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For years I shared a bed, but after my marriage ended I had a place that was now exclusively mine – and where I could get eight hours of undisturbed sleep My husband and I had toyed with the idea of splitting up for years, but when I finally decided that we should no longer live together, not sleeping in the same bed felt much more tangible than getting a divorce. If the beginning of our marriage was snap, crackle and pop, the end was a bowl of soggy cornflakes. It was difficult to find things to celebrate in those early days of living separately . The realisation that our kids would have to turn their backs on one parent to go to the other seemed like an act of cruelty. But if I am making it all sound miserable, it wasn’t. Now, a few years on, the kids are all right and my ex and I are far happier for going our separate ways . One of the biggest surprises of our split has been that having my own bed contributes to a large part of that happiness. Continue reading... from The Guard...

Leaked reports of customs checks denied by No 10 … Trump impeachment escalates … and Debbie Harry on drugs, rape and robbery Good morning and welcome to the morning briefing with Alison Rourke on this very busy news week. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oRsp1z

Offences include repeatedly asking for a date or sending explicit texts, survey shows One in five doctors has been sexually harassed or witnessed it at work, with offences including explicit text messages or emails or being groped, propositioned or repeatedly asked to go on a date, a survey has found. The perpetrators are mostly patients but sometimes they are fellow medics or nurses, according to a survey of 1,378 hospital doctors and GPs across the UK. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nkuwdz

‘Great Aussie Coin Hunt’ a boon for brands, with Vegemite, Iced VoVos and Zooper Doopers scoring their own $1 coins Australia’s postal service has released a series of commemorative $1 coins featuring images of the long-running television soap Neighbours, the word “g’day” and a mythical ape-like creature called a yowie. The promotion, concocted by Australia Post and the Royal Australian Mint, is an A-Z of what it calls an “iconic reflection of Aussie life” and offers an eclectic mix of new companions for Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II on Australia’s currency. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oLAdSc

After three decades of intellectual decline, the Conservative party stands for nothing but Brexit What does the Conservative party stand for in 2019? If you survey the central tenets of Tory ideology from the past 50 years, it is hard to find a single one that is still intact. The party of business is hellbent on undermining access to an export market of half a billion people. The party of law and order is now raging against the judiciary – with senior Tories being regularly asked whether their government intends to obey the law . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2niKV2i

Pro-democracy politicians defied a police ban to lead a march through downtown Hong Kong on Tuesday, China’s National Day, calling for greater political freedom. Thousands of black-clad protesters began gathering in the early afternoon at the Causeway Bay retail and entertainment district. Chanting “Fight for freedom!”—and the democracy movement’s slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our time!”—they set off for the city center. At the head of the march, politicians, including veteran campaigners Albert Ho and Lee Cheuk-yan, carried a banner that read “End dictatorship, return power to the people.” National Day is a festive occasion in mainland China, but a source of tension and resentment in semi-autonomous Hong Kong, where most people, according to surveys , do not define themselves as Chinese but as “Hongkongers.” Although the raising of the Chinese flag took place without incident at 8:00 a.m. local time, the public were not invited and VIPs attending the ceremon...

She’s been through stalking, sexism and drugs – and had her house taken by the tax collector. But at 74, the Blondie star is still irrepressibly creative, and happier than she’s ever been It wasn’t until she was 31 – relatively old by pop-star standards – that Debbie Harry became famous. This goes some way to explain how she managed to cram in so much before she became the superstar frontwoman of Blondie. To name but a few of her experiences, as a child, she survived being in a coma as a result of pneumonia; as a young woman in New York, she worked for the BBC, hung out with Andy Warhol and other New York faces, escaped an abusive relationship, became a driver for the New York Dolls, started a girl band, formed Blondie and believes she had a lucky escape from the serial killer Ted Bundy. “I’m sure I don’t have all my experiences on tap,” Harry writes in her new autobiography, Face It. I meet her in a suite at the Savoy in London. She appears alone, wearing sunglasses. Harry is tiny (...

Democratic politics always involves ‘us’ against ‘them’ – so the way to fight the populist right is to build a bigger ‘us’ In his determination to deliver Brexit “ do or die ”, Boris Johnson is planning to launch an election campaign that will pit “the people” against “parliament”. He promises to take sovereignty back from the political elites – and return it to “the people”. The announcement of these tactics has caused alarm among those who fear democracy will be threatened by a “populist” politics of polarisation between “us” and “them”. But this fear of populism reveals something troubling about how we currently understand democratic politics. What most people seem to find shocking about Johnson’s strategy is that it involves an “us v them” confrontation – as if democratic politics could avoid conflict between irreconcilable political projects. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2msAoRC

New weapons – including a hypersonic drone and a ballistic missile that can reach the US – make their public debut in sweeping military parade Pomp and ceremony in Beijing - live China has celebrated 70 years of Communist party rule and its rise to global superpower status with a military parade in Beijing showcasing the country’s latest technology, and a promise from President Xi Jinping that “no force can shake the foundation of this great nation”. But protests in Hong Kong looked set to cast a long shadow over Beijing’s carefully-choreographed projection of national unity. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nhqzXd

UK media freedom envoy speaks out after targeted killing of Jamal Khashoggi A “glaring gap” exists in the world’s ability to investigate targeted state killings of human rights defenders and journalists such as Jamal Khashoggi, said Amal Clooney, the UK special envoy on media freedom. She also said the UN special rapporteur Agnès Callamard, who undertook the UN’s investigation into Khashoggi’s murder, “had been forced heroically to manage a large-scale investigation with ridiculously few resources”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o2QQbT

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Producers confirm that Orka and Flix in the animated children’s series are first queer couple in the franchise The animated children’s series Star Wars Resistance may not be the most popular thread of the long-running franchise, but it’s the first in the universe to harbour two gay characters. Disney producers confirmed on Monday what fans had already surmised, that two characters in the series, Orka and Flix – voiced by Jim Rash and Bobby Moynihan respectively – were a queer couple. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o01CQ8

War in the south as hostility between separatists and government forces points to why peace is even more elusive Every soldier in the Yemeni city of Aden is on edge. The main checkpoint on the coastal road has two large holes in the roof from mortar shells and the beach has been dug up into berms to slow the advance of any hostile vehicles. The problem is that the 25 men milling around their posts are n ot sure what their enemy looks like . In the recent fighting which saw the separatist Southern Transitional Council (STC) eject from the city troops loyal to the exiled Yemeni president – their former allies – al-Qaida took advantage of the chaos, putting on STC uniforms to ambush the soldiers here. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oPEWm1

(BEIJING) — China’s Communist Party celebrated its 70th anniversary in power with a military parade Tuesday that showcased its growing might and strategic ambitions. An honor guard carrying the Chinese flag through Tiananmen Square, the country’s symbolic political heart, before thousands of spectators who waved flags. Artillery guns fired a salute. President Xi Jinping, wearing a gray Mao jacket, and other Chinese leaders, including former Presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin, watched from atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace at the square’s north end. “No force can shake the status of our great motherland, and no force can stop the progress of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation,” Xi said in a nationally televised speech. Xi rode in an open-topped limousine past dozens of rows of truck-mounted missiles, armored personnel carriers and other military gear. Soldiers in helmets and combat gear shouted, “Hello, leader!” and “Serve the people!” Xi replied, “Hello, comrades.” ...

Attorney general and secretary of state both reportedly took part in contacts between Trump and foreign leaders An effort in recent months by Donald Trump to rewrite the history of the 2016 US presidential election and set up a 2020 re-election victory was both more geographically sprawling and reliant on the day-to-day participation of top cabinet members than previously reported, it emerged on Monday. Both William Barr, the attorney general, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, collectively participated in contacts between Trump and leaders of at least four foreign countries, according to multiple reports. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oJ299i

In a July phone call between Donald Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate former vice-president Joe Biden. An intelligence official decided to blow the whistle on the call. Lauren Gambino discusses how this has led to an impeachment inquiry. And: Joseph Harker on the start of Black History Month Donald Trump says growing calls for his impeachment are ‘nonsense’ after it emerged he withheld nearly $400m in aid to Ukraine. The US president ordered staff to withhold the aid before demanding Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, investigate Joe Biden and his son. Under US election law, it is illegal to seek the help of foreign entities for personal political gain. Guardian US correspondent Lauren Gambino tells Rachel Humphreys how the actions of a whistleblower, who decided to reveal details of the call, have led to an impeachment inquiry. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mrIs57

Growing up in rural Australia, I found joy in the weird creatures around me – and finding out why they had evolved that way. Now I’ve illustrated a whole children’s book about them The surinam toad is an unusual creature to behold: it has an extremely flat, splat-like body, with a posterior packed with large pores full of babies. It’s as though somewhere during evolution, it took a wrong turn – and then got run over. But of course, the adaptation has an intelligent purpose. By carrying her eggs on her back, the mother is able to lay flat against her surroundings, protecting her spawn from predators until they are ready for the world. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oGgZxg

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra dissolved congress Monday, exercising seldom used executive powers to shut down the opposition-controlled legislature that he accuses of stonewalling attempts to curb widespread corruption. In a televised address, Vizcarra told the South American nation that he had decided to call new legislative elections after lawmakers proceeded with holding a controversial vote to replace almost all the members of the Constitutional Tribunal. “We are making history that will be remembered by future generations,” he said. “And when they do, I hope they understand the magnitude of this fight that we are in today against an endemic evil that has caused much harm to our country.” The stunning turn could spell new instability as Peru grapples with the fallout of the Odebrecht corruption scandal, plummeting faith in public institutions and an inexperienced president struggling to govern. Nonetheless, Vizcarra’s decision is likely to be...

Pomp and ceremony in Beijing could be overshadowed by unrest that has roiled Hong Kong for 17 weeks 2.32am BST Earlier today, Ilham Tohti, a Uygur academic currently in prison in China, was awarded a European human rights prize. Tothi, who was sentenced to life in prison in 2014, was awarded the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize in Strasbourg. 2.23am BST More pictures of the preparation here: Related: China prepares to mark 70 years of People’s Republic – in pictures Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nevW9z

The calving of the 1,636 sq km iceberg is not linked to climate change, scientists say, but could speed up further melting A gigantic iceberg about the size of greater London has calved from the Amery ice shelf in east Antarctica, according to expert monitors. The tabular iceberg, officially named D-28, separated from the ice shelf on 26 September. The iceberg is 1,636 square kilometres in size, or about 50 x 30km, the Australian Antarctic Division said. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o3cvjW

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Hong Kong braced for widespread protests Tuesday as activists announced plans to use China’s National Day to continue their push for democratic reform. The raising of the Chinese flag took place without incident at 8:00 a.m. local time, but in subdued fashion. The public were not invited and VIPs attending the ceremony were asked for security reasons to gather at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center to watch the event on closed circuit television. The surrounding streets were on lockdown. However, a small procession by the League of Social Democrats political party was able to approach within a few hundred meters of the venue carrying banners that read “No national celebration, only national tragedy” and “End authoritarianism.” Addressing the small gathering, longtime dissident and former legislator Leung Kwok-hung , said: “With no democracy, Hong Kong will not have a future.” Afterward, he told TIME: “If there [is no] right to choose our leaders, to have self-...

Fox News Breaking News Alert PROGRAMMING ALERT: Rudy Giuliani reacts to subpoena on 'Hannity,' 9 pm ET 09/30/19 5:36 PM

Memorial commemorating Britain’s first black magistrate marks start of Black History Month A plaque will be unveiled in Nottingham this week to commemorate the achievements of Eric Irons, Britain’s first black magistrate and a campaigner for social justice. Marking the start of Black History Month on Tuesday, the memorial will be displayed on the facade of the National Justice Museum , or what used to be the city’s Shire Hall courts – where Irons heard his first cases in the early 1960s. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nL7mNz

Military police have launched only 35 probes into racially aggravated crimes in five years Military police have launched 35 investigations into racially aggravated crimes over the past five years, prompting warnings that many service personnel from BAME backgrounds are “suffering in silence”. The number of military police investigations – which the Ministry of Defence has admitted is low – was revealed following a Freedom of Information Act by the Guardian and cover those conducted in the army, navy and air force since 2015. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mghxJA

Adult content was beamed from the store on New Zealand’s busiest shopping street until employees arrived to open the shop Pornography played on giant television screens at an Asics sports store in New Zealand for hours over the weekend after hackers took over the shop’s IT systems. The pornography was streamed onto screens facing Auckland’s Queen Street, the country’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, and wasn’t stopped until employees arrived to open the store on Sunday morning. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2maaS3q

Aimee Stephens is at the center of the first supreme court case involving the civil rights of transgender people Growing up in a Southern Baptist family in Fayetteville, North Carolina in the 1960s the biggest problem in Aimee Stephens’ household was the length of her hair. “My dad thought it ought to be cut short. And he made the comment back then that only girls have long hair,” said Stephens smiling. Decades later, after a long struggle that had led her to to the brink of suicide, Stephens came out as trans. She wrote to her dad, enclosing photos of her now. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mNgOQt

Crowd gathers at camp, angry at time taken by authorities to put out blaze that killed at least two people At least two migrants died on Sunday in a fire at a Greek island refugee camp, with the blaze triggering rioting by angry residents. Athens News Agency, quoting police sources, reported that a woman and a child had died in the blaze at the overcrowded Moria camp on the island of Lesbos. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nJ9CVy

White ute with spotlight intentionally ran over the animals in Merimbula, wildlife volunteer alleges Police are calling for witnesses to come forward after 20 kangaroos were killed by a vehicle in “acts of animal cruelty” in the New South Wales town of Merimbula. Authorities believe one vehicle drove through the suburb of Tura Beach between 10.30pm and 11.30pm on Saturday night, targeting and killing the animals. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nPd1BW

No 10 denies inappropriate touching allegations … Trump is endangering whistleblower, lawyers say … and Yemen’s suffering Good morning and welcome to this Monday briefing with Alison Rourke. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mdGVj9

(BEIJING) — China’s top trade negotiator will lead an upcoming 13th round of talks aimed at resolving a trade war with the United States, a senior Chinese official said Sunday. Vice Premier Liu He will travel to Washington for the negotiations, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen said. He didn’t give exact dates, but said the talks would be after China’s National Day holiday, which runs through Oct. 7. “The two sides should find a solution through equal dialogue in accordance with the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit,” Wang said at a news conference with other officials, including Commerce Minister Zhong Shan. The Trump administration first imposed tariffs on Chinese imports last year in a bid to win concessions from China, which responded with tit-for-tat tariffs. The escalating dispute between the world’s two largest economies has depressed stock prices and poses a threat to the global economy. Both sides have made conciliatory gestures ahead ...

Kane Walker 1987-2019: How did a childhood spent in the care system lead to the young man everybody loved dying under an overpass – and could a new law help? “We’re here today because someone has touched your life,” says the priest. “You can say Kane’s life is a tragic story and he’s a lost soul. Perhaps you’re right. But the measure of a life is how many other lives it touches, and Kane’s life has touched many people’s lives. It’s touched yours, that’s why we’re here. Everything becomes yesterday’s news, but we can’t let that happen.” The chapel is packed for Kane Walker’s funeral, and tensions are running high. Around 130 people have turned up at Perry Barr crematorium in Birmingham on a bright February day to pay their last respects. It is just over a month since he died, aged 31, and those at the service are angry. How could a young man be allowed to die of pneumonia and a drug overdose in a freezing city underpass? It wasn’t as if Kane was unknown to the police, outreach teams,...

Many institutions are happy to showcase black and brown faces, yet we’re kept away from key decision-making positions There are, broadly, two designated roles for people of colour in the British media. The first is to be the “as a” person. You know the one: the person who is there to speak about their experiences of racism or discrimination “as a” black man or “as a” Muslim woman. The second is to simply to be there – bringing your talent, yes, but also to add diversity to a lineup. News presenter Naga Munchetty discovered last week that the BBC sees her as the latter. It’s happy to have black and brown faces, but only as long as they don’t wander off the reservation and actually attempt to bring their experiences to bear on their journalism. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nKzArL

(PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti) — Opposition leaders are calling for a nationwide push Monday to block streets and paralyze Haiti’s economy as they press for President Jovenel Moïse to give up power, and tens of thousands of their dedicated young supporters are expected to heed the call. People stood in lines all day Sunday under a brutal sun to get water, gasoline and other basic supplies before the next round of protests that many worried would turn more violent than a demonstration Friday during which several homes and businesses were burned as police fired tear gas at protesters. Several people have died in the past three weeks amid the political clashes. “I have a feeling that the country is going to change,” said Yves Bon Anée, a mason standing next to eight empty plastic gallons that he would fill with gasoline at $2 a gallon for friends, family and himself. He planned to resell his portion to make some money because he hasn’t been able to find work in weeks amid Haiti’s ...

British Heart Foundation warns of inequalities at every stage costing thousands of lives Women are dying from heart attacks unnecessarily because of the mistaken perception that they mostly happen to men, a leading charity says. Inequalities at every stage lead to women being diagnosed late and not getting the prompt treatment and aftercare they need to survive a heart attack. Research funded by the British Heart Foundation has found that more than 8,000 women died between 2002 and 2013 in England and Wales because they did not receive the same standard of care as men. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ooVrVO

Crackdown begins on high-profile activists in Hong Kong and the mainland ahead of 70th anniversary Authorities have arrested at least two high-profile activists as Hong Kong prepares to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Tuesday. A large demonstration organised by the group Civil Human Rights Front, which has organised previous mass protests, has been banned by the police, but protesters have vowed to turn out on 1 October to show their anger and frustration at the erosion of rights under Chinese rule. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ooYbm1

Three years of chaos have opened space for big, bold progressive thinking, offering a new sense of hope Who would now dare to find hope in among the Brexit nightmare? Halloween is just a month away, and there is still no sign of any breakthrough in negotiations . The Conservative party is dealing in dangerous rightwing populism , a development that looks all the more abject because its new leader has taken this turn solely in the interests of his own career. Related: For Labour's grassroots, a radical agenda is finally within reach | Owen Jones Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mVXK2j

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(NEW YORK) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in a television interview that he takes “full responsibility” for the grisly murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but denied allegations that he ordered it. “This was a heinous crime,” Prince Mohammed, 34, told “60 Minutes” in an interview that aired Sunday. “But I take full responsibility as a leader in Saudi Arabia, especially since it was committed by individuals working for the Saudi government.” Asked if he ordered the murder of Khashoggi, who had criticized him in columns for The Washington Post, Prince Mohammed replied: “Absolutely not.” The slaying was “a mistake,” he said. Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Turkey on Oct. 2, 2018, to collect a document that he needed to marry his Turkish fiancee. Agents of the Saudi government killed Khashoggi inside the consulate and apparently dismembered his body, which has never been found. Saudi Arabia has charged 11 people in the slaying and put them on...

Four years of war has not brought Saudi Arabia any closer to victory, but all over Yemen ordinary people are suffering It has started to rain and the angry sky is threatening thunder, but a lone figure is picking his way through the rubble of Dhamar detention centre in Houthi-controlled northern Yemen. His name is Mustafa al-Adel. Although his brother Ahmed, a guard, died here when the site was recently hit by a ferocious airstrike , he is still employed to watch over the ruins. At night he sleeps in the least damaged building. He doesn’t mind the rain, he says. It has washed away the blood. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ouK9j7

Leader Prayut Chan-o-cha may follow in Indonesia’s footsteps after floating idea as a way to tackle overcrowding Thailand could be the next nation in south-east Asia to relocate its capital after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha hinted such a move could be a “possibility” under his government. Taking inspiration from neighbouring Myanmar and similar plans being formulated in Indonesia , the Thai prime minister suggested that relocating the capital could help Bangkok overcome its mounting urban challenges. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nIDsta

Exhibition at Bonn’s House of History documents ‘unrequited love’ of all things British The strategy that Germany’s diplomatic corps proposed to keep Britain in the European community was unconventional and bold. In November 1974, the then German chancellor Helmut Schmidt was desperately searching for the right words to convince British Eurosceptics to vote to remain a member of the European Economic Community. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mJpJCp

Whistleblower’s attorney says president’s demands to identify their client has prompted safety concerns Lawyers acting for the whistleblower at the centre of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump’s attempts to solicit foreign help for his re-election campaign have warned that their client’s personal safety is in danger partly as a result of the president’s remarks. Andrew Bakaj, the lead attorney for the unnamed intelligence official who sounded the alarm on Trump’s activities relating to Ukraine, expressed fears on Sunday that the whistleblower could be put “in harm’s way” were his or her identity made public. In a letter to the acting Director of National Intelligence , Joseph Maguire, Bakaj points directly at Trump’s aggressive statements that he said prompted “concerns for our client’s safety”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2me9hty

Justin Trudeau achieved a historic victory in 2015 but as he nears the end of his first term a series of scandals are making his political future far less certain. With Canada going to the polls next month, journalist Leyland Cecco discusses how likely it is Trudeau will repeat his initial success. And: Kaitlyn Regehr on why new sex education lessons in schools are already outdated As Justin Trudeau looks to renew his parliamentary majority in a forthcoming federal election, a series of scandals have made his political future uncertain. Most recently, the publication of a series of images showing Trudeau in blackface forced the Canadian prime minister to admit he could not recall how many times he had worn it. Toronto-based journalist Leyland Cecco talks to Rachel Humphreys about Trudeau’s first term in office and whether he can rescue his campaign to win a second – opinion polls shows him in a tight race against his Conservative rival. Continue reading... from The Guardian htt...

(LONDON) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson denied wrongdoing Sunday over his links to an American businesswoman who allegedly received money and favorable treatment because of their friendship during his time as mayor of London. Asked during a BBC interview about his ties to tech entrepreneur and model Jennifer Arcuri, Johnson sought to suggest that political motivations were behind the decision Friday by the Greater London Authority to refer a conduct matter to a police watchdog agency. The matter arose from a Sunday Times report saying Arcuri was given 126,000 pounds in public money and privileged access to trade missions to the United States, Israel and Asia that Johnson led as mayor, even though her fledgling business had not yet met eligibility requirements for such trips. “Everything was done in accordance with the code … and everything was done with full propriety,” Johnson said Sunday. When pressed again by BBC journalist Andrew Marr, Johnson added: “There w...

Chinese officials blame unrest on issues such as housing or unemployment, but the problems go much deeper than that When Chinese president Xi Jinping warned his Communist party cadres against the threats of “black swans” and “grey rhinoceroses” in January, there was little sign of what would lie ahead. The millions-strong protests in Hong Kong in recent months, sparked by a controversial extradition law, have morphed into an unprecedented political storm that has blown up in the faces of Hong Kong and Chinese leaders. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2opi8sZ

Precognition is the claimed paranormal ability to predict the future – and is widely considered to be pseudoscience. Why, then, is the US psychic industry worth $2bn a year? Deep in the night of 29 January 2012, Fatih Ozcan had an unusual dream. Then 27, and a waiter in a Turkish restaurant in York, Ozcan dreamed he was holding “loads of cash” while standing in front of his boss. When he arrived at the restaurant for his 5pm shift the next day, he was impatient to speak with his employer. “I was saying: ‘Where is he? I need him.’ I was telling everyone I had to play the lottery with the boss,” Ozcan says. After two hours of pestering, Ozcan’s boss agreed to play. Two days later, the winning EuroMillions numbers were drawn – the pair won £1m. “I’ve had loads of dreams that have become true, but they were little things, like travelling somewhere or having a nice day,” he says. Ozcan was certain this dream was prophetic and that he and his boss would win money together, because a month ...

As Prince Harry visits the country to build on the anti-landmine work begun by his mother, Princess Diana, the Observer joins a group of women while they clear one village of explosives From Benguela, a city on the west coast of Angola, it takes four hours to reach the village of Cabio by car, first on potholed highways and then on unmarked sandy tracks that take you deep into the bush. It is a remote place, and a poor one. Its 82 inhabitants live in tiny houses built of mud bricks and corrugated iron. Its open-air church is little more than an arrangement of sticks. Its school is a blackboard tacked to a tree. For the newcomer, however, Cabio has a surprise up its sleeve. Though barely reachable by road, the village is a stop on the Benguela Railway, which runs from the port of Lobito in the west all the way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the east. The railway, which fell into disrepair during Angola’s brutal civil war, was reconstructed between 2006 and 2014 by the Chin...

By now the malaise at Old Trafford has deep roots – only equally deep systemic change can put it right All in all, it’s been an excellent week for Manchester United. There was progress in the Carabao Cup and the announcement of record revenues of £627.1m. What more could anybody want? Excellent, that is, as long as you don’t worry about details such as the limp 2-0 defeat at West Ham last Sunday. Or that the weekend kicked off with United eighth in the Premier League table. Or that a club with a proud cavalier tradition have scored just 18 goals in their last 20 games. Or that the one outfielder of undoubted outstanding quality spent the summer trying to leave. Or that Old Trafford, essentially undeveloped in more than two decades, has an entirely appropriate air of shabbiness. Or that this is, relative to the rest of the league, the worst Manchester United squad in at least 30 years. Or that the share price has fallen 36% since its peak at the end of August last year. Continue rea...

Regional newspapers are closing down in their hundreds, but it’s not just jobs being lost – communities are starting to wither One of the sounds fast disappearing from British homes in the past 15 years has been that of a fat local newspaper falling on to a doormat. That daily or weekly alert to the goings-on in the courts and councils and schools and streets a walk or a bus ride from where we live is no longer an anticipated feature of a majority of lives. From 2005 to the end of 2018, there was a net loss of 245 local news titles . An estimated 58% of the country is now served by no regional newspaper. Last week, Mark Thompson, former director general of the BBC and current chief executive of the New York Times, suggested in a keynote lecture that the closures would only increase without a dramatic shift in policy and investment, and that “A society which fails to provide its different communities and groups with the means to listen and come to understand each other’s pasts and pre...

Growing numbers of people, partly inspired by Marie Kondo, are ditching consumerism for a simpler life It’s time to declutter. Fuelled in part by Marie Kondo’s call to eschew anything that does not “spark joy”, a growing number of people are questioning whether they are better off with less in life – from old jackets stuck under the stairs to unnecessary shopping trips and gadgets that clog up the home, or even a property that is larger than they need. This new push towards minimalism, whereby people live with less, can have substantial benefits for the environment and people’s state of mind, as well as their finances. But does it mean living on rice and wearing the same two outfits all week? Or is there a more measured way to cutting out the unnecessary? Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mMqhXV

Updates from the Pool D game in Kamaishi All the fixtures, tables and results from Japan Any thoughts? Email or tweet @rrjparkin 8.25am BST So, without ado, to team news. It’s an unchanged fifteen for Wales: 8.17am BST Fresh news from the earlier Pool D clash, where Uruguay’s Los Teros were unable to sustain their heroics against Fiji, going down 33-7 to Georgia . A strong result for a proud rugby nation that keeps their progression hopes alive. At the very least it shows they’ll be highly competitive with Fiji and Australia to come. We’ll have a match report on that one, shortly. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mJQsOY

He and Dominic Cummings regard the amplification of hatred not with regret but as essential to electoral success There’s a case to be made that British democracy is not in dreadful trouble but working quite well. Or at least as well as can be expected in extreme circumstances. Even under the intense stress of the Brexit crisis, our spatchcock constitution is just about keeping it together. Exhibit One. The prime minister exploits the prerogative powers to attempt a prolonged suspension of parliament that is designed to prevent MPs from invigilating the government at a critical time. The supreme court coolly steps up to this challenge to democracy, delivers a unanimous and impeccably reasoned judgment explaining why the prime minister acted unlawfully, and parliament is back in business the very next day. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nDIJCs

He is a master of blending fact and fiction but, as Philip Pullman says, today’s politicians are on another level I meet Philip Pullman 24 hours after he has got into trouble for idly musing on Twitter that he would like to hang Boris Johnson. “It was a silly joke,” he admits, looking slightly embarrassed as he enters his sitting room with a plate of biscuits for us, perching them on teetering stacks of books beneath which there is said to be a coffee table. He says his publishers were a bit miffed: threatening to murder the prime minister was clearly not how they had agreed to start the publicity campaign for his forthcoming children’s novel, The Secret Commonwealth , and Pullman had to publicly retract his words after there were complaints. “But,” the 72-year-old author adds, his tone brightening, while one of his dogs clambers on to his lap and the other maintains a vigil beside the biscuits, “the upshot was I gained 2,000 followers on Twitter!” Pullman creates magical realms in ...

Several states have enacted a ban on sales of vaping products amid more than 800 reports of lung injuries nationwide Up until a month ago, it sometimes seemed like everybody vaped, from international celebrities to local teens. Now, it can feel as if everybody is trying to quit . Amid reports of at least 805 cases of vaping-related lung injury in 46 states and one US territory, states including New York , Massachusetts , Michigan and Rhode Island have all banned sales of flavored electronic cigarette products. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o9tvoK

Unbeaten Spence survives toughest challenge of career Spence Jr defeats Porter to unify titles – as it happened Errol Spence had never been tested at this degree of difficulty. Shawn Porter pressured, prodded and exposed him during a title bout that stretched every bit of Spence’s vaunted boxing skill. The budding welterweight superstar emerged with two championship belts after he figured out the answers to this test just in time. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nA5HKF

Expert Steven Amstrup says ‘the longer the sea ice is gone from the productive zone the tougher it is on the bears’ The loss of Arctic ice from glaciers, polar land and sea is declining faster than many scientists expected, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on oceans and the cryosphere said this week. That’s bad news for polar bear populations, a top expert involved in field studies on the endangered animals has told the Guardian. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nAnnFQ

Labour’s proposal of basic services for all takes a once fringe idea mainstream Back in May, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, suggested that if Labour won the next election it would launch pilot schemes for universal basic income. The aim of UBI is to provide every citizen with regular unconditional payments to afford “basic security”. It might seem an impossibly utopian notion – free cash for all, provided by the state – but it has fired the imagination of growing numbers of thinkers from across the political spectrum. Last week, at the Labour party conference, McDonnell unveiled his plans for universal provision, not of income but of services. Where UBI provides a regular cash sum to every individual, universal basic services , or UBS, provides universal, free access to services from health to education, from housing to transport. That, too, might seem utopian, but is an idea that, again, has gathered support in recent years. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://i...

It’s been an intimate twosome until the arrival of your new husband, says Mariella Frostrup. Find time to hang out with her The dilemma My relationship with my 19-year-old daughter is at breaking point and I’m afraid I’m going to lose her. I raised her alone (her father was an alcoholic) and from day one was determined we’d be close. She confides in me and I make sure I’m always there for her. In February I got married. It’s been an adjustment, but my husband and I are settling into life together well. He’s clear it’s not necessary for him to “parent” my daughter and we’re both happy with that. She went to university last year, but became anxious and depressed, and dropped out. She never attended the counselling sessions we signed up for when she returned. She’s now working in an office job which she doesn’t enjoy. Her room is a mess, she doesn’t do any washing and the only time she “comes to life” is when she ’s out drinking with friends. Otherwise she sits in her darkened roo...

The café at Stepney City Farm offers big, thoughtful dishes of good things – as well as games, animals, kids and smiles The Humble Bee Café. Stepney City Farm, Stepney Way, London E1 3DG. No bookings. All food £3.25 to £6.50. Unlicensed Lunch at the Humble Bee Café is a meal in a very happy place. It opened in July and occupies a simple hut on the edge of Stepney City Farm in London’s East End. There’s mismatched furniture, games of Jenga and Scrabble on the tables, and an awful lot of peace. I suspect it would be a calming space in which to linger in any circumstances, but chefs Alice Wilson and Matt Hall are busily providing a whole bunch of edible reasons for going there in the first place. The Humble Bee feels like a place where nothing bad can happen, and keep not happening. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2oeMRc9

Source: prosecutor may have fed Trump ally altered information Robert Reich: Trump can do more damage than Nixon In the explosive whistleblower complaint released this week, in which an intelligence official sounds the alarm over Donald Trump’s effort to solicit the help of Ukraine in his bid for re-election, one name is repeated: Rudy Giuliani. Related: Graham prepares Trump defence as impeachment fury intensifies Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mIXfsj

Police find cannabis-flavoured wine, olives, coffee and tuna at home of Sicilian celebrity chef Carmelo Chiaramonte A well-known Sicilian chef arrested with drugs at his home justified their presence by saying he was looking for “new flavours” for contemporary cuisine, Italian media have reported. Officers say they found a pair of two-metre tall marijuana plants and 500 grams of Indian hemp at chef Carmelo Chiaramonte’s home in Trecastagni, a village at the foot of Mount Etna. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o9zLge

Disability featured prominently in only one title for young readers in the last 12 months’ top 100 bestsellers, research shows Disabled children have been “airbrushed” out of bestselling children’s fiction for more than a century in order to present an unrealistic version of the world, David Baddiel has said. The comedian and children’s author criticised popular modern children’s books for featuring fewer disabled characters than were portrayed during the Victorian era, when children with disabilities often starred in bestselling novels, such as Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nzQU2q

Several states have enacted a ban on sales of vaping products amid more than 800 reports of lung injuries nationwide Up until a month ago, it sometimes seemed like everybody vaped, from international celebrities to local teens. Now, it can feel as if everybody is trying to quit . Amid reports of at least 805 cases of vaping-related lung injury in 46 states and one US territory, states including New York , Massachusetts , Michigan and Rhode Island have all banned sales of flavored electronic cigarette products. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2o9tvoK

Follow all the action from Kumagaya City All the fixtures, tables and results from Japan Email Lee or tweet him with your thoughts on the game 6.12am BST Here come the teams. As they emerge from the tunnel you cannot help but marvel at the follicles per square inch on the heads of each team. If there was World Cup of hair and beards, this would be the final. 5.40am BST This is not the only game in Pool D today, there is the small matter of Wales vs Australia coming up afterwards. Related: Wales looking to give the northern hemisphere a shot in the arm Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2ohpVcp

He Yanling, who was a journalist at the People’s Daily, recalls how his hopes for the future were wrecked He Yanling was full of hope for a “new China” in 1949. On the eve of the ceremony marking establishment of the People’s Republic on 1 October that year, the then 27-year-old page editor at the People’s Daily worked through the night to ensure the paper would come out without a glitch. The next day he joined the celebrations with his colleagues, while his wife stayed at home with their baby. The streets were filled with the sound of people chatting and singing. With the five-star red national flags billowing, hundreds of thousands of people waited for hours before Mao Zedong appeared on the balcony of the Gate of Heavenly Peace to announce the founding of the PRC. “We were so excited. We thought: at last, the Chinese people are united,” said He, now 97. His first article after the founding day was headlined “From darkness into brightness”. Continue reading... from The Guardian...

Police in Toulouse clash with demonstrators as revival of yellow vest movement continues in several cities French police have used tear gas and water cannon to break up a protest by nearly 1,000 yellow vest demonstrators in the south-western city of Toulouse. A police statement in Toulouse said officers made five arrests after being targeted by missiles thrown by some of the protesters on Saturday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nxsPcC

Spence Jr and Porter meet to unify welterweight titles Tweet Bryan at @BryanAGraham or email him 10.28pm BST Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Kevin Mitchell’s column on Nigel Benn’s surprise comeback. Related: Nigel Benn’s comeback at the age of 55 is a dangerous temptation of fate | Kevin Mitchell Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2nBDXFe

Luxury cars seized from vice president Teodorin Obiang Nguema are expected to fetch $18m at Geneva auction A collection of luxury cars seized from Equatorial Guinea’s vice president, Teodorin Obiang Nguema, will be auctioned off in Switzerland and are estimated to bring in 18.5m Swiss francs ($18.7m). “This is an exceptional sale,” Philip Kantor, of British auctioneers Bonhams, told AFP. “It’s a private collection of supercars, with very low mileage.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2lYuUhf

After a breakup with Robert Pattinson and emergency surgery, the queen of art pop has written her most personal album yet – and come out fighting FKA twigs lives in a real house, in the real world, though this seems hard to believe. She appears so alien, in her music and her performances, in the way she presents herself, that you’d be forgiven for believing that she lived in a cryo chamber alongside bejewelled hip-hop robots, or a martial arts monastery surrounded by an enchanted thicket of thorns. Twigs’ art is not of the stripped-back, real me, acoustics-and-grubby-jeans variety. She arrived on the scene in 2012, whispering like Tricky , clattering like the xx , romancing like Prince , singing like Kate Bush , yet not actually quite like anyone else. A polymath – she is a beautiful dancer and has directed pop videos and immersive theatre – she works in experimental hinterlands, creating atmospheres rather than singalong stories. For example: the sparse and sad track Cellophane , ...

Campaigners criticise party for absence of announcements on air pollution and plastics crisis Live exports of farm animals will be ended, people will be stopped from keeping primates as pets and cats will be microchipped under proposals to be set out at the Conservative party conference by the environment secretary, Theresa Villiers. Animal welfare will form the centrepiece of her appeal to party members, intended to show off the Tories’ green credentials at a time when environmental concern is high on the list of voters’ concerns, with the backing of 10 Downing Street. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2lP6mY5

Animal products create more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation sector, but we don’t want to confront this inconvenient truth: our eating habits are a problem Our planet is facing a crisis. But even when we know that a war for our survival is raging, we don’t feel that it is our war. Although many of climate change’s accompanying calamities – extreme weather events, floods and wildfires, displacement and resource scarcity chief among them – are vivid, personal and suggestive of a worsening situation, they don’t feel that way in aggregate. The distance between awareness and feeling can make it very difficult for even thoughtful and politically engaged people – people who want to act – to act. So-called climate change deniers reject the conclusion that 97% of climate scientists have reached: the planet is warming because of human activities. But what about those of us who say we accept the reality of human-caused climate change? We may not think the scientists are ...

The broadcaster and the England and Lyon player swap notes on winning, losing and the changing face of football • Johnny Marr meets Pep Guardiola • Romesh Ranganathan meets Héctor Bellerín Clare Balding How do you reflect on the World Cup in France this summer? Lucy Bronze After we were knocked out by the US in the semi-finals, there was a lot of frustration, anger and disappointment. We were convinced we were going to get to the final and win. It’s only now that I am able to think more rationally: we were knocked out by the most successful women’s team in the world. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2mwHZia