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Study questions lack of detail surrounding scale and quantity of weapons sales A highly critical report has found extensive flaws in the British government’s arms sales strategy. Based on analysis of the Yemen conflict, the study urges a reduction in weapons exports to conflict zones and states involved in human rights abuses. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Ww5l4B

Participants in Manchester and Edinburgh will rely on the gel as sole contraceptive for a year Couples are being recruited to take part in a groundbreaking trial of a male contraceptive gel that could allow men and women to take equal responsibility for birth control in future. Eighty men in Manchester and Edinburgh will be asked to use a daily gel containing hormones that “send the testes to sleep”, meaning the sperm count drops to zero. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HJ2MbY

The Institute for Government warns that crucial laws needed for post-Brexit will not be in place. MPs must summon courage Shellshocked MPs of the sensible tendency are now seriously alarmed. You find them in a daze around Westminster and its news studio green-rooms stunned by Tuesday night’s failure of the modest Cooper amendment to prevent a no-deal crash-out. Each day the news gets worse, not forecasts, but actuality. Today it’s the UK motor manufacturers reporting a 50% drop in investment last year and Barclays whisking £166bn of assets off to Dublin, joining a torrential outflow, including Jacob Rees-Mogg’s own investment company . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2DLhWtf

Our research shows how the strategy contributed to the 2011 London riots. Police forces are making the same mistake again Last month it emerged that there had been a 400% rise in police use of “stop and search” powers. And according to a recent Guardian report, there is evidence that black people are being disproportionately targeted . This is profoundly depressing. There are real grounds for concern that, once again, use of this policing strategy is storing up trouble. Our new report, Beyond Contagion , published today, supports the view that stop and search can have unintended but significant social and psychological consequences. We examined patterns of data in the 2011 riots – in particular how these events arose and spread. The significance of the riots is indisputable: this was the largest wave of disorder in the UK since the 1980s, and involved an estimated 20,000 people, with more than 4,000 arrests. It is important to understand the underlying causes. Continue reading... ...

By JILL COWAN from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2sWH3Dh

By SYDNEY EMBER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2sZy9Vv

By JULIE BOSMAN, MITCH SMITH and MONICA DAVEY from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2Sm7EI6

Decision follows campaigns by relatives of victims and those wrongfully convicted of attack The inquest into the IRA’s Guildford pub bombings, which killed five people in 1974, is to be reopened and completed more than 40 years after it was suspended, the Surrey coroner has ruled. The decision by Richard Travers follows campaigns by relatives of the victims, survivors, and those wrongfully convicted of the attack on the Horse and Groom public house. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MIgyup

The Home Office is so comically incompetent, you can only apply for UK residency on Androids. I spy a business model … Years of struggle have come to an end; finally, after a decade of taunting, my people’s time has come. It has not been easy, being mocked for the apps we inexplicably cannot get, and the Instagram pictures we post that look like they were taken by a drunk child, but now Android users have the upper hand. Maybe I should take the comical incompetency of the Home Office more seriously. It is, after all, somewhat bonkers that EU citizens in the UK (of which I am one) are only able to apply for residency on one type of smartphone , but if Brexit Britain has taught me anything, it is to look for the silver linings. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FZTDdo

Exclusive: pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson fears border delays in event of no deal Emergency “trauma packs” flown into the UK during terrorist attacks are being stockpiled on British soil by the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson over concerns of a risk to life from border delays in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The company said the move was being made due to the danger posed to the “routine and rapid” provision of the vital emergency equipment it provides to the NHS in times of emergency from a distribution plant in Belgium. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2G10u6A

Politicians on left and centre say controversial measures threaten civil liberties French politicians have approved controversial measures to ban what the government calls “brute” troublemakers from street demonstrations as gilets jaunes (yellow vests) anti-government protests enter their 12th week. There were tense and heated exchanges in parliament late on Wednesday night, including from rebels within Emmanuel Macron ’s own centrist party, as deputies backed giving regional prefects – local state security officials – the power to ban people presumed to be violent from taking part in demonstrations. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GeYNBF

Not one woman was nominated for this year’s best director Oscar. But some of the hottest upcoming movies are female-led – so has gender discrimination in the industry been busted? A student called Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been invited to dinner by the dean of Harvard Law School, along with the eight other women in her year. Her wide-eyed eagerness is swiftly put in check when the dean asks each woman to stand up and say something about themselves, including “why you’re occupying a place that could have gone to a man”. This is an early moment in On the Basis of Sex , a biopic about Ginsburg, who eventually became a US Supreme Court justice. It’s a scene that Mimi Leder, the film’s director, could identify with well. In 1973, Leder became the first woman to graduate from the prestigious American Film Institute Conservatory : “I never entered the world of film-making saying, ‘I’m entering a male-dominated business.’ I entered the world of storytelling because I felt compelled to tell sto...

As Ozzy Osbourne prepares to begin his final ever tour, we look back at the satanic highs and tepid lows of his one-time band Seventh Star was meant to be Tony Iommi’s first solo album, until label and management decided no one was going to buy it, and insisted it be billed as Black Sabbath, even if only Iommi was pictured on the cover. That it isn’t really Sabbath is apparent from the power ballad No Stranger to Love. Power ballad? Sabbath? Madness. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Wwmlb6

Appeal court backs lower-paid store staff in claim that could cost supermarkets £8bn Asda shopworkers have won a major victory in the latest round of a long-running legal battle over equal pay, which could result in major supermarkets facing an estimated £8bn payout. The court of appeal ruled Asda’s lower-paid store staff, who are mainly female, can compare themselves to higher-paid warehouse workers, who are mainly male, in pay claims. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2sTSgoe

Signs of iron age brew, from as far back as 400BC, found during £1.5bn upgrade of A14 Evidence of the first beer believed to have been brewed in the UK, dating back more than 2,000 years, has been uncovered by road workers. Signs of the iron age brew from about 400BC were identified in fragments of charred residues from the beer-making process found during the £1.5bn upgrade of the A14 in Cambridgeshire. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2SgkvLZ

Investigators examine tunnel containing boots and ladder near bank in Pembroke Pines A sinkhole near a bank in Florida is actually a tunnel leading to a local bank, the FBI has said. Spokesman Mike Leverock said on Wednesday that officials were notified after a motorist reported what looked like a sinkhole in a street near a Chase bank branch in Pembroke Pines. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2TstVBG

Already banned from one postcode, the duo received a prison sentence for performing Attempted 1.0 – making legal history. ‘We’re being criminalised for making music’, they say Sheltering from a sudden downpour in a parked car just off Brixton Road, London, are two of British music’s greatest new talents, and now biggest outlaws: Skengdo and AM . A fortnight ago, the Metropolitan police announced they had secured a sentence of nine months in prison for the two 21-year-old drill rappers, suspended for two years, for breaching a gang injunction issued in August last year. The nature of the breach? Performing their song Attempted 1.0 at a London concert in early December. The suppression of black music in the UK stretches back 100 years , but, according to Index on Censorship , this is first time in British legal history that a prison sentence has been issued for performing a song. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HILSdx

From David Beckham’s ‘Vihctoria’ to Britney Spears’ bungled ‘God’, famous people seem fated to adorn their bodies with misspellings and misunderstandings Ariana Grande’s song 7 Rings was released less than two weeks ago. In that time, it has already reached No 1 in 18 countries and broken Spotify’s record for most streams in a 24-hour period. So, obviously, Grande celebrated this achievement in the traditional manner; getting the Japanese for “small charcoal grill” tattooed on her hand . The slip-up has already become infamous. Grande apparently wanted “7 Rings” tattooed on her in kanji. However, the tattoo she got actually reads “shichirin”; a lightweight portable charcoal stove that is used in Japan to grill fish or meat. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2sZsy1r

The big retailers’ business model has made food shortages more likely in the event of a no-deal Brexit “The shops will be empty” and “the lights will go out” are the staple warnings of commercial interests that have an axe to grind or are looking for public support. But the letter this week from store bosses sounding an alert about the impact of a no-deal Brexithas added irony when delivered by some of Britain’s biggest supermarket retailers, whose centralised business model has done much to hollow out the economy, making it so vulnerable in the first place. Related: No-deal Brexit would mean shortages and price rises, say retailers Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2S1fbwA

Move follows new rules requiring vehicles to be booked with at least 15 minutes’ notice The app-based ride-hailing services Uber and Cabify are to suspend their operations in Barcelona from Friday after the Catalan government announced new rules requiring vehicles to be booked with at least 15 minutes’ notice. The regulations were put in place following pressure from taxi drivers, who have been striking to demand greater controls to govern so-called VTCs (private vehicles with driver). Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WtkvaZ

Learning-disabled people at the Daylight centre are exploring their creativity by releasing their own songs Guardian Jobs: see the latest vacancies in social care It’s 11am on Friday morning and there are some weird and wonderful psychedelic sounds emanating from a small, makeshift music studio in north London. Inside, Patricia Angol is playing the xylophone, Mui Tang is touching a Kaoss Pad – an audio effects unit – and Fathima Maharali is singing into a microphone. When they finish, their session leader, Jack Daley, fiddles on a computer, overlaying each musical section before playing it back. There are smiles and high-fives all round. Daley is a music producer who works at the Daylight centre for adults with learning disabilities, which is run by Islington council. He started private and group sessions composing and producing electronic music with service users two years ago. Since then, countless song lyrics have been written, an EP has been released (with another on the w...

Why recently resurfaced videos of Harris defending her controversial decision to lock up parents over truancy are so disturbing For progressives, there are good reasons to be suspicious of the idea that former prosecutors make good politicians. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and its criminal punishment system disproportionately punishes poor people and people of color. Prosecutors have a leading role in sustaining this injustice, in part because they tend to view prisons as solutions to social problems. That worldview is fully on display in recently- unearthed video footage of Kamala Harris, defending her decision to criminally prosecute parents for their children’s truancy. In the video, taken at the Commonwealth Club in 2010 when Harris was District Attorney of San Francisco, Harris says that because “a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime,” she decided to treat parents with absentee children as criminals. Continue reading...

The reform didn’t take effect until the 2018 calendar year – meaning we won’t know the impact until people file their taxes Earlier this week a new report from the National Association for Business Economics said that the 2017 Tax Reform Act had no major impact on how US businesses invested or hired. Related: The new Congress will do nothing for small business – and that's fine by us | Gene Marks Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CUhpnk

I’m a recovering alcoholic mother, and the child of an alcoholic mother. I won’t put my children through the same dark chaos As a child, I used to lie to my mother about when parents’ evening at school was. Not because I had been underachieving, but because I was scared she would turn up, drunk, staggering around and slurring, again. My childhood was mostly spent caring for myself and my mother as she took to her bed, wailing, with bottles of vodka. She went in and out of hospital, eventually ending up in a care home in her early 60s after years of absolute darkness and chaos, having wrecked her mind and body. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CW9tSq

Estimated number of rough sleepers rose 13% in London and 60% in Birmingham but figure could be even higher Rough sleeping rose in almost all England’s major cities last year, and across five of its nine regions, according to official figures . The estimated number of rough sleepers rose by 13% in London, 60% in Birmingham, and 31% in Manchester. The place with the largest number of rough sleepers was Westminster, where 386 people spend the night on the streets, up by 41%. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UsvShp

Corporation blames human error for suggestion caused by misplaced footage on News at Six The BBC has blamed “human error” for a suggestion on its News at Six that Theresa May would be flying back to Brussels for more Brexit talks in a second world war Spitfire. But the explanation has been greeted with scepticism by some who saw the incident as an example of pro-Brexit bias at the BBC. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2RrqF7K

MIT researchers develop machine with physical skills needed to master children’s game The humble game of Jenga has become the latest human pursuit to fall to machines, scientists have announced. In what marks significant progress for robotic manipulation of real-world objects, a Jenga-playing machine can learn the complex physics involved in withdrawing wooden blocks from a tower through physical trial and error. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2RW3E1C

UK foreign secretary speaks to Maduro challenger before EU ministers discuss sanctions The Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has directly urged the west to keep up the pressure to bring about elections in his country within four weeks, the UK foreign secretary has said. Jeremy Hunt spoke with Guaido by phone on Wednesday before an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Romania on Thursday that will discuss what further economic sanctions can be imposed on senior figures in the Venezuelan leadership. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2B7WQDB

People buying generic fish such as rock could in fact be eating a range of shark species Fish and chip shops and fishmongers are selling endangered sharks to an unwitting public, according to researchers who used DNA barcoding to identify species on sale. Most chip shop fish sold under generic names such as huss, rock, flake and rock salmon turned out to be spiny dogfish, a shark species classified as endangered in Europe by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s red list. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2sTZPv2

Learning-disabled people at the Daylight centre are exploring their creativity by releasing their own songs Guardian Jobs: see the latest vacancies in social care It’s 11am on Friday morning and there are some weird and wonderful psychedelic sounds emanating from a small, makeshift music studio in north London. Inside, Patricia Angol is playing the xylophone, Mui Tang is touching a Kaoss Pad – an audio effects unit – and Fathima Maharali is singing into a microphone. When they finish, their session leader, Jack Daley, fiddles on a computer, overlaying each musical section before playing it back. There are smiles and high-fives all round. Daley is a music producer who works at the Daylight centre for adults with learning disabilities, which is run by Islington council. He started private and group sessions composing and producing electronic music with service users two years ago. Since then, countless song lyrics have been written, an EP has been released (with another on the w...

The case of the Bristol boy who was left ‘castrated’ by an operation error shows the need for more rigorous procedures Just before Christmas, a two-year-old boy with an undescended testicle was admitted to Bristol Children’s hospital for what should have been a routine 30-minute operation to draw it down into his scrotum where it belonged. Instead, after an agonising two-and-a-half-hour wait, his parents were told that a surgeon had mistakenly inserted a camera into the “wrong side” and their son’s healthy testicle would now “never work.” He had, as they put it, been “castrated”. The hospital apologised and launched an investigation. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2TjawCZ

Foreign secretary says article 50 extension may be necessary if deal agreed close to deadline Follow all the latest on Brexit with our live blog The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has admitted article 50 may have to be extended to avoid the UK crashing out of the EU without a deal on 29 March. The government has consistently ruled out seeking an extension and on Tuesday whipped its MPs to vote down an amendment to ask for a delay. But, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Hunt conceded a delay may be necessary if an agreement with the EU was reached with only days to spare before the March deadline. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UvhKnz

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. and JUGAL K. PATEL from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2BeZrvJ

By JULIA JACOBS from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2UsUR47

By GLENN THRUSH from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2FX6UUl

Rutger Bregman tells panel that the real issue is the rich not paying their fair share A discussion panel at the Davos World Economic Forum has become a sensation after a Dutch historian took billionaires to task for not paying taxes. In a video shared tens of thousands of times, Rutger Bregman, author of the book Utopia for Realists , bemoans the failure of attendees at the recent gathering in Switzerland to address the key issue in the battle for greater equality: the failure of rich people to pay their fair share of taxes. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2TiSRLC

Labour MP Jess Phillips takes aim at politicians considering imposing a £30,000 pay threshold for EU workers to be considered skilled, saying: 'I have met many people who earn way more than £30,000 and have literally no discernible skills, not even one.' The MP for Birmingham Yardley says the post-Brexit immigration proposal was 'insulting' to the care workers, nurses and teachers who live in her electorate. 'I have definitely met some very rich people who earn huge amounts of money  who I wouldn’t let hold my pint if I had to go and vote while in the bar,' she says. Go behind the scenes with three MPs caught up in Brexit vote chaos – video Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2DMRI9R

Flexport Engineering Expands to Chicago by thedogeye | on Hacker News .

I’m the guy you meet right after you come out of a long-term relationship, and here’s how to have the perfect 14 February Valentine’s Day. 14 February. Known the world over as the most romantic day of the year (apologies, Shrove Tuesday). But were you aware that it is also peak break-up time for couples? That’s according to some statistics I’ve knowingly twisted to suit my own agenda. Either way, it’s certainly a busy time for me, the Guy You Meet Right After You Come Out of a Long-Term Relationship. Initially I’m just a friend … but that’s not what I’m after. I have a nice smile, an easy manner and no car. You’ll recognise me if you’re single, female and just trying to enjoy a quiet moment on your own. You’ll also recognise me if you’re male, single and just looking in a mirror. So prepare to be bathed in so much woke you’ll swear you’ve just been licked by Justin Trudeau . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GdRgTy

Freezing temperatures prompt Met Office to issue weather warnings for snow, ice and fog The UK has weathered its coldest night of winter so far as a cold snap continues to cause icy conditions across the country. Braemar in Aberdeenshire was the coldest place in the country as temperatures dipped to -11C (12.2F), 0.2C lower than the previous record for 2019. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Uv29UV

Jeff Bezos’s company hosts top secret CIA data and powers the US immigration case management system. Now it’s poised to take on a $10bn Pentagon project First it sold books. Then it added gadgetry, groceries and chipper virtual assistants. But Amazon’s latest expansion will take many shoppers by surprise. Meet Amazon, aspiring military behemoth. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FZ9YPN

With injuries inevitable, coaches need to know who their next cab off the rank is in each key position and Ireland have the system best placed to succeed When the Six Nations starts we’ll all enjoy picking and poking over team selection and tactics, how the benches have been used and how the coaches have drawn on all their nous to get the results they need. But one thing you won’t hear much about may end up being one of the most important factors of all in deciding the championship – the depth chart. Every nation will have a spreadsheet with each position on it and then the first choice, second choice, third choice and so on. Often it’s also colour-coded red, amber and green – a “RAG” depth chart. Green would mean world class, amber international class and red club class. You want as many green and ambers as possible and it’s a good rule of thumb that a side with real aspirations of winning a Six Nations or certainly a Rugby World Cup would need at least five or more players in that g...

Cash for former coal towns on offer in exchange for backing PM’s revised agreement Theresa May is putting together a package of measures aimed at wooing Labour MPs in leave-supporting constituencies, offering greater protection for workers’ rights after Brexit and, it emerged on Wednesday night, cash for former coalfield communities. The prime minister has asked two cabinet ministers to consult opposition backbenchers over legislation to protect workers’ rights after Brexit, although there is a fierce debate in Labour about how far to engage with the Conservatives. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WuXXXf

Campaigners are concerned UK nationals may need insurance to remain in some countries Campaigners for British nationals settled in the EU have called on Theresa May to guarantee health cover payments for pensioners for at least two years to help secure wider residential rights as well as medical care in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The government has indicated that it is in advanced conversations with countries including Spain, France and Ireland about continuing reciprocal arrangements, which would kick in to place if the UK crashes out of the EU. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HTU1MD

Labour leader pushes customs union … Asbo-style orders for knife offenders announced … and from penny pincher to our most trusted public figure Hello, it’s Warren Murray keeping you duly informed this Thursday morning. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2G0NMEC

Transports chiefs claim £70bn 30-year road and rail upgrade will create 850,000 jobs A £70bn plan to transform transport links across the north of England has been unveiled. Transports chiefs claim the 30-year road and rail upgrade scheme will boost the economy by £100bn and “leave a legacy for future generations” creating 850,000 jobs. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UpjGOg

Asbo-style orders could limit use of social media in order to stop gang rivalries escalating Children as young as 12 could be hit with new asbo-style orders designed to clamp down on knife violence. The measures – known as knife crime prevention orders – will place curbs on suspects, such as limiting their use of social media to stop gang rivalries escalating online. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WvbrCl

Thousands of flights canceled, schools close, and post office halts deliveries as Chicago lows approach record Frozen Arctic winds brought record-low temperatures across much of the US midwest on Wednesday, as a blast of Arctic air known as the polar vortex unnerved residents accustomed to brutal winters. As of Wednesday evening, at least eight deaths were linked to the system, including an elderly Illinois man who was found several hours after he fell trying to get into his home and a University of Iowa student found behind an academic hall several hours before dawn. A man was struck by a snowplow in the Chicago area, a young couple’s SUV struck another on a snowy road in northern Indiana and a Milwaukee man froze to death in a garage, authorities said. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FXY74f

Many schools in England forced into mergers despite years of cost-cutting Schools in England are merging into larger academy chains and slashing costs in a bid to manage “unsustainable” deficits, according to an authoritative survey of more than 1,000 academies. The report by the Kreston academies group found that half of the schools had an operating deficit last year, with only stringent cuts and the sharing of resources within multi-academy trusts (Mats) stopping the figure from being higher. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2S1PiNt

Project aims to raise awareness of harassment and bullying in restaurant industry Harassment, bullying and discrimination are prevalent within hospitality workplaces , people working in the industry have warned. The London Evening Standard food columnist Victoria Stewart, who is launching a platform designed to raise awareness of the problem, said she had spent a year interviewing workers “across the board” at food and drink outlets after hearing anecdotes about the poor treatment of staff. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MHWEzR

Singer was hoping for a Japanese translation of the title of her hit 7 Rings. Instead she ended up with a tattoo which means ‘small charcoal grill’ Too bad pop star Ariana Grande is vegan – she just tattooed an accidental homage to a Japanese barbeque grill on her palm. The US singer’s attempt to ink an ode to her hit single 7 Rings backfired Wednesday after social media quickly chimed in to tell her the characters actually translated to “shichirin”: a small charcoal grill. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2S9nENR

The landmark peace deal struck between the British and Irish governments in 1998 paved the way for power-sharing between unionists and nationalists in Northern Ireland and ended a 30-year conflict. Henry McDonald reports on how the Good Friday agreement is once again under scrutiny as Britain approaches Brexit. Plus Jason Burke on the political crisis in Zimbabwe For decades, the conflict in Northern Ireland was rarely out of the news. Then a landmark peace deal, the Good Friday agreement, set the country on to a new path. Now Brexit has made the Irish border a focal point once again and the key sticking point in negotiations. This week, MPs voted to send the prime minister back to Brussels to reopen talks on the controversial Irish backstop. Meanwhile, power-sharing at the Stormont assembly is on hold and there was a recent bomb attack in Derry. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MHoTyx

He has built an empire worth £80m, and is driven to help people attain ‘financial justice’. But in an age of predatory capitalism and rampant inequality, can one man’s modest suggestions really make much difference? By Daniel Cohen Every Tuesday night, an email newsletter goes out to 13 million subscribers. It’s far more popular than Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop newsletter, which has 8 million, and the New York Times Morning Briefing, with 1.7 million. Its name, Money Saving Expert’s Money Tips, barely hints at the astounding range of tricks and deals contained within. Recent emails have featured “hacks” for cheaper meals at Nando’s and McDonald’s, deals on broadband and savings accounts, codes giving discounted access to airport lounges and an offer for free radiator heat-reflector pads. The newsletter looks like a relic from an earlier age of the internet: thousands of words, with no ads and few images. It began as an email that Martin Lewis – the personal finance journalist now better ...

The Cut Out Girl is the gripping tale of a Jewish girl who escaped the Nazis, written by her saviours’ grandson. Here, author and heroine talk about their life-affirming collaboration ‘ I must tell you a secret,” Lien de Jong’s mother said to her gently one day. “You are going to stay somewhere else for a while.” It was August 1942 in occupied Holland and De Jong was eight years old. The family was Jewish, but not observant. She would never see her parents again; they were murdered in Auschwitz six months later. She was sent to live with a non-Jewish family, the Van Eses, the first in a series of temporary homes in the Netherlands’ wartime underground network. Bart van Es is a Dutch-born English literature professor at Oxford University, who usually “writes scholarly books and articles on Shakespeare and Renaissance poetry”. He is also the grandson of Jans and Henk van Es, who, as part of the Dutch resistance, sheltered Jewish children such as Lien de Jong during the occupation. His ...

All the excitement of the earlier films has been lost in this third outing for the animated series based on Cressida Cowell’s books Here is the third and – we have to hope – the last in a franchise that could be renamed How to Drain Your Dragon. All the fire and lifeblood of this idea has been sucked out and we are left with something bland. The first two films from 2010 and 2014 , amiable enough, emerged during the 3D boom and the theme-park-type dragonback ride was an important part of the show. That novelty is now long gone. What we’re left with is screensaver cinema: a swirly succession of pretty pictures and colours. This insipid spectacle has nothing like the strong flavour of Cressida Cowell ’s Milliganesque illustrations in her original books. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2G0nbb2

Residents brave the weather to post photographs on social media showing just how cold things have got Polar vortex: deaths as Arctic air spreads across US midwest In “Chiberia” – as locals have dubbed Chicago as temperatures have plummeted to -23F (-30C) – it is cold enough to freeze an egg on the sidewalk. Or to turn a bubble blown outside into a beautiful frosty snow globe before it splinters with the cold. A blast of polar air has swept across many cities in the US leading to the lowest temperatures in a generation. Schools and businesses have closed, flights have been cancelled and as of Wednesday evening, at least eight deaths had been linked to the system. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FYpCL5

As the president offers a sympathetic ear – and policies to match – critics see a de facto advisory committee, violating federal law The US health secretary sat for an interview with a man experts say is the leader of a hate group known for “defaming gays and lesbians”, just two days after Karen Pence, the US second lady, was criticized for teaching at a Christian school that bans homosexuality . Alex Azar, secretary of health and human services, was interviewed by the Family Research Council President , Tony Perkins, at an anti-abortion event called ProLifeCon in mid-January. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2sYuozS

Fifteen years ago, the social network site was set up to connect people. But now, with lives increasingly played out online, have we forgotten how to be alone? ‘Thefacebook is an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges. We have opened up Thefacebook for popular consumption at Harvard University. You can use Thefacebook to: search for people at your school; find out who are [sic] in your classes; look up your friends’ friends; see a visualization of your social network.” On 4 February 2004, this rather clunky announcement launched an invention conceived in the dorm room of a Harvard student called Mark Zuckerberg, and intended to be an improvement on the so-called face books that US universities traditionally used to collect photos and basic information about their students. From the vantage point of 2019, Thefacebook – as it was then known – looks familiar, but also strange. Pages were coloured that now familiar shade of blue, and “friends” were obvi...

Friends cite lack of support in university town for those with mental health and addiction problems A spate of deaths has rocked the homeless community in Oxford, sparking warnings that a lack of housing and support for people with mental health and addiction problems in one of Britain’s most affluent cities is contributing to fatalities. Bereaved friends of four men and a woman who have died suddenly in the university city since November said the losses are the worst they have known. They fear further deaths among rough sleepers amid freezing temperatures. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WsnVL7

Marnie has a form of OCD called Pure O, which manifests as constant invasive thoughts about sex. But this comedy-drama never resorts to cheap laughs. It is brave, bold and barely short of a miracle Marnie, the 24-year-old heroine – and I use the word advisedly – of new drama (or comedy-drama, possibly, but one that really wrenches its laughs out of darkness) Pure, suffers from a very specific form of OCD. Called Pure O, it manifests not as external physical acts such as compulsive handwashing or repeatedly checking things, but as powerfully intrusive thoughts, often about subjects considered taboo; such as violent, even murderous, acts or – as happens in Marnie’s mind, brutally colonised by the condition 10 years ago – sex. We meet Marnie (played by newcomer Charly Clive) shivering by a roadside after fleeing her parents’ wedding anniversary party. During her supposedly celebratory speech, which begins as an ordinarily exquisite agony for us all to watch, her treacherous thoughts str...

Telling women to stay together is no answer to unsafe streets After a jogger was sexually assaulted in Shepton Mallet last year, the local running club advised women to travel in packs. Extroverts hate running with other people; we don’t like company without chat, and talking while running is a literal waste of breath. Introverts hate running with other people, because they are other people. Avon and Somerset police, meanwhile, have recommended that runners don’t listen to music and vary their routes. (Everybody hates running without music and most hate changing their routes.) It’s fine, ladies, the police seem to say. We have got your back. You can still do that thing you enjoy, you just have to make yourself safer by enjoying it less. In the 90s, the What Women Want survey drew on the largest sample since the Hite report on sexuality in the 70s. It had the same methodological problems – it wasn’t a probability sample and women were self-selecting, simply choosing to fill in a postc...

This moment of Tory unity will not last. Theresa May’s deal and no deal need not be the only options – if Labour takes action In spite of the upbeat signals that came from Jeremy Corbyn’s meeting with Theresa May on Wednesday, experience suggests that it will not prove a turning point on Brexit. Neither of them is a natural negotiator or conciliator. These gifts are not part of their skill sets. Of the friendship that can sometimes exist between rival leaders there is no sign. Corbyn’s public sanctimony towards May can make Victor Hugo’s Inspector Javert look like a libertine. May’s default mode towards Corbyn, on show again at question time this week, is to give him her full Lady Disdain. Related: Labour can’t be held responsible for the Brexit fiasco | Owen Jones Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CYAswW

The Good Friday agreement allows people to identify as Irish, British or both. We’re being forced, once again, to choose sides One of my earliest childhood memories is of a circling red light motioning cars to stop near the border, silencing all who encountered its fiery glare. That red light filled my young heart with fear. I didn’t know if the gloved hand holding the torch was that of the RUC, the British army, the IRA or the UVF . I grew up during the Troubles in the shadow of Cloghogue, one of the largest British army bases in Northern Ireland. Having to make detours to avoid customs and security checks along “bomb alley” – an atrocity-laden eight-mile stretch of road between Newry and Dundalk – was as frightening as it was familiar. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2sYbgBY

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The government’s proposal that shop workers should help kickstart children’s early development is laughable Parents, we’ve all been there: a high-street shoe shop in early September. Everyone with a school-aged child has simultaneously realised that if they don’t get around to buying shoes today, the kids are going to have to start the year wearing flip-flops, or wellies. The queue is out of the door, heaps of small black lace-ups litter the aisles. Babies are wailing. Somebody’s toddler has got a foot stuck in the measuring machine. It’s too hot in the store, and there’s a heady scent of sweat and wee. Your own children are desperate to leave because you rashly bribed them to come here with the promise of a trip to the Lego shop and a doughnut. How, you might wonder, could this annual ritual get any more hellish? As ever, the government is one step ahead Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WuxclL

Progressives were caught napping by the financial crisis. They cannot not be as ill-prepared next time It’s often said that real change takes place at a time of crisis, but that’s not the whole story. A crisis makes change possible, but only when new ideas are knocking about does it actually happen. Otherwise, it is soon business as usual. The US economist Milton Friedman understood that fact , which is why he toiled away in the political wilderness to plot the downfall of postwar social democracy and was fully prepared when trouble arrived in the mid-1970s. The left was so in thrall to market forces and globalised capital that it blew a golden opportunity in 2007 Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MGLvPA

• Manager at a loss to explain 4-0 thumping at Bournemouth • Sarri keeps Chelsea players behind for an hour after match Maurizio Sarri has admitted he may not be equipped to motivate his players after seeing Chelsea suffer the heaviest league defeat of Roman Abramovich’s ownership at Bournemouth. Sarri, who endured chants of “You don’t know what you’re doing” from Chelsea fans, kept his team in the dressing room for around an hour after the final whistle in an effort to understand why a game that had been goalless at half-time had unravelled so spectacularly. The defeat led to Chelsea dropping out of the top four on goal difference and places Sarri’s position under scrutiny six months into a three-year contract. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UuiuJv

• Klopp highlights penalty appeal and Harry Maguire foul • ‘I think everybody agrees there could have been a penalty’ Jürgen Klopp claimed Liverpool were refused a clear penalty and Harry Maguire should not have been on the pitch to deny his Premier League leaders a seven-point advantage in the title race as Leicester secured a 1-1 draw at Anfield. Liverpool extended their lead over Manchester City to five points but missed the opportunity to capitalise fully on the champions’ defeat at Newcastle United as they failed to beat a team outside the top six for the first time this season. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GhPIs3

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GiveCampus (YC S15) Hiring Experienced Rails Engineers in DC by mkong1 | on Hacker News .

Reach Labs, long-range wireless power, hiring #1 Embedded Systems engineer by davlantesc | on Hacker News .

One Month (Learn to Code in 30 Days) Is Hiring a Freelance Writer by castig | on Hacker News .

Human Interest (401(k) Provider for SMBs) Is Hiring a Staff Engineer by roger_lee | on Hacker News .

Muse (YC W12) Is Hiring a Platform Engineer by KMinshew | on Hacker News .

Victim’s mother calls for end to violence as three questioned over Islington knife attack Murder detectives are questioning three teenagers arrested over the fatal stabbing of a boy in the street in Islington, north London. The victim, 17, died at the scene 30 minutes after the attack on Caledonian Road. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MG9Xkd

Melissa McCarthy is magnificent as an odious literary forger abetted by Richard E Grant as her lounge-lizard drinking buddy The law about movie characters needing to be sympathetic is defied in this horribly fascinating true-crime black comedy about failed biographer and serial literary forger Lee Israel, co-written by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty, and directed by Marielle Heller. In the leading role, Melissa McCarthy has absolutely zero relatability. No one is rooting for her at any time. As they ponder the manky apartment in which she lives, with cat excrement piling up under the bed, audiences will not want to be her, or be with her. Her character’s passionate devotion to her cat is matched by an irritable contempt for the human beings who have variously let her down, or got too close, or impeded her literary career. And her final courtroom promise to give up alcohol is succeeded by a scene in which she gets drunk in a bar and gigglingly fantasises about how funny it would ...

It’s far too freezing to go out, so instead stay in and indulge yourself with a daily regime this winter I cannot deal with the cold weather. Please, save me. Me, my desk I don’t know if I have made it clear enough in my several thousand other columns on this subject, but I really, really hate winter. Some people get apple cheeks and cosy knitwear; I have a permanent cold and am permanently cold. If I have a cinematic alter ego, it’s Sanka Coffie (Doug E Doug), the dreadlocked bobsledder in the 90s classic, Cool Runnings (all movies with John Candy are classic, don’t @ me), when he comes out of the ice-cream truck in which he has been locked so as to acclimatise to cold weather. The camera pans to him shivering miserably, his dreadlocks so frozen they snap off. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2BaE5PX

Goya’s bleak visions were originally painted onto the walls of his house – and remain some of the most disturbing artworks ever made A boggle-eyed pagan god feasts on the headless carcass of his own son. A humanoid billy goat in a monkish cassock bleats a satanic sermon to a gasping congregation of witches. A desperately expressive little dog appears to plead for rescue, submerged up to its neck in a mud-coloured mire beneath a gloomy, void-like firmament of negative space. “Well, these are quite a pick-me-up,” remarks one visitor to Madrid’s Prado museum , as his group moves quickly past the Black Paintings of Francisco de Goya . I have overheard that kind of thing many times in this room: a jokey, defensive sort of irony in response to the spectacular weirdness and bleakness of these 14 images. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2BbTCzb

Novelist David Keenan picks fiction, history and reportage that record the devastating conflict that convulsed Northern Ireland for three decades When I was writing my second novel, For the Good Times , it never occurred to me that we might be approaching a kind of Troubles “moment” in literature, but I did wonder. Were we finally far enough away from the events of 1968-98 to start fictionalising them? Is it necessary for there to be a sort of cultural/historical gap before we can interrogate trauma? And then Anna Burns’s superb Milkman won the Booker, Michael Hughes published Country, his inspired Homeric reimagining of the Iliad set during the Troubles, and with exciting new voices such as Wendy Erskine emerging, Belfast suddenly seemed to be ground zero for radical literary fiction, with borders once more in the news. Related: For the Good Times by David Keenan – review Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2ThKakU

Kensington Palace has asked Twitter and Instagram for help, but online abuse affects everyone – especially minority women Being a royal secures unfathomable perks. Whether it’s getting a £1m home refurbishment gifted by the taxpayer, ownership of all the swans or a lifetime of inherited privilege for you and your descendants, royal status shields the bestowed from life’s mundane troubles. But even a five-metre Givenchy wedding veil couldn’t save Meghan, Duchess of Sussex from misogynoir and a barrage of trolling. This week, Kensington Palace had to reach out for help from Twitter and Instagram, as staff members were spending hours each week reporting sexist and racist comments and threats aimed at Meghan and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge. The diatribe is so dire that Hello! magazine has started a campaign #HelloToKindness. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GaU6sH

Labour leader to argue for customs union, single-market ties and workers’ rights Today’s political developments - live updates Jeremy Corbyn is expected to meet Theresa May to discuss Brexit, with 58 days remaining until the UK leaves the EU. The meeting later on Wednesday was confirmed that morning by Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, although the time is yet to be finalised. It comes two weeks after Corbyn rejected the prime minister’s invitation on the grounds that she should first rule out a no-deal Brexit. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GaO2jJ

Papers say Theresa May is aiming to provoke conflict with EU after ‘utterly absurd’ Commons scenes All the day’s political developments – live updates European media and commentators were damning about the latest twist in the Brexit saga, accusing Theresa May variously of weakness, desperation and cynicism in putting party before country – and warning she could no longer be trusted. “To avoid the disintegration of her own Conservative party, Theresa May is now risking a major showdown with the EU and increasing the danger of a damaging no-deal departure,” wr ites Le Monde’s London correspondent, Philippe Bernard . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Uq3e0h

Ruling against two men means not everyone who is wrongly jailed is entitled to a payout Not all victims of miscarriages of justice are entitled to compensation, the supreme court has ruled, denying appeals by two men who spent a total of 24 years in jail for crimes of which they have been cleared. By a majority of five to two, the justices declared it should not be surprising that there is a difference between conclusions reached in criminal and civil proceedings. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CTQg3M

Exclusive: documents seen by Guardian suggest soldiers have been responsible for murder and rape during crackdown Internal Zimbabwean police documents passed to the Guardian suggest the army has been responsible for murder, rape and armed robbery during the ongoing brutal crackdown in the impoverished southern African country. At least 12 people are thought to have died when security forces opened fire on civilians during a three-day shutdown called by unions following a fuel price rise earlier this month. One policeman is believed to have been killed. The death toll is expected to rise. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UqZZWw

Spending more doesn’t guarantee better wine – so what can you do to improve your choices? Experts offer their top tips You might think it obvious that nobody wants to pay more for their wine, but that’s not entirely true. “People often say to me: ‘Oh, I only drink expensive wines,’” says Sam Caporn, the wine expert and self-styled Mistress of Wine . “They say it’s because they don’t get headaches from them, but it’s the alcohol that gives you the headache, not the price!” When it comes to buying wine there’s a lot of misinformation out there, and one of the most common misconceptions is that spending a lot of money on a bottle means you will like it. But it might not be your style, it might be overpriced or you could be drinking it for completely the wrong occasion. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2GaAFA4

You have been reacting to MPs passing an amendment to replace the Irish backstop and discussing what might be next for Brexit Follow all the day’s political developments - live updates Well, thanks, politicians. This morning I feel totally scunnered, a citizen of nowhere. We are all being played, no deal is the endgame where the wealthy will make financial killings. That’ll be the warm up act to destabilisation of the EU and God knows what after. The arms dealers must be rubbing their hands with glee. And we all are collateral damage, at best. I loathe politicians. tlswimmer Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2UqkAdt

Police, health services and council warn of illegal versions of prescription tranquillisers An “unprecedented” spike in the number of deaths of homeless people in Glasgow has been linked to illegal versions of prescription tranquillisers that have flooded the market in Scotland over the past year. Early data collected by addiction services indicates a 43% rise in the number of people who died of drugs overdoses in the city from January to October last year, compared with the same period in 2017. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Sh2uNF

Coastguard warns death toll will rise after recovery of 28 bodies, as UN reveals six migrants die at sea each day At least 130 migrants are missing off the coast Djibouti after two boats capsized, amid new warnings from the UN that six migrants a day die on maritime smuggling routes to Europe and elsewhere. According to the International Organization for Migration, the alarm was raised over the latest incident after two survivors were recovered. As the search for more survivors continued, the IOM said on Wednesday that 28 bodies had been found. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2MH7mqi

Faire (YC W17) Is Looking for a Biz Ops Associate by danperito | on Hacker News .

Company’s director says it is ‘not over yet’ but staff say they are waiting for January wages The online women’s magazine The Pool, which was co-founded by Lauren Laverne, is fighting for its future, with staff yet to receive their wages for January and management in talks to save the company. The company has stopped commissioning freelancers following a backlog of complaints that bills had gone unpaid, while staff say this month’s salaries, which were due last Friday, have yet to arrive. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WnqkXc

Embattled president warns Donald Trump he risks turning country into new Vietnam Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro, has accused Donald Trump and the “group of extremists around him” of plotting to topple him in order to seize Venezuela’s oil, and warned he risked transforming the South American country into a new Vietnam. In a four-minute Facebook video – published as Venezuela prepared for a day of fresh pro-opposition protests on Wednesday – Maduro claimed the leaders of the US “empire” were conspiring “to get their hands on our oil – just like they did in Iraq and in Libya”. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2SdEaw9