dec/24/culture-2020-a-look-back-at-the-best-tv-music-and-books-podcast Photograph: Natalie Seery/BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA Photograph: Natalie Seery/BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Laura Snapes, Ammar Kalia and Sian Cain, produced by Hannah Moore and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard 2020-12-24T03:00:02Z /news/audio/2020/dec/23/how-lewis-hamilton-became-one-of-the-uks-top-sports-stars-and-activists <p>Writers Michael Eboda and Oliver Owen look at how a 12-year-old go karting champion went on to become Formula One’s most successful driver. This year, more than ever, Hamilton has also been leading the fight against racism</p><p>This year, the driver Lewis Hamilton equalled a record seven Formula One world championships when he won the<a href="/sport/2020/nov/15/lewis-hamilton-wins-turkish-gp-to-clinch-record-equalling-seventh-f1-world-title-michael-schumacher"> Turkish grand prix</a> in November. Many believe Hamilton is the greatest Formula One driver of all time. He also won BBC Sports Personality of the Year this month and topped The Powerlist 2021, the annual list of the most influential people of African, African Caribbean and African American heritage in the UK. Hamilton is the first sports star to take top billing in the list’s 14-year history.</p><p><strong>Michael Eboda</strong>, the chief executive of Powerful Media, the publisher of the list, tells <strong>Rachel Humphreys</strong> about meeting a 12-year-old Lewis Hamilton on a go-karting course. It was clear even then, Eboda says, that Hamilton was special. This year he interviewed the driver again, and talked to him about his anti-racism activism. Hamilton has encouraged his fellow drivers to back him by taking a knee before each race; convinced his team, Mercedes, to change its cars’ livery from silver to black; and <a href="/sport/2020/jun/21/lewis-hamilton-commission-increase-diversity-in-motor-sport-formula-one">set up a commission</a> to make the sport more diverse at all levels of employment – all the while showcasing the Black Lives Matter cause with a T-shirt and matching BLM face mask.</p> <a href="/news/audio/2020/dec/23/how-lewis-hamilton-became-one-of-the-uks-top-sports-stars-and-activists">Continue reading...</a> Black Lives Matter movement Lewis Hamilton Formula One Race Sport Wed, 23 Dec 2020 03:00:33 GMT /news/audio/2020/dec/23/how-lewis-hamilton-became-one-of-the-uks-top-sports-stars-and-activists Photograph: PA Wire/PA Photograph: PA Wire/PA Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Michael Eboda and Oliver Owen; produced by Joshua Kelly, Alex Atack, Tobi Thomas and Axel Kacoutié; executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard 2020-12-23T03:00:33Z /news/audio/2020/dec/22/the-new-strain-of-coronavirus-that-has-cancelled-christmas <p>Hunturdeals health editor Sarah Boseley looks at the fast-spreading Covid variant that has prompted the prime minister to put London, the south east and the east of England into tier 4 and more than 40 countries to ban UK arrivals because of concerns about the spread </p><p>Yesterday Boris Johnson held an emergency Cobra meeting to look at the emergence of a new Covid variant that has prompted flights from the UK to be suspended to countries across the world including Spain, Italy, Canada, India and Hong Kong. France has shut its border with the UK for 48 hours, meaning no lorries or ferries can leave from the port of Dover.</p><p>The Hunturdeals’s health editor, <strong>Sarah Boseley</strong>, talks to<strong> Rachel Humphreys </strong>about what we know so far about the variant, which is said to be as much as 70% more transmissible than previous versions. It now accounts for more than 60% of new infections reported in London. The government’s chief scientific adviser, Patrick Vallance, said there was no evidence that this strain of the virus was more lethal. But faster transmission would mean more cases, which could lead to more hospitalisations and deaths. On Monday, Prof Neil Ferguson, a member of the government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), said preliminary data hinted that the variant could more effectively infect children, though causality had not been established.</p> <a href="/news/audio/2020/dec/22/the-new-strain-of-coronavirus-that-has-cancelled-christmas">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Boris Johnson Infectious diseases Tue, 22 Dec 2020 03:00:04 GMT /news/audio/2020/dec/22/the-new-strain-of-coronavirus-that-has-cancelled-christmas Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images Presented by Rachel Humphreys with Sarah Boseley, produced by Elizabeth Cassin and Axel Kacoutié, executive producers Nicole Jackson and Phil Maynard 2020-12-22T03:00:04Z /football/live/2020/dec/27/liverpool-west-bromwich-albion-premier-league-live <ul><li>Live updates from the 4.30pm GMT kick-off at Anfield</li><li><a href="/football/2020/dec/27/georginio-wijnaldum-asks-liverpool-for-more-time-before-deciding-on-new-offer">Wijnaldum asks Liverpool for more time before deciding on new offer</a></li><li>Get in touch! <a href="mailto:rob.smyth@hunturdeals.com">Email Rob</a> with your thoughts</li></ul><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2020-12-27T17:49:36.156Z">5.49pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><strong>63 min </strong>Andy Robertson’s cross-shot is brilliantly blocked by Furlong. Not that it matters - Robertson was offside.</p><p class="block-time published-time"> <time datetime="2020-12-27T17:48:22.861Z">5.48pm <span class="timezone">GMT</span></time> </p><p><strong>61 min </strong>Jurgen Klopp loses it with the referee after a foul is given against Rhys Williams. Klopp is booked, rightly so - he’s been out of order a few times this season.</p> <a href="/football/live/2020/dec/27/liverpool-west-bromwich-albion-premier-league-live">Continue reading...</a> Premier League Football Liverpool West Bromwich Albion Sport Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:49:36 GMT /football/live/2020/dec/27/liverpool-west-bromwich-albion-premier-league-live Photograph: Nick Potts/Reuters Photograph: Nick Potts/Reuters Rob Smyth 2020-12-27T17:49:36Z /football/2020/dec/27/west-ham-brighton-premier-league-match-report <p>There comes a point when repeated misfortune simply begins to resemble carelessness. In Brighton &amp; Hove Albion’s case, the hard-luck stories are starting to wear thin. Even when the bounce of the ball runs in their favour, they find ways not to win, undermining stylish approach play with a self-destructive streak that continues to leave them sitting uncomfortably close to the bottom three.</p><p>Still victorious on only two occasions this season, Brighton let an underwhelming West Ham off the hook on a scrappy afternoon in east London, missing the chance to pull four points clear of 18th place after twice relinquishing the lead with sloppy defending. In front thanks to slightly fortuitous strikes from Neal Maupay and Lewis Dunk, Graham Potter’s side ended up frustrated again after Tomáš Souček rescued West Ham with a flukey late equaliser.</p> <a href="/football/2020/dec/27/west-ham-brighton-premier-league-match-report">Continue reading...</a> Premier League West Ham United Brighton & Hove Albion Football Sport Sun, 27 Dec 2020 16:28:30 GMT /football/2020/dec/27/west-ham-brighton-premier-league-match-report Photograph: Justin Setterfield/AP Photograph: Justin Setterfield/AP Jacob Steinberg at the London Stadium 2020-12-27T16:28:30Z /sport/2020/dec/27/mike-tyson-comeback-notable-us-athletes-2020 <p>Iron Mike’s sincerity and humility turned what might have been a cynical money grab into an unlikely moment of inspiration that underscored his endurance in our sporting consciousness</p><p>When Mike Tyson announced he was fighting an eight-round exhibition against Roy Jones Jr over Thanksgiving weekend after floating the idea of a comeback <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CADjPgOl_Nw/">on Instagram</a> for most of 2020, you’d have been forgiven if you dismissed the whole thing as a cynical money grab.</p><p>Nostalgia is a powerful narcotic. And the unspoken allure of old-timers exhibitions like Tyson v Jones is that people are paying not for the product on offer but a memory – a feeling. Embedded in the sales pitch of a Tyson fight was the promise of transporting the customer even briefly to a fairer, better time that mostly exists in our memories.</p> <a href="/sport/2020/dec/27/mike-tyson-comeback-notable-us-athletes-2020">Continue reading...</a> Boxing Mike Tyson Sport US sports Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:30:46 GMT /sport/2020/dec/27/mike-tyson-comeback-notable-us-athletes-2020 Photograph: Joe Scarnici/USA Today Sports Photograph: Joe Scarnici/USA Today Sports Bryan Armen Graham 2020-12-27T14:30:46Z /sport/2020/dec/27/andy-murray-to-make-australian-open-return-after-getting-wildcard <ul><li>There were fears for Murray’s career after defeat two years ago </li><li>‘We welcome Andy back to Melbourne with open arms’</li></ul><p>Andy Murray has been awarded a wildcard for February’s Australian Open. The main draw entry for the first grand slam of 2021 comes two years after the former world No 1 and five-times runner-up in Melbourne played what he feared would be his final match there, <a href="/sport/2019/jan/14/andy-murray-out-first-round-australian-open-tennis-roberto-bautista-agut">losing in the first round to Roberto Bautista Agut</a>.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/sport/2020/dec/19/australian-open-hopefuls-face-three-week-bubble-to-enter-grand-slam">Australian Open hopefuls face three-week bubble to enter grand slam</a> </p> <a href="/sport/2020/dec/27/andy-murray-to-make-australian-open-return-after-getting-wildcard">Continue reading...</a> Andy Murray Australian Open Tennis Sport Australia sport Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:18:10 GMT /sport/2020/dec/27/andy-murray-to-make-australian-open-return-after-getting-wildcard Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images for LTA Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images for LTA Reuters 2020-12-27T15:18:10Z /sport/2020/dec/27/meg-lanning-and-virat-kohli-named-captains-of-icc-teams-of-the-decade <ul><li>Lanning one of three Australians in female ODI XI</li><li>Kohli leads male Test team containing four England players</li></ul><p>Virat Kohli has been named captain of the men’s ICC Test team of the decade, while Meg Lanning leads the female ODI XI, which includes two other Australians, Alyssa Healy and the all-rounder Ellyse Perry.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/sport/2020/dec/27/ajinkya-rahane-century-gives-india-big-lead-over-australia-in-second-test">Ajinkya Rahane century gives India big lead over Australia in second Test</a> </p> <a href="/sport/2020/dec/27/meg-lanning-and-virat-kohli-named-captains-of-icc-teams-of-the-decade">Continue reading...</a> Cricket Sport Women's cricket Virat Kohli Australia sport India cricket team Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:14:28 GMT /sport/2020/dec/27/meg-lanning-and-virat-kohli-named-captains-of-icc-teams-of-the-decade Photograph: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images Photograph: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images Hunturdeals sport 2020-12-27T13:14:28Z /sport/2020/dec/27/altior-suffers-shock-defeat-behind-outsider-nube-negra-at-kempton-horse-racing <ul><li>Unlikely dual Champion Chase winner will be retired</li><li>Dan Skelton horse pulls off surprise with brother Harry as jockey</li></ul><p>Altior suffered a shock defeat on his seasonal comeback behind outsider Nube Negra at Kempton in the Desert Orchid Chase. The even money favourite was weak in the betting before finishing a clear second to the 20-1 winner.</p><p>Nicky Henderson’s dual Champion Chase victor Altior, who was a late absentee from the Tingle Creek at Sandown earlier in the season, ran in snatches throughout for Nico de Boinville, but ultimately had no answer to Dan Skelton’s impressive winner.</p> <a href="/sport/2020/dec/27/altior-suffers-shock-defeat-behind-outsider-nube-negra-at-kempton-horse-racing">Continue reading...</a> Horse racing Sport Nicky Henderson Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:32:59 GMT /sport/2020/dec/27/altior-suffers-shock-defeat-behind-outsider-nube-negra-at-kempton-horse-racing Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images Photograph: Alan Crowhurst/Getty Images Tony Paley 2020-12-27T15:32:59Z /world/2020/dec/25/maradonaland-naples-statues-museum-diego-maradona <p>City’s murals of Maradona have become pilgrimage sites since footballer’s death in November</p><p>A month since the death of Diego Armando Maradona and the southern Italian city of Naples is looking more like a Maradonaland each day.</p><p>After renaming Napoli football club’s San Paolo Stadium and a train station in his honour this month, local authorities are planning a large museum, commissioning statues and dedicating an entire square to the Argentinian who took the city’s football team to glory and is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/25/maradonaland-naples-statues-museum-diego-maradona">Continue reading...</a> Italy Diego Maradona Europe Football Culture Cities Argentina Americas Sport World news Sat, 26 Dec 2020 11:25:01 GMT /world/2020/dec/25/maradonaland-naples-statues-museum-diego-maradona Photograph: Fabio Sasso/AP Photograph: Fabio Sasso/AP Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo 2020-12-26T11:25:01Z /world/2020/dec/23/two-way-street-how-barcelona-is-democratising-public-space <p>Citizens are finally getting the urban patios and parks promised when the cramped medieval city was extended in the 1900s</p><p>At the turn of the 20th century, the Catalan engineer <a href="/cities/2016/apr/01/story-cities-13-eixample-barcelona-ildefons-cerda-planner-urbanisation">Ildefons Cerdà</a> had a revolutionary idea for extending Barcelona beyond the cramped confines of its medieval walls. In the grid system of the extension he planned, each city block would be built around a large open space or patio, designed to be a park for residents.</p><p>When he began his work, the old city was hemmed in physically and psychologically, desperately overcrowded and disease-ridden, with frequent outbreaks of cholera and a lower life expectancy than London or Paris.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/23/two-way-street-how-barcelona-is-democratising-public-space">Continue reading...</a> Cities Barcelona Air pollution Europe Spain Environment World news Wed, 23 Dec 2020 12:30:44 GMT /world/2020/dec/23/two-way-street-how-barcelona-is-democratising-public-space Photograph: Edu Bayer Photograph: Edu Bayer Stephen Burgen in Barcelona 2020-12-23T12:30:44Z /world/2020/dec/22/its-very-stressful-covid-travel-bans-leave-britons-stuck-abroad <p>Worries about Brexit, job security and taxes as UK residents forced to stay away for longer than planned</p><p>As countries around the world have imposed <a href="/uk-news/2020/dec/20/european-states-ban-flights-and-ferries-from-uk-to-combat-new-covid-strain">bans on travellers</a> coming to and from Britain, UK residents who went abroad over the Christmas break are grappling with the prospect of being stranded in another country.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/22/its-very-stressful-covid-travel-bans-leave-britons-stuck-abroad">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus UK news Europe Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:55:58 GMT /world/2020/dec/22/its-very-stressful-covid-travel-bans-leave-britons-stuck-abroad Photograph: Heather Alder/HunturdealsWitness Photograph: Heather Alder/HunturdealsWitness Jedidajah Otte and Edna Mohamed 2020-12-22T16:55:58Z /global-development/2020/dec/22/a-mental-health-emergency-no-end-to-trauma-for-refugees-on-lesbos <p>Mental health problems are spiralling among adults and children at ‘Moria 2:0’ camp as winter sets in and security tightens</p><p>Nadia hasn’t slept. The mother of five spent last night trying to soothe her seven-year-old son, Matin, who is autistic, while heavy rain fell on the family’s tent. He was crying and asking for the noise to stop. “I tried to explain to him that the rain is not in our control,” she says, “but in these moments, you can’t reach him any more.”</p><p>The family, originally from Parwan province in Afghanistan, are living in the new refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos that was built in three days, after the <a href="/global-development/2020/sep/14/refugees-demand-rescue-from-lesbos-after-moria-camp-blaze">fire </a>that razed to the ground parts of the <a href="/global-development/2020/jan/17/moria-is-a-hell-new-arrivals-describe-life-in-a-greek-refugee-camp">infamous Moria camp</a>.</p> <a href="/global-development/2020/dec/22/a-mental-health-emergency-no-end-to-trauma-for-refugees-on-lesbos">Continue reading...</a> Global development Refugees Migration World news Greece Europe Mental health Tue, 22 Dec 2020 06:30:08 GMT /global-development/2020/dec/22/a-mental-health-emergency-no-end-to-trauma-for-refugees-on-lesbos Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters Photograph: Yara Nardi/Reuters Katy Fallon and Franziska Grillmeier in Lesbos 2020-12-22T06:30:08Z /media/2020/dec/27/fox-news-rightwing-media-joe-biden <p>After four years of slavishly promoting the president and White House, rightwing media will turn an abrupt about-face</p><p>When Joe Biden is sworn in as president on 20 January, cable news viewers may witness one of the most dramatic 180-degree turns in history.</p><p>After four years of slavishly promoting the president, Fox News is expected to pump on the brakes within seconds of the inauguration ceremony.</p> <a href="/media/2020/dec/27/fox-news-rightwing-media-joe-biden">Continue reading...</a> Fox News Joe Biden Biden administration TV news Television industry US television industry Media US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:00:39 GMT /media/2020/dec/27/fox-news-rightwing-media-joe-biden Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters Photograph: Jim Bourg/Reuters Adam Gabbatt in New York 2020-12-27T08:00:39Z /world/2020/dec/27/climbers-killed-in-avalanches-in-irans-alborz-mountains <p>Several more mountaineers are unaccounted for and seven crew on a capsized ship are missing after wild weather across the region</p><p>At least 11 climbers have died and several more are missing after a blizzard triggered avalanches in mountains north of Iran’s capital, Tehran.</p><p>Several climbers have remained unaccounted for since Friday, when two deaths were reported, while the number reported as missing has increased as concerned families contact authorities, state television said.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/climbers-killed-in-avalanches-in-irans-alborz-mountains">Continue reading...</a> Iran Mountaineering Middle East and North Africa Sun, 27 Dec 2020 02:44:58 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/climbers-killed-in-avalanches-in-irans-alborz-mountains Photograph: IRIB NEWS AGENCY/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: IRIB NEWS AGENCY/AFP/Getty Images Hunturdeals staff and agencies 2020-12-27T02:44:58Z /uk-news/2020/dec/26/anger-of-10000-lorry-drivers-held-hostage-in-covid-christmas-standoff <p>Hauliers stranded in their cabs on UK roads say they are being used as political pawns</p><ul><li><strong><a href="/world/coronavirus-outbreak">See all our coronavirus coverage</a></strong></li></ul><p>Juan Andrés had braced himself for what promised to be an atypical holiday season. But the lorry driver from southern Spain never imagined that Christmas Day would be spent in his cab tucking into a ham and cheese sandwich – among provisions handed out by the British military – as he inched towards the Channel.</p><p>“I would describe it as a kidnapping,” said the 52-year-old when asked about the diplomatic impasse that left him stranded on British roads for nearly a week. <a href="/world/2020/dec/24/french-firefighters-arrive-in-dover-with-10000-covid-tests-for-lorry-drivers" title="">As many as 10,000 lorries from across Europe</a> were stuck after France temporarily closed its border over fears of a fast-spreading coronavirus variant, reopening only to those drivers who could show a negative coronavirus test.</p> <a href="/uk-news/2020/dec/26/anger-of-10000-lorry-drivers-held-hostage-in-covid-christmas-standoff">Continue reading...</a> Transport Road transport UK news Spain Europe Coronavirus Kent France Sat, 26 Dec 2020 16:36:58 GMT /uk-news/2020/dec/26/anger-of-10000-lorry-drivers-held-hostage-in-covid-christmas-standoff Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Ashifa Kassam in Madrid 2020-12-26T16:36:58Z /world/2020/dec/26/exceptionally-well-preserved-snack-bar-unearthed-in-pompeii <p>The frescoed thermopolium, a Roman-era fast-food stall, is the first to be fully excavated</p><p>Researchers said on Saturday they had discovered a frescoed <em>thermopolium</em> or fast-food counter in an exceptional state of preservation in Pompeii.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/uk-news/2020/dec/21/researchers-win-1m-grant-to-unlock-secrets-of-viking-era-treasure-trove">Researchers win £1m grant to unlock secrets of Viking-era treasure trove</a> </p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/26/exceptionally-well-preserved-snack-bar-unearthed-in-pompeii">Continue reading...</a> Italy Archaeology Science Sat, 26 Dec 2020 21:37:56 GMT /world/2020/dec/26/exceptionally-well-preserved-snack-bar-unearthed-in-pompeii Photograph: Luigi Spina/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Luigi Spina/AFP/Getty Images Agence France-Presse 2020-12-26T21:37:56Z /uk-news/2020/dec/27/two-men-charged-over-alleged-isle-of-wight-oil-tanker-hijacking <p>Investigation ongoing into 25 October incident involving Nave Andromeda vessel </p><p>Police have charged two men in connection with the alleged hijacking of a tanker off the coast of the Isle of Wight in October.</p><p>Matthew John Okorie, 25, and Sunday Sylvester, 22, appeared in court on Saturday charged with an offence relating to conduct endangering ships, Hampshire constabulary said.</p> <a href="/uk-news/2020/dec/27/two-men-charged-over-alleged-isle-of-wight-oil-tanker-hijacking">Continue reading...</a> UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:10:28 GMT /uk-news/2020/dec/27/two-men-charged-over-alleged-isle-of-wight-oil-tanker-hijacking Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters Photograph: Henry Nicholls/Reuters PA Media 2020-12-27T15:10:28Z /politics/2020/dec/27/margaret-thatcher-said-plan-for-the-euro-was-a-rush-of-blood-archives-reveal <p>The then British PM told her Irish counterpart that the bureaucracy in Brussels was a ‘politburo’ and was tying the UK up in regulations, papers show</p><p>Margaret Thatcher branded the European commission’s plans for a single currency as a “rush of blood to the head”, according to 30-year-old documents released from the Irish government archives.</p><p>In an echo of the divisive political debate that ultimately led to <a href="/politics/eu-referendum">Brexit</a>, the then British prime minister hit out at the “politburo” in Brussels and vowed not to be dictated to, during talks with her then Irish counterpart.</p> <a href="/politics/2020/dec/27/margaret-thatcher-said-plan-for-the-euro-was-a-rush-of-blood-archives-reveal">Continue reading...</a> Margaret Thatcher Brexit European commission Euro European Union Sun, 27 Dec 2020 04:43:43 GMT /politics/2020/dec/27/margaret-thatcher-said-plan-for-the-euro-was-a-rush-of-blood-archives-reveal Photograph: Johnny Eggitt/AFP via Getty Images Photograph: Johnny Eggitt/AFP via Getty Images Press Association 2020-12-27T04:43:43Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/imperial-war-museum-to-mark-20th-anniversary-of-911 <p>Museum plans series of events to mark anniversary of al-Qaida attacks on US that claimed almost 3,000 lives</p><p>Many can remember exactly where they were 20 years ago when al-Qaida perpetrated the single deadliest terrorist attack in human history by deliberately crashing passenger planes into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan.</p><p>Fewer, however, really contemplate just how much the 9/11 atrocity profoundly changed and shaped everyday life today.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/imperial-war-museum-to-mark-20th-anniversary-of-911">Continue reading...</a> September 11 2001 Al-Qaida Museums Social history Culture Society World news UK news US news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 14:22:38 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/imperial-war-museum-to-mark-20th-anniversary-of-911 Photograph: Gary Hershorn/REUTERS Photograph: Gary Hershorn/REUTERS Caroline Davies 2020-12-27T14:22:38Z /artanddesign/2020/dec/27/desecrated-and-hidden-for-centuries-priests-effigy-is-restored-to-glory <p>Medieval statue smashed in reign of Henry VIII was found behind church pipe organ</p><p>His stone face was smashed in by Henry VIII’s soldiers during the Reformation. His alabaster hands, once clasped in prayer, were cut off and the angels who cradled his head were decapitated. Afterwards, his shattered form lay hidden for centuries behind an old pipe organ, unseen, forgotten and enveloped in dirt.</p><p>Now, in a find that conservators have described as “exciting beyond our expectations”, this desecrated effigy – believed to be of a local priest, John de Belton – is being unveiled for the first time in a medieval church in Derbyshire.</p> <a href="/artanddesign/2020/dec/27/desecrated-and-hidden-for-centuries-priests-effigy-is-restored-to-glory">Continue reading...</a> Sculpture Religion Art Art and design Culture UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:30:38 GMT /artanddesign/2020/dec/27/desecrated-and-hidden-for-centuries-priests-effigy-is-restored-to-glory Photograph: Ian Hodgkinson/PictureIt Media Photograph: Ian Hodgkinson/PictureIt Media Donna Ferguson 2020-12-27T07:30:38Z /us-news/2020/dec/26/gingerbread-monolith-san-francisco-hilltop-collapses <p>Christmas day sweet sighting in Corona Heights park attracted visitors who took pictures and even took a bite</p><p>Like the other monoliths that have mysteriously appeared across America and the world in the waning weeks of 2020, the one that popped up on a California hilltop on Christmas Day seemed to come out of nowhere.</p><p>Also like the others, it was tall, three-sided and it rapidly attracted crowds of curious visitors before an untimely destruction.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/26/gingerbread-monolith-san-francisco-hilltop-collapses">Continue reading...</a> San Francisco Art American food and drink California Food US news Sat, 26 Dec 2020 22:21:53 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/26/gingerbread-monolith-san-francisco-hilltop-collapses Photograph: Karl Mondon/AP Photograph: Karl Mondon/AP Hunturdeals staff and agencies 2020-12-26T22:21:53Z /business/2020/dec/27/combustion-engine-car-factories-are-stranded-assets-in-age-of-electric <p>Manufacturers’ share prices will be dependent on their ability to avoid losses on ‘stranded assets’, says analyst<br></p><p>Carmakers will increasingly find themselves in a race to shut, switch or sell factories producing vehicles with internal combustion engines to avoid being left with “stranded assets”, as regulators set a course for a decade of electrification to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.</p><p>Traditional manufacturers are currently playing a “zero sum game” because growth in electric car sales eats into the value of internal combustion engine factories, which “are effectively stranded assets”, a leading analyst has warned.</p> <a href="/business/2020/dec/27/combustion-engine-car-factories-are-stranded-assets-in-age-of-electric">Continue reading...</a> Automotive industry Manufacturing sector Business Regulators Fossil fuel divestment Fossil fuels Greenhouse gas emissions Energy UK news Technology Environment Sun, 27 Dec 2020 13:19:44 GMT /business/2020/dec/27/combustion-engine-car-factories-are-stranded-assets-in-age-of-electric Photograph: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images Photograph: Jens Schlueter/Getty Images Jasper Jolly 2020-12-27T13:19:44Z /environment/2020/dec/27/deb-haaland-interview-interior-secretary-native-americans <p>The 60-year-old congresswoman will be the first Native American cabinet secretary next month when she takes over at interior</p><p>Debra Haaland is making American history.</p> <a href="/environment/2020/dec/27/deb-haaland-interview-interior-secretary-native-americans">Continue reading...</a> Environment Biden administration Public lands US news Native Americans US domestic policy Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:00:40 GMT /environment/2020/dec/27/deb-haaland-interview-interior-secretary-native-americans Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP Nina Lakhani in New York 2020-12-27T09:00:40Z /us-news/2020/dec/25/massachusetts-city-to-post-climate-change-warning-stickers-at-gas-stations <p>Bright yellow stickers warn drivers burning of gasoline has ‘major consequences on human health and the environment’</p><p>Cambridge, Massachusetts, has become the first US city to mandate the placing of stickers on fuel pumps to warn drivers of the resulting dangers posed by the climate crisis.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/25/massachusetts-city-to-post-climate-change-warning-stickers-at-gas-stations">Continue reading...</a> Massachusetts US news Environment Road transport Fri, 25 Dec 2020 10:00:44 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/25/massachusetts-city-to-post-climate-change-warning-stickers-at-gas-stations Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Oliver Milman 2020-12-25T10:00:44Z /music/2020/dec/27/every-note-pulses-with-life-and-warmth-boris-giltburg-beethoven-250th- <p>Beethoven’s 250th anniversary was not the year any of us were expecting, but, as symphony cycles and opera productions were cancelled, his music spoke to us in deeper, more intimate ways. </p><p>Recently, I experienced one of those moments when disparate bits of knowledge suddenly realign, and a connection appears, as glaringly obvious as it was hidden a moment ago. I was listening to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUdpQJB-b2A">Fritz Wunderlich’s glorious rendition of Beethoven’s song cycle, An die ferne Geliebte</a> (To the distant beloved). Those six songs are an outpouring of Romantic lyrical longing felt by the protagonist, facing the unbridgeable distance between him and his beloved.</p><p>If it had not been ennobled by the purity of Beethoven’s music, the cycle’s poetic imagery could have been banal. The verses speak of hillsides and valleys, birds and brooks, clouds and sunsets, all invoked as symbols of the singer’s longing, or as potential messengers from him to his beloved. Yet in the sixth and last song, a stronger link between them is found – music itself. The singer asks his beloved to sing the songs he himself had sung, artlessly, from the fullness of his heart. Then, he says, whatever has separated them will fade and their hearts will find each other. Beethoven expresses this thought first with a heartachingly beautiful melody, loving and tender, and then with near-delirious exuberance, depicting the joining of hearts.</p> <a href="/music/2020/dec/27/every-note-pulses-with-life-and-warmth-boris-giltburg-beethoven-250th-">Continue reading...</a> Classical music Culture Music Ludwig van Beethoven Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:00:47 GMT /music/2020/dec/27/every-note-pulses-with-life-and-warmth-boris-giltburg-beethoven-250th- Photograph: Sasha Gusov Photograph: Sasha Gusov Boris Giltburg 2020-12-27T15:00:47Z /books/2020/dec/27/fiction-to-look-out-for-in-2021 <p>With a host of dazzling second novels in the offing, plus the return of big hitters such as Kazuo Ishiguro and Jon McGregor, 2021 is shaping up to be a special year</p><ul><li><a href="http:/books/2020/dec/27/nonfiction-to-look-out-for-in-2021">Nonfiction to look out for in 2021</a></li></ul><p>2020 ended up being a decent year for the publishing trade, at least as far as book sales went. Perhaps we also learned to cherish our bookshops and literary festivals – vital elements of our cultural lives whose absence for much of the year was painful to endure. The loss of these forums for discovering new books caused publishers to delay the release of many titles until 2021. So it’s a massive year of fiction ahead, meaning that I’ll concentrate here on books published in the first six months (with a brief nod to autumn titles from Jonathan Franzen, Richard Powers, Jennifer Egan, Colson Whitehead and a new Sebastian Faulks novel, <em>Snow Country</em><em> </em>(Hutchinson), coming in September). I’ll also leave first novels to the <em>Observer New Review</em>’s superb debut feature.</p><p>First up, I’m struck by the fact that two of the best American novels of the year are written by Brits. Tahmima Anam’s <em>The Startup Wife</em> (Canongate, June) is a brilliant and trenchant portrait of hi-tech America’s frat-boy misogyny, and Jonathan Lee is quietly becoming one of the best young novelists on either side of the Atlantic. His fourth book, <em>The Great Mistake</em><em> </em>(Granta, June), is a sweeping historical novel that is also a gripping mystery. As far as American novels by actual Americans go, there’s <em>We Run the Tides</em> (Atlantic, February) by Vendela Vida, a dreamily evocative story of California, adolescence and grief. Also look out for <em>The Committed</em> (Black Cat, March) by Viet Thanh Nguyen, the lyrical sequel to his <a href="/books/2016/mar/12/the-sympathizer-viet-thanh-nguyen-review-debut">Pulitzer-winning debut, </a><em><a href="/books/2016/mar/12/the-sympathizer-viet-thanh-nguyen-review-debut">The Sympathiser</a>.</em></p> <a href="/books/2020/dec/27/fiction-to-look-out-for-in-2021">Continue reading...</a> Fiction Fiction in translation Books Culture Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:00:41 GMT /books/2020/dec/27/fiction-to-look-out-for-in-2021 Composite: EPA, AP, Urszula Soltys, Murdo Macleod and Sophia Evans Composite: EPA, AP, Urszula Soltys, Murdo Macleod and Sophia Evans Alex Preston 2020-12-27T10:00:41Z /music/2020/dec/27/leslie-west-obituary <p>Founder of US band Mountain whose guitar sound proved to be a great influence on heavy metal </p><p>Leslie West, who has died aged 75 following a cardiac arrest, could claim to be one of the creators of heavy metal. His band Mountain made a spectacular impact when they played their fourth gig at the original Woodstock festival in August 1969, alongside the likes of the Who, Jimi Hendrix and Crosby, Stills, Nash &amp; Young.</p><p>The physically huge West had a powerful presence as a singer, but it was his massive, overdriven guitar sound that became the group’s most memorable trademark. Kiss’s Paul Stanley said that: “Leslie’s tone could stop a rhino in full charge.”</p> <a href="/music/2020/dec/27/leslie-west-obituary">Continue reading...</a> Pop and rock US news Woodstock Music Culture Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:10:46 GMT /music/2020/dec/27/leslie-west-obituary Photograph: Fin Costello/Redferns Photograph: Fin Costello/Redferns Adam Sweeting 2020-12-27T17:10:46Z /artanddesign/2020/dec/27/rowan-moore-best-architecture-of-2020 <p>Reasons to cheer include a sociable new university building, a Taiwanese shopping mall lagoon and a house extension with mountain attached</p><ul><li><a href="/artanddesign/2020/dec/27/laura-cumming-10-best-art-of-2020">Art: Laura Cumming’s 10 best of 2020</a></li><li><a href="http:/culture/series/observer-critics-review-of-2020">The Observer critics’ review of 2020 in full</a></li></ul><p><strong>1. <a href="/artanddesign/2020/jan/25/town-house-kingston-university-grafton-architects-review">Town House, Kingston University</a> <br>By Grafton Architects; opened in </strong><strong>January</strong><br>A grown-up climbing frame for students. A three-dimensional town square for the social life that will one day return. Generous and dignified.</p><p><strong>2. <a href="http://www.francescatorzo.it/works/n09-z33-hasselt-belgium-2011-2019">Z33, Hasselt, Belgium</a> <br>Francesca Torzo; opened in May</strong><br>The expansion of an <a href="https://www.z33.be/en/">art and architecture museum</a> in a historic building that goes far beyond your usual thoughtful minimalism. The experience is of a series of atmospheres, created by subtle modulations of its surfaces and shadows, as much as of solid masonry. A work of pleasure and beauty.</p> <a href="/artanddesign/2020/dec/27/rowan-moore-best-architecture-of-2020">Continue reading...</a> Architecture Art and design Culture Exhibitions Sun, 27 Dec 2020 12:00:43 GMT /artanddesign/2020/dec/27/rowan-moore-best-architecture-of-2020 Photograph: Ed Reeve Photograph: Ed Reeve Rowan Moore 2020-12-27T12:00:43Z /film/2020/dec/27/traffic-steven-soderbergh-drugs-drama-film <p>The Oscar-winner’s sprawling ensemble drama was rightfully awarded and praised for its difficult and dour look at an unwinnable war</p><p>There’s a scene in the middle of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic where Robert Wakefield (Michael Douglas), a conservative judge recently appointed to “drug czar” by the president, meets with Gen Arturo Salazar (Tomas Milian), who he’s been led to believe is his Mexican equivalent. They talk about efforts to disrupt the Tijuana cartel, led by the Obregón brothers, but at this point we know that Salazar is aligned with the Juarez cartel and wants to use whatever resources he can to wipe out the competition. Wakefield then asks Salazar about the treatment of addiction, and the mask slips a little.</p><p> <span>Related: </span><a href="/film/2020/oct/27/requiem-for-a-dream-at-20-aronofskys-nightmare-still-haunts">Requiem for a Dream at 20: Aronofsky's nightmare still haunts</a> </p> <a href="/film/2020/dec/27/traffic-steven-soderbergh-drugs-drama-film">Continue reading...</a> Traffic Film Steven Soderbergh Culture Catherine Zeta-Jones Benicio del Toro Michael Douglas Drama films Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:16:39 GMT /film/2020/dec/27/traffic-steven-soderbergh-drugs-drama-film Photograph: Allstar/USA Films. Photograph: Allstar/USA Films. Scott Tobias 2020-12-27T08:16:39Z /music/2020/dec/27/music-kitty-empire-10-best-of-2020 <p>Our critic’s picks, from righteous old-school hip-hop via euphoric retro pop to classic American songwriting</p><ul><li><a href="/music/2020/dec/26/fiona-maddocks-10-best-classical-music-of-2020">Classical music: Fiona Maddocks’s 10 best of 2020</a></li><li><a href="http:/culture/series/observer-critics-review-of-2020">The Observer critics’ review of 2020 in full</a></li></ul><p>1. <strong><a href="/music/2020/sep/20/a-swayze-and-the-ghosts-paid-salvation-review-tasmania-faultless-debut">A Swayze and the Ghosts: Paid Salvation</a></strong><br>Ivy League; September<br>The antidote to 2020 bar none: 12 tracks of guaranteed instant uplift from a bunch of righteous Tasmanian garage punks who banished boredom and torpedoed fear with their debut album.</p><p>2. <strong><a href="/music/2020/feb/06/frazey-ford-u-kin-b-the-sun-review-arts-and-crafts">Frazey Ford: U Kin B </a></strong><strong><a href="/music/2020/feb/06/frazey-ford-u-kin-b-the-sun-review-arts-and-crafts">the Sun</a></strong><br>Arts &amp; Crafts; February<br>More music as functional medicine: Ford’s ecstatic, smeared soul vocals didn’t mask the depth of her hard-won wisdom – or her faith in progress. Equal parts country, folk and soul, this was an album about travails overcome that built its own dulcet world into the bargain.</p> <a href="/music/2020/dec/27/music-kitty-empire-10-best-of-2020">Continue reading...</a> Pop and rock Culture Music Bill Callahan Fiona Apple Moses Boyd Run the Jewels Dua Lipa Moses Sumney Fleet Foxes Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:00:39 GMT /music/2020/dec/27/music-kitty-empire-10-best-of-2020 Photograph: Rick Clifford Photograph: Rick Clifford Kitty Empire 2020-12-27T08:00:39Z /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/creativity-sharing-and-delegation-the-essential-skills-we-learn-through-play <p>The huge benefits of play to social and cognitive development are well understood – so how can you help your children get the best out of having fun?</p><p>According to US psychologist Charles Schaefer, we are never “more fully alive, more completely ourselves, or more deeply engrossed in anything than when we are playing”.</p><p>The dictionary definition for “child’s play” is, by contrast, a misnomer. Child’s play is, reportedly, something that is easy to perform or something deemed insignificant. But Bo Stjerne Thomsen, chair of Learning through Play at the LEGO Foundation, says that play is, in fact, a serious matter.</p> <a href="/childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/creativity-sharing-and-delegation-the-essential-skills-we-learn-through-play">Continue reading...</a> Child's play and learning Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:55:17 GMT /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/creativity-sharing-and-delegation-the-essential-skills-we-learn-through-play Composite: Gary Burchell/Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Composite: Gary Burchell/Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Georgina Fuller 2020-11-12T14:55:17Z /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/all-children-seek-joy-and-opportunities-to-experiment-the-universal-language-of-play <p>Play not only bridges divides, but teaches children vital psychological lessons. So what happens inside a child’s brain when they play? And why is it so important for their development and growth?<br></p><p>We’ve all seen pictures and footage of children playing in the most unlikely situations. Using an old rope to skip on the dusty ground of a refugee camp, racing tyres at the base of a rubbish dump or floating paper boats in monsoon flood water. Children play across cultures and classes. They play despite wars, disasters and pandemics. They play because it is a developmental imperative. In fact, play is so essential to a child’s growth that the UN has enshrined it as a fundamental right.</p><p>“A young child is born with a brain full of neurons,” explains Bo Stjerne Thomsen, chair of Learning Through Play at the LEGO Foundation. “They are born to learn and develop, but they need experiences to do this; they need to touch, to feel, to try things out, because every time they have a positive and stimulating experience, it connects the networks in the brain and supports their development and learning.”</p> <a href="/childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/all-children-seek-joy-and-opportunities-to-experiment-the-universal-language-of-play">Continue reading...</a> Child's play and learning Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:50:42 GMT /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/all-children-seek-joy-and-opportunities-to-experiment-the-universal-language-of-play Composite: Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Composite: Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Antonia Windsor 2020-11-12T14:50:42Z /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/marble-runs-and-building-bridges-five-creative-educational-play-ideas-for-kids <p>From building a cardboard racetrack for marbles to collaborative drawing, these activities will stimulate young minds and fire up imaginations</p><p>Whether it’s a toddler making a trail of handprints across a piece of paper, or a seven-year-old repurposing a cardboard tube to make a marble run, play empowers children to become creative. When children create, they experience the joy of interacting with the world and of changing it and being changed by it.</p><p>“Born into an age of rapid innovation, our children need a creative mindset more than ever,” says Garrett Jaeger, a developmental psychologist and research specialist at the LEGO Foundation, an organisation that advocates for learning through play. “Play-based learning is the best way to help children develop these skills and set them on the path to becoming future innovators and flexible thinkers.”</p> <a href="/childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/marble-runs-and-building-bridges-five-creative-educational-play-ideas-for-kids">Continue reading...</a> Child's play and learning Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:52:35 GMT /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/marble-runs-and-building-bridges-five-creative-educational-play-ideas-for-kids Composite: Stocksy/Hunturdeals Labs Composite: Stocksy/Hunturdeals Labs Antonia Windsor 2020-11-12T14:52:35Z /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/while-were-going-through-such-change-we-have-to-engage-our-children-the-importance-of-play-during-coronavirus <p>The pandemic has disrupted life in so many ways for adults and children alike, making the therapeutic and educational benefits of play vital in helping kids navigate an uncertain time</p><p>Before March 2020, few of us had heard the terms “self-isolation”, “lockdown” and “social-distancing” – but they have now become ubiquitous as we adjust to living through a global pandemic. So it’s not surprising that lockdown has left a third of children feeling more worried or stressed, according to a <a href="https://www.barnardos.org.uk/news/generation-lockdown-third-children-and-young-people-experience-increased-mental-health" rel="nofollow">recent poll</a> conducted by YouGov on behalf of Barnardo’s.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/public-health-england-launches-new-every-mind-matters-campaign" rel="nofollow">Another survey</a> by YouGov, for Public Health England (PHE), found that more than half of parents with children aged five to 18 said that their primary concern for their children was their mental wellbeing. Almost a quarter of parents said that not knowing what action to take had prevented them supporting their children’s mental wellbeing. PHE recommends establishing a routine and encouraging children to indulge in their interests and hobbies to help counteract this.</p> <a href="/childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/while-were-going-through-such-change-we-have-to-engage-our-children-the-importance-of-play-during-coronavirus">Continue reading...</a> Child's play and learning Thu, 12 Nov 2020 14:54:03 GMT /childs-play-and-learning/2020/nov/12/while-were-going-through-such-change-we-have-to-engage-our-children-the-importance-of-play-during-coronavirus Composite: Flashpop/Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Composite: Flashpop/Getty Images/Hunturdeals Labs Georgina Fuller 2020-11-12T14:54:03Z /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/menopause-is-ruining-my-sex-life <p>Losing your libido is a symptom, not a life sentence</p><p><em><strong>The dilemma </strong>I am a 52-year-old woman who has had a difficult perimenopause. I have read extensively on the subject and tried various supplements to ease this transition. My experience has included hot flushes, night sweats, </em><em>depression, anxiety, insomnia and heavy periods. I was suffering the most debilitating anxiety to the point where I could barely function. I am on bio-identical HRT (Oestragel and Utroge</em><em>stan), but these had little effect in easing the symptoms. I had no choice but to take anti</em><em>depressants even though my symptoms were due to hormone fluctuations.</em></p><p><em>As a side</em><em> effect my libido fell drastically (a healthy sex life had been maintained until this point and I have always found it easy to orgasm). What I did not expect was that my clitoris physically shrunk and orgasms become almost impossible to achieve.</em></p> <a href="/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/menopause-is-ruining-my-sex-life">Continue reading...</a> Menopause Relationships Life and style Women Sun, 27 Dec 2020 06:00:38 GMT /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/menopause-is-ruining-my-sex-life Photograph: Tara Moore/Getty Images/Cultura RF Photograph: Tara Moore/Getty Images/Cultura RF Mariella Frostrup 2020-12-27T06:00:38Z /food/2020/dec/27/nigel-slater-recipes-for-festive-leftovers-soup-and-panettone-custard <p>When it comes to Christmas pickings, there are no rules…</p><p>This is the fridge’s finest hour. A bowl of cranberry sauce full to the brim; shards of cold roast goose, turkey perhaps; some cold roast potatoes, craggy and golden, and, joy of joys, a saucer of cold pigs-in-blankets. There is bread sauce in a gravy boat, a piece of cold salmon, brandy butter and even a jug of Marsala-laced gravy. Treats beyond measure.</p><p>There is nothing, simply nothing, I like doing in the kitchen more than picking at leftovers. Those bowls with saucers for lids, keeping the buried treasure safe until we are ready to eat. A ready-made breakfast, a midnight treat, bounty to pick at for the quiet days that follow the feast.</p> <a href="/food/2020/dec/27/nigel-slater-recipes-for-festive-leftovers-soup-and-panettone-custard">Continue reading...</a> Food Life and style Christmas Sun, 27 Dec 2020 10:30:42 GMT /food/2020/dec/27/nigel-slater-recipes-for-festive-leftovers-soup-and-panettone-custard Photograph: jonathan Lovekin/The Observer Photograph: jonathan Lovekin/The Observer Nigel Slater 2020-12-27T10:30:42Z /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/ghosts-of-my-family-christmas-past <p>The entire clan will have assembled on Zoom, brother-in-law Jimmy will have played his Afrobeat LPs… But despite the upheaval it was just as I would have predicted</p><p>This week I should be telling you what I got up to this Christmas but, due to the wonders of seasonal deadlines, I’m filing this piece some time before anything has actually happened. I mean, you don’t know me so I could just lie, but I feel like that would be against the spirit of this column, if not Christmas itself.</p><p>Instead, I’m going to make some predictions of whatwill have come to pass in the past week, since I think I’ve a good chance of nailing it. I’d certainly be more accurate than that scary bloke from <em>A Christmas Carol</em> whose skills as a prophet have always bugged me. Unless I’ve greatly misinterpreted that story – and by this I obviously mean the infinitely superior Muppets version – his whole shtick appears to have been “loads of terrible stuff will happen, unless you stop being a brat”. To me, this marks him out as less of a mystical herald, and more an Irish mammy in a grim reaper costume. Come back when you have the Lotto numbers, you big goth nag.</p> <a href="/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/ghosts-of-my-family-christmas-past">Continue reading...</a> Christmas Parents and parenting Family Life and style Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:30:41 GMT /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/ghosts-of-my-family-christmas-past Photograph: Antonio Guillem Fernández/Alamy Stock Photo Photograph: Antonio Guillem Fernández/Alamy Stock Photo Séamas O’Reilly 2020-12-27T09:30:41Z /tv-and-radio/costume-and-culture/2020/dec/27/dress-to-thrill-why-fashion-was-the-biggest-star-on-tv-this-year <p>From street-savvy I May Destroy You to the polyester power of the Small Axe films, the costumes brought shows to life in 2020</p><p>On its hanger, the shearling coat wasn’t much to look at. It was made of “horrible, cheap offcuts”, and costume designer Phoebe de Gaye remembers buying it on sale at the “scuzzy end” of Oxford Street in 1980.</p><p>Worn by Del Boy in <em>Only Fools and Horses</em>, it was reminiscent of the coats worn by the used car salesmen she’d observed. This, she says, lent verisimilitude to the character. “When he put it on over a Gabicci shirt – a red one with black suede pockets – it worked, but we really didn’t think more on it.”</p> <a href="/tv-and-radio/costume-and-culture/2020/dec/27/dress-to-thrill-why-fashion-was-the-biggest-star-on-tv-this-year">Continue reading...</a> Fashion Drama Television Culture I May Destroy You Killing Eve Focus Sun, 27 Dec 2020 09:00:40 GMT /tv-and-radio/costume-and-culture/2020/dec/27/dress-to-thrill-why-fashion-was-the-biggest-star-on-tv-this-year Photograph: Natalie Seery/BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA Photograph: Natalie Seery/BBC/Various Artists Ltd and FALKNA Morwenna Ferrier 2020-12-27T09:00:40Z /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/sunday-with-author-lemn-sissay <p>The author enjoys a bit of breathing space, a Zoom chat and a late-night podcast</p><p><strong>What wakes you up?</strong> Police sirens. It’s the same every morning, although in Hackney they at least start a little later on a Sunday than during the rest of the week. I do my stretches before a multi-layered breakfast: muesli, then a sprinkling of sweet granola, topped with semi-skimmed milk.</p><p><strong>What does Sunday feel like? </strong>It’s a day to do nothing and to do nothing well. Being busy all the time is no sign of great creativity, it’s a sign of poor time management. You need space to breathe. Thankfully, I’ve been a self-employed artist all my adult life, so can take Sunday’s essence and experience it whenever I like.</p> <a href="/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/sunday-with-author-lemn-sissay">Continue reading...</a> Sunday with… Life and style Lemn Sissay Books Culture Poetry Sun, 27 Dec 2020 06:45:37 GMT /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/27/sunday-with-author-lemn-sissay Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The Observer Michael Segalov 2020-12-27T06:45:37Z /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/26/im-getting-clarity-a-time-that-will-feel-lighter-psychics-share-their-2021-predictions <p>From astrology to tarot, interest in the mystical arts has flourished during the pandemic. So what is in store for the year ahead?</p><p>This age of uncertainty has been a boon for crystal ball gazers. From New York to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-stargazers-idUSKBN25O08Q" title="">New Delhi</a>, fortune-tellers have seen spikes in business; in the US, Forbes magazine reported a 136% rise in people seeking supernatural readings. In societies where religious belief is dwindling, and trust in the establishment under threat, the idea of looking elsewhere for guidance – to the stars or beyond, if you believe in a beyond – has made a kind of sense.</p><p>2021 will present an opportunity to reassess what’s important. It brings a chance to rebuild</p> <a href="/lifeandstyle/2020/dec/26/im-getting-clarity-a-time-that-will-feel-lighter-psychics-share-their-2021-predictions">Continue reading...</a> New year Life and style Politics Coronavirus Health & wellbeing mental health challenges Sat, 26 Dec 2020 12:00:15 GMT /lifeandstyle/2020/dec/26/im-getting-clarity-a-time-that-will-feel-lighter-psychics-share-their-2021-predictions Illustration: John Holcroft/The Hunturdeals Illustration: John Holcroft/The Hunturdeals Deborah Linton 2020-12-26T12:00:15Z /us-news/2020/dec/27/joe-biden-us-shale-industry-fracking-ban <p>The president-elect plans to reduce incentives for fracking, but has stopped short of a ban</p><p>The result of the US election has cast a long shadow across the US shale heartlands. Joe Biden wants to make the climate crisis his top priority, sparking <a href="/us-news/2020/nov/08/joe-biden-paris-climate-goals-0-1c">real hope for global efforts</a> to avert an environmental catastrophe and real concern for shale operators.</p><p>The president-elect’s climate plans include a return to the Paris climate agreement, $2tn (£1.5tn) of spending on clean energy, and an ambition <a href="/environment/2020/nov/12/the-guardian-view-on-biden-and-the-climate-crisis-fight-for-net-zero">to create a carbon-neutral US energy system</a> by 2035 through “aggressive emission reductions”.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/27/joe-biden-us-shale-industry-fracking-ban">Continue reading...</a> Joe Biden US news Fracking Shale oil Energy Environment Fossil fuels Energy industry World news Business Gas Oil Oil Sun, 27 Dec 2020 17:17:08 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/27/joe-biden-us-shale-industry-fracking-ban Photograph: Keith Srakocic/AP Photograph: Keith Srakocic/AP Jillian Ambrose Energy correspondent 2020-12-27T17:17:08Z /world/2020/dec/27/as-erdogan-tightens-grip-on-power-last-opposition-politicians-resist-brutal-purge <p>Dissenters are facing persecution, with 16,000 HDP members arrested or detained. But hardcore support keeps the struggle alive </p><p>It has been a lonely year for Adalet Fidan, the mayor of Silopi in Turkey’s Kurdish south-east – and not just because of the pandemic.</p><p>In 2019, when she was elected, Fidan was among a solid cohort of 65 candidates from the progressive left, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to win seats in nationwide local elections. Now, after a sustained government purge of HDP officials, she is one of only five HDP mayors left in office, the rest sacked or imprisoned and replaced with government appointees.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/as-erdogan-tightens-grip-on-power-last-opposition-politicians-resist-brutal-purge">Continue reading...</a> Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan World news Kurds Middle East and North Africa Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:00:39 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/as-erdogan-tightens-grip-on-power-last-opposition-politicians-resist-brutal-purge Photograph: Bülent Kılıç/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Bülent Kılıç/AFP/Getty Images Bethan McKernan in Istanbul 2020-12-27T08:00:39Z /us-news/2020/dec/28/georgia-senate-runoff-elections-a-guide-for-non-americans-on-how-they-work-and-why-they-matter <p>The two runoffs on 5 January will decide whether the Republicans continue to control the Senate, with profound implications for Joe Biden’s presidency</p><p>On 5 January the US state of Georgia will vote, again, on who to send to the Senate.</p><p>The control of the Senate is up for grabs, and thus the prospects for the Biden administration – at least for the next two years.</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/dec/28/georgia-senate-runoff-elections-a-guide-for-non-americans-on-how-they-work-and-why-they-matter">Continue reading...</a> Georgia US elections 2020 Joe Biden Donald Trump Republicans Democrats Sun, 27 Dec 2020 16:30:49 GMT /us-news/2020/dec/28/georgia-senate-runoff-elections-a-guide-for-non-americans-on-how-they-work-and-why-they-matter Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images Photograph: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images Naaman Zhou 2020-12-27T16:30:49Z /politics/2020/dec/27/were-out-of-the-european-union-just-how-did-we-get-here <p>A relationship that lasted almost 50 years and shaped modern Britain ends on 1 January. Here, we examine the forces that finally pushed the UK and the EU into this momentous break</p><p>The metaphor of divorce has never felt wholly adequate to describe the complexity of ending 47 years of union with our 27 European neighbours but it has always captured the emotional brutality of the choice. How else, anyway, to imagine that morning this week when, after all these years of angst and haggling, the UK will finally hear the door slam on its long-time family home and find itself suddenly alone with all its baggage in the chill air outside, contemplating what’s next, while the locks are changed?</p><p>For many, that moment will retain the liberating bravado of bedsit independence, an opportunity to refresh a midlife crisis Tinder profile. For more of us, though – even many of those, I’d guess, who had vaguely wanted out – there will be instead a powerful sense of “what have we done?” And a dawning knowledge that all we have helped to build in Europe since 1973 – for better and worse – will now carry on without us. The 1,650 days of the troubled transition will melt away – all the exhausting wrangling over visiting rights and the price of fish; the costly delays and the desperate triumphalism – and we will be left with the starkness of that decision made in June 2016: we’re out.</p> <a href="/politics/2020/dec/27/were-out-of-the-european-union-just-how-did-we-get-here">Continue reading...</a> Brexit European Union Foreign policy Politics UK news Boris Johnson David Cameron Nigel Farage Tony Blair Sun, 27 Dec 2020 06:00:36 GMT /politics/2020/dec/27/were-out-of-the-european-union-just-how-did-we-get-here Illustration: Hunturdeals Design Illustration: Hunturdeals Design Tim Adams 2020-12-27T06:00:36Z /environment/2020/dec/27/reasons-to-be-hopeful <p>2020 has been a difficult year, but there are some glints of light in the gloom. From nature-friendly farms to anti-ageing worms and even a way of conjuring vodka out of thin air, here are a few nuggets of good cheer to look forward to in 2021</p><p>The Covid-19 vaccinations captured the world’s attention in November yet, around the same time, researchers behind a trial known as HPTN 084 also published spectacular results. The trial, which took place across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, found that an eight-weekly injection with a drug called cabotegravir was more effective than daily medication in an oral pill form in preventing HIV in women.</p> <a href="/environment/2020/dec/27/reasons-to-be-hopeful">Continue reading...</a> Environment Farming Spirits Philanthropy Food Society Sun, 27 Dec 2020 08:00:40 GMT /environment/2020/dec/27/reasons-to-be-hopeful Photograph: Jan Von Holleben/Trunk Archive Photograph: Jan Von Holleben/Trunk Archive Patrick Barkham, Richard Godwin, Amelia Tait and Jamie Waters 2020-12-27T08:00:40Z /world/2020/dec/27/fury-as-goas-rare-wildlife-park-faces-invasion-by-rail-and-road <p>Thousands are protesting in the Indian state, suspecting the coal lobby is behind construction plans in sanctuary</p><p>Mollem national park has long been the emerald in Goa’s crown.</p><p>The verdant jungle which covers this steep area of India’s Western Ghats mountain range is home to leopards, Bengal tigers, pangolins, black panthers and hundreds of endemic species of flora and fauna found nowhere else on the planet. The muscular state animal of Goa – the gaur, or Indian bison – is often seen trudging through the forests, and the park’s Dudhsagar waterfall is among the highest in the country.</p> <a href="/world/2020/dec/27/fury-as-goas-rare-wildlife-park-faces-invasion-by-rail-and-road">Continue reading...</a> India Conservation Environment South and Central Asia World news Wildlife Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:20:38 GMT /world/2020/dec/27/fury-as-goas-rare-wildlife-park-faces-invasion-by-rail-and-road Photograph: @savemollemgoa Photograph: @savemollemgoa Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent 2020-12-27T07:20:38Z /politics/2020/dec/24/tell-us-what-do-you-think-of-the-brexit-deal <p>We’d like to hear what our readers think of the news that the UK and the EU have agreed on a Brexit deal <br></p><p>The <a href="/politics/2020/dec/24/uk-eu-agree-brexit-trade-deal-agreement">UK and the EU have struck an agreement</a> on the UK’s future trading and security relationship with the European Union on Christmas Eve, four and half years after the country voted to leave the European Union, and just over a week before the end of the Brexit transition period.</p><p>As the country leaves the single market and customs union on 31 December, new arrangements allowing for tariff-free trade in goods and close police and judicial cooperation will come into force.</p> <a href="/politics/2020/dec/24/tell-us-what-do-you-think-of-the-brexit-deal">Continue reading...</a> Brexit European Union Europe Foreign policy Politics UK news World news Thu, 24 Dec 2020 15:17:02 GMT /politics/2020/dec/24/tell-us-what-do-you-think-of-the-brexit-deal Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images Hunturdeals community team 2020-12-24T15:17:02Z /us-news/2020/apr/13/lost-on-the-frontline-us-healthcare-coronavirus-deaths <p>We’d like your help identifying the US frontline healthcare workers who die after treating or helping patients with coronavirus<br></p><p>Lost on the frontline is a project by <a href="/us">the Hunturdeals</a> and <a href="https://khn.org/">Kaiser Health News</a> that aims to document the life of every healthcare worker in the US who dies from Covid-19 during the pandemic. From doctors to hospital cleaners, and from nursing home aides to paramedics, this project will capture the diverse range of frontline health workers risking their lives to help others in this fight. You can read more about the project <a href="/us-news/series/lost-on-the-frontline">here</a> .</p> <a href="/us-news/2020/apr/13/lost-on-the-frontline-us-healthcare-coronavirus-deaths">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus US healthcare US news Wed, 27 May 2020 15:04:45 GMT /us-news/2020/apr/13/lost-on-the-frontline-us-healthcare-coronavirus-deaths Photograph: Misha Friedman/Getty Images Photograph: Misha Friedman/Getty Images Hunturdeals community team 2020-05-27T15:04:45Z /world/2020/aug/24/tell-us-about-your-return-to-the-uk-from-countries-on-the-quarantine-list <p>The number of places which people need to self-isolate after returning from is growing. Share your experiences</p><p>We would like to hear from people about their experiences arriving at UK airports, ports and train stations from countries on the quarantine list, such as <a href="/travel/2020/aug/21/croatia-quarantine-ruling-prompts-scramble-to-get-back-to-uk">Croatia</a>, France, Spain and Luxembourg.</p> <a href="/world/2020/aug/24/tell-us-about-your-return-to-the-uk-from-countries-on-the-quarantine-list">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus UK news Travel Mon, 24 Aug 2020 13:10:09 GMT /world/2020/aug/24/tell-us-about-your-return-to-the-uk-from-countries-on-the-quarantine-list Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA Hunturdeals community team 2020-08-24T13:10:09Z /community/2015/sep/02/guardianwitness-send-us-a-story <p>You can send a news tip direct to Hunturdeals journalists here. For stories that need a <a href="/help/ng-interactive/2017/mar/17/contact-the-guardian-securely">high level of security then contact us here <br></a></p><p>Get in touch with your news tips and stories by filling in our encrypted form below. </p><p><a href="/help/ng-interactive/2017/mar/17/contact-the-guardian-securely">Click here for other ways to contact the Hunturdeals securely</a>.<br></p> <a href="/community/2015/sep/02/guardianwitness-send-us-a-story">Continue reading...</a> Information Wed, 02 Sep 2015 14:21:07 GMT /community/2015/sep/02/guardianwitness-send-us-a-story Photograph: Jill Mead/The Hunturdeals Photograph: Jill Mead/The Hunturdeals The Hunturdeals 2015-09-02T14:21:07Z /us-news/video/2020/dec/26/monolith-made-of-gingerbread-appears-in-the-us-at-christmas-video <p>A monolith made of gingerbread appeared on a hill in San Francisco on 25 December.</p><p>The large biscuit is the latest in a series of mysterious monoliths that have appeared –&nbsp;and disappeared – in the US and Romania</p><ul><li><a href="https://video.gutools.co.uk/videos/74e34e75-5632-42c7-ad8f-05af5a96ef1b">'I guess this is a thing now, right?': monolith appears on California mountain – video report</a></li></ul> <a href="/us-news/video/2020/dec/26/monolith-made-of-gingerbread-appears-in-the-us-at-christmas-video">Continue reading...</a> San Francisco California US news World news Sat, 26 Dec 2020 21:54:38 GMT /us-news/video/2020/dec/26/monolith-made-of-gingerbread-appears-in-the-us-at-christmas-video Photograph: KGO Photograph: KGO 2020-12-26T21:54:38Z /politics/video/2020/dec/24/johnson-brexit-deal-resolves-question-that-has-bedevilled-politics-video <p>Boris Johnson said the UK would be an ally and supporter to the EU, following the announcement that a Brexit deal had been reached between the two sides. Speaking in a news conference at Downing Street on Thursday, the prime minister said the deal had ensured the UK had 'taken back control' of its regulations, borders and laws</p><ul><li><a href="/politics/2020/dec/24/uk-eu-agree-brexit-trade-deal-agreement">UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal</a><br></li></ul> <a href="/politics/video/2020/dec/24/johnson-brexit-deal-resolves-question-that-has-bedevilled-politics-video">Continue reading...</a> Brexit Boris Johnson UK news Foreign policy Trade policy Politics Thu, 24 Dec 2020 16:48:10 GMT /politics/video/2020/dec/24/johnson-brexit-deal-resolves-question-that-has-bedevilled-politics-video Photograph: Getty Images Photograph: Getty Images 2020-12-24T16:48:10Z /world/video/2020/dec/22/dr-fauci-feels-extreme-confidence-in-covid-vaccine-as-he-gets-jab-video <p>Dr Anthony Fauci was injected with his first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine and he said he hoped it would encourage millions of other Americans to do the same.</p><p>The top US infectious diseases expert said he felt 'extreme confidence of the safety and efficacy of this vaccine'</p><ul><li><a href="/world/live/2020/dec/22/coronavirus-live-news-biden-receives-vaccine-as-global-death-toll-passes-17m">Coronavirus – live coverage&nbsp;</a></li><li><a href="/us-news/2020/dec/21/joe-biden-coronavirus-vaccine-covid-public">Biden receives vaccine live on TV</a></li></ul> <a href="/world/video/2020/dec/22/dr-fauci-feels-extreme-confidence-in-covid-vaccine-as-he-gets-jab-video">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Vaccines and immunisation US news Tue, 22 Dec 2020 17:05:25 GMT /world/video/2020/dec/22/dr-fauci-feels-extreme-confidence-in-covid-vaccine-as-he-gets-jab-video Photograph: Reuters Photograph: Reuters 2020-12-22T17:05:25Z /us-news/video/2020/dec/21/kilauea-volcano-erupts-on-hawaiis-big-island-video-report <p>The Kilauea volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island erupts late on Sunday, shooting a steam cloud into the atmosphere for about an hour. The eruption happened in Halema’uma’u crater, the US Geological Survey said. Kilauea is in the Hawaii&nbsp;<a href="/world/volcanoes">Volcanoes</a>&nbsp;national park</p><ul><li><a href="/us-news/2020/dec/21/kilauea-volcano-erupts-after-earthquake-on-hawaii-big-island">Kilauea volcano erupts on Hawaii's Big Island</a><br></li></ul> <a href="/us-news/video/2020/dec/21/kilauea-volcano-erupts-on-hawaiis-big-island-video-report">Continue reading...</a> Hawaii US news Volcanoes World news Mon, 21 Dec 2020 19:41:16 GMT /us-news/video/2020/dec/21/kilauea-volcano-erupts-on-hawaiis-big-island-video-report Photograph: Reuters Photograph: Reuters 2020-12-21T19:41:16Z /world/video/2020/dec/21/navalny-apparently-dupes-fsb-agent-novichok-plot-video <p>Posing as 'Maxim Ustinov', a fictional aide for a top FSB general, Navalny phoned Konstantin Kudryavtsev and asked for details of the operation, demanding to know what had gone wrong. Unaware that he was being spoofed, Kudryavtsev apparently confirmed the FSB was behind the poisoning and said his colleagues had applied novichok to the inner seams of the opposition leader’s boxer shorts, when Navalny was staying in the Siberian city of Tomsk</p><ul><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/21/navalny-russian-agent-novichok-death-plot">Navalny says Russian officer admits putting poison in underwear</a><br></li></ul> <a href="/world/video/2020/dec/21/navalny-apparently-dupes-fsb-agent-novichok-plot-video">Continue reading...</a> Alexei Navalny Russia World news Mon, 21 Dec 2020 17:00:53 GMT /world/video/2020/dec/21/navalny-apparently-dupes-fsb-agent-novichok-plot-video Photograph: Bellingcat Photograph: Bellingcat 2020-12-21T17:00:53Z /world/video/2020/dec/19/santa-claus-is-good-to-go-dr-fauci-says-he-vaccinated-father-christmas-video <p>Anthony Fauci told children he had visited Santa Claus at the north pole and personally gave him the vaccine so he could deliver presents this year.</p><p>The US infectious disease expert responded to video messages sent in to CNN on Saturday from children who were concerned they would not receive their presents due to spread of Covid-19</p> <a href="/world/video/2020/dec/19/santa-claus-is-good-to-go-dr-fauci-says-he-vaccinated-father-christmas-video">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus CNN US news Sat, 19 Dec 2020 18:41:36 GMT /world/video/2020/dec/19/santa-claus-is-good-to-go-dr-fauci-says-he-vaccinated-father-christmas-video Photograph: CNN Photograph: CNN 2020-12-19T18:41:36Z /world/video/2020/dec/16/boris-johnson-it-would-be-inhuman-to-cancel-christmas-video <p>The UK prime minister insists he will not change plans to relax Covid rules around Christmas, despite a sharp rise in cases. Johnson instead urges Britons to exercise personal responsibility, minimise social contacts, and consider delaying seeing elderly relatives until they have been vaccinated</p><ul><li><a href="/politics/live/2020/dec/16/brexit-updates-johnson-uk-eu-agreement-deal-live">UK coronavirus live</a></li><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/16/all-uk-nations-agree-not-to-change-christmas-covid-rules">UK to stick with relaxed Christmas Covid rules but nations split on guidance</a></li><li><a href="/uk-news/2020/dec/16/wales-to-impose-fresh-covid-lockdown-rules-from-christmas-eve">Wales imposes fresh Covid lockdown rules from Christmas Eve</a></li></ul> <a href="/world/video/2020/dec/16/boris-johnson-it-would-be-inhuman-to-cancel-christmas-video">Continue reading...</a> Coronavirus Boris Johnson UK news Wed, 16 Dec 2020 17:02:56 GMT /world/video/2020/dec/16/boris-johnson-it-would-be-inhuman-to-cancel-christmas-video Photograph: AP Photograph: AP 2020-12-16T17:02:56Z /sport/video/2020/dec/14/2020-the-year-sport-stopped-amid-pandemic-and-protests-video-review <p>2020 has been a sporting year like no other. The coronavirus pandemic forced global sport into an unprecedented shutdown, with Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics among the events postponed.</p><p>Liverpool won the Premier League and Bayern Munich the Champions League behind closed doors as sport returned without fans. Sport also became a platform for protest against racial injustice amid the Black Lives Matter movement.</p><p>The sporting world also mourned the passing of Kobe Bryant, Stirling Moss, Jack Charlton and Diego Maradona, among others. This is our look back at a turbulent, traumatic and unforgettable year.</p> <a href="/sport/video/2020/dec/14/2020-the-year-sport-stopped-amid-pandemic-and-protests-video-review">Continue reading...</a> Sport Football NBA Formula One Mon, 14 Dec 2020 09:41:54 GMT /sport/video/2020/dec/14/2020-the-year-sport-stopped-amid-pandemic-and-protests-video-review Photograph: Grid Photograph: Grid Nicholas Williams & Nikhita Chulani 2020-12-14T09:41:54Z /politics/video/2020/dec/09/boris-johnson-appears-to-confuse-india-farmers-protests-with-pakistan-conflict-video <p><a href="/politics/boris-johnson">Boris Johnson</a>&nbsp;made a parliamentary gaffe where he appeared to confuse&nbsp;<a href="/world/2020/dec/08/nationwide-farmers-strike-shuts-down-large-parts-of-india">massive farmers’ protests that have closed down swathes of India</a>&nbsp;with the ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan.</p><p>Sikh Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi asked the prime minister to comment on the demonstrations in&nbsp;<a href="/world/india">India</a>, but Johnson appeared confused over the protests that Dhesi was referring to and responded: 'Our view is that of course we have serious concerns about what is happening between India and Pakistan but these are pre-eminently matters for those two governments to settle'</p><ul><li><a href="/politics/2020/dec/09/pm-labelled-clueless-after-confusing-india-farmer-protests-with-pakistan-conflict">PM labelled clueless after confusing India farm protests with Pakistan conflict</a></li></ul> <a href="/politics/video/2020/dec/09/boris-johnson-appears-to-confuse-india-farmers-protests-with-pakistan-conflict-video">Continue reading...</a> Boris Johnson India UK news World news Wed, 09 Dec 2020 22:10:28 GMT /politics/video/2020/dec/09/boris-johnson-appears-to-confuse-india-farmers-protests-with-pakistan-conflict-video Photograph: ParliamentTV Photograph: ParliamentTV 2020-12-09T22:10:28Z /science/video/2020/dec/06/hayabusa2-capsule-fireball-streaks-across-the-sky-on-re-entry-video <p>A capsule released by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft containing pristine asteroid fragments briefly turned into a fireball as it returned to the Earth’s atmosphere, before landing in the South Australian outback In the early hours of Sunday. For the past six years, Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft has conducted a remarkable 5.2bn km mission to extract the first subsurface samples from the asteroid Ryugu, which scientists hope will shed light on the origins of life</p> <a href="/science/video/2020/dec/06/hayabusa2-capsule-fireball-streaks-across-the-sky-on-re-entry-video">Continue reading...</a> Space Japan World news Science Australia news Sun, 06 Dec 2020 02:26:50 GMT /science/video/2020/dec/06/hayabusa2-capsule-fireball-streaks-across-the-sky-on-re-entry-video Photograph: EPA Photograph: EPA 2020-12-06T02:26:50Z /media/video/2020/dec/03/killing-the-journalist-wont-kill-the-story-news-outlets-launch-mexico-cartels-project-video <p>Sixty journalists from 25 international media outlets have come together to pursue the stories of their murdered colleagues in Mexico, where 119 journalists have been killed since 2000, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p>The Cartel Project is a series of investigations coordinated by Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists in 18 countries, whose mission is to continue the work of reporters who are threatened, censored or killed.</p><p>The project will be launched simultaneously by the participating media outlets on 6 December 2020</p> <a href="/media/video/2020/dec/03/killing-the-journalist-wont-kill-the-story-news-outlets-launch-mexico-cartels-project-video">Continue reading...</a> Investigative journalism Campaigning journalism Mexico World news Thu, 03 Dec 2020 17:52:11 GMT /media/video/2020/dec/03/killing-the-journalist-wont-kill-the-story-news-outlets-launch-mexico-cartels-project-video Photograph: Forbidden Stories Photograph: Forbidden Stories 2020-12-03T17:52:11Z /science/video/2020/dec/03/drone-footage-shows-arecibo-observatory-telescope-collapse-puerto-rico-video <p>Footage released by the National Science Foundation shows the moment a huge radio telescope collapsed in&nbsp;<a href="/world/puerto-rico">Puerto Rico</a>&nbsp;on Tuesday. <br></p><p>The Arecibo Observatory played a key role in astronomical discoveries for more than half a century but had been scheduled for demolition because of pre-existing damage. The telescope’s 900-ton receiver platform fell on to the reflector dish more than 400ft below</p><ul><li><a href="/world/2020/dec/01/arecibo-radio-telescope-collapses-puerto-rico">Giant Arecibo radio telescope collapses in Puerto Rico</a></li></ul> <a href="/science/video/2020/dec/03/drone-footage-shows-arecibo-observatory-telescope-collapse-puerto-rico-video">Continue reading...</a> Science Space Puerto Rico World news Astronomy Thu, 03 Dec 2020 18:32:40 GMT /science/video/2020/dec/03/drone-footage-shows-arecibo-observatory-telescope-collapse-puerto-rico-video Photograph: AP Photograph: AP 2020-12-03T18:32:40Z /news/gallery/2020/dec/27/ice-swims-and-animals-in-the-snow-the-weekends-best-photographs <p>The Hunturdeals’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world</p> <a href="/news/gallery/2020/dec/27/ice-swims-and-animals-in-the-snow-the-weekends-best-photographs">Continue reading...</a> Photography World news UK news Sun, 27 Dec 2020 15:37:44 GMT /news/gallery/2020/dec/27/ice-swims-and-animals-in-the-snow-the-weekends-best-photographs Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA Mee-Lai Stone 2020-12-27T15:37:44Z /artanddesign/gallery/2020/dec/26/20-photographs-of-the-week <p>The explosion in Nashville, the enduring impact of Covid-19 and the Kilauea volcano reactivates: the most striking images from around the world</p> <a href="/artanddesign/gallery/2020/dec/26/20-photographs-of-the-week">Continue reading...</a> News photography Photography World news Sat, 26 Dec 2020 11:46:52 GMT /artanddesign/gallery/2020/dec/26/20-photographs-of-the-week Photograph: Janice Wei/AP Photograph: Janice Wei/AP Jim Powell 2020-12-26T11:46:52Z /theobserver/2020/dec/27/the-big-picture-the-women-of-water-valley-mississippi <p>Photographer Carolyn Drake finally found a way to capture the town she had fallen for after she joined the local knit club</p><p>Water Valley in Mississippi is a town of about 3,000 people. People move there or stay there because they fall in love with the gothic revival Victorian houses, which exist in various states of renovation or decay. One of those people was photographer <a href="https://carolyndrake.com/">Carolyn Drake</a>, who settled in Water Valley a few years ago, having returned from a decade of travelling in Russia and Asia, including a spell living and photographing in Uighur villages on the edge of the Taklamakan desert.</p><p>Drake spent two years in Water Valley hardly picking up her camera. She wasn’t sure how to photograph the place without it looking like a New Yorker’s view of “the south”. It was only after she became part of a knitting circle, an insider, sitting on her friend Katharine’s porch drinking IPA, stitching rugs, listening to true crime podcasts, that she found a way to do that. <em>Knit Club</em>, her strange and powerful book of photographs of the women of Water Valley, is the result.</p> <a href="/theobserver/2020/dec/27/the-big-picture-the-women-of-water-valley-mississippi">Continue reading...</a> Knitting Photography Women Sun, 27 Dec 2020 07:00:38 GMT /theobserver/2020/dec/27/the-big-picture-the-women-of-water-valley-mississippi Photograph: © The artist/Magnum Photos. Courtesy TBW Books. Photograph: © The artist/Magnum Photos. Courtesy TBW Books. Tim Adams 2020-12-27T07:00:38Z /artanddesign/2020/dec/26/best-photography-and-architecture-of-2020-derek-jarman-masculinities <p>Masculinity went under the microscope, 70s New York life was chronicled and Derek Jarman’s garden recreated in London</p><ul><li><a href="/culture/series/best-culture-2020">More on the best culture of 2020</a></li></ul> <a href="/artanddesign/2020/dec/26/best-photography-and-architecture-of-2020-derek-jarman-masculinities">Continue reading...</a> Art and design Architecture Photography Culture Henry Moore Derek Jarman Exhibitions Museums Hepworth Wakefield Barbican The Photographers' Gallery Tate Modern Art Sat, 26 Dec 2020 09:00:12 GMT /artanddesign/2020/dec/26/best-photography-and-architecture-of-2020-derek-jarman-masculinities Composite: Clockwise L-R: Ed Reeve, Courtesy Adi Nes & Praz-Delavallade Paris, Los Angeles, David Mansell, , Courtesy of the Artist and Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York © Zanele Muholi Composite: Clockwise L-R: Ed Reeve, Courtesy Adi Nes & Praz-Delavallade Paris, Los Angeles, David Mansell, , Courtesy of the Artist and Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York © Zanele Muholi Sean O’Hagan and Oliver Wainwright 2020-12-26T09:00:12Z /environment/gallery/2020/dec/24/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2020-the-winners <p>The winners and runners-up of this year’s competition, announced at the recent <a href="https://naturephotographeroftheyear.com/">Nature Talks photo festival</a> in the Netherlands</p> <a href="/environment/gallery/2020/dec/24/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2020-the-winners">Continue reading...</a> Wildlife Environment Photography Art and design Thu, 24 Dec 2020 10:09:25 GMT /environment/gallery/2020/dec/24/nature-photographer-of-the-year-2020-the-winners Photograph: Samantha Stephens/NPOTY 202O Photograph: Samantha Stephens/NPOTY 202O 2020-12-24T10:09:25Z /travel/gallery/2020/dec/24/small-town-us-after-dark-in-pictures <p>Criss-crossing the US, covering 25,000 miles and 22 states, the British photographer <a href="https://www.instagram.com/danielfreemanphotography/?hl=en">Daniel Freeman</a> has captured the nocturnal life of small town US. He meanders across states with no planned itinerary, and his photographs capture the timeless quality of the country. <a href="https://danielfreemanphotography.co.uk/book-midnight-on-main/">Midnight on Main</a> is published by Hatje Cantz</p> <a href="/travel/gallery/2020/dec/24/small-town-us-after-dark-in-pictures">Continue reading...</a> Travel Culture Art and design Photography Road trips Thu, 24 Dec 2020 08:00:09 GMT /travel/gallery/2020/dec/24/small-town-us-after-dark-in-pictures Photograph: Daniel Freeman Photograph: Daniel Freeman 2020-12-24T08:00:09Z