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‘I’m going to trap you,’ she says. The tortoise stares at the ground with a look that says: like hell you will Three weeks ago, on a cold and damp morning, I met the tortoise as I was crossing the garden between my office shed and the kitchen. He was making a concerted effort to get indoors, but found himself stuck halfway up the step, rocking gently on the fulcrum of the brick’s edge. His back legs were scrabbling to push his undercarriage far enough forward for his front legs to get some purchase, to no avail. As I approached, he fixed me with a severe look that said: your climate sucks, by the way. “I’m not from here,” I said. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2JPT9Zu

An army of supporters amplify the president’s wildest claims, encouraging his conspiracy-minded tendencies Donald Trump once declared: “I alone can fix it.” He never made the claim: “I alone can break it.” When it comes to softening up institutions, eroding norms and chipping away at the foundations of democracy, it takes a village. Related: Mueller stopped short of calling Trump a criminal, but did we need him to? | Richard Wolffe Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2IcSjmb

Not everyone knows what they want to do at 18. So why has the mature student become a dying breed? This September, one of my oldest friends is going back to school. Three decades on from her last essay crisis, she’ll be back in the land of freshers’ pub crawls and student railcards, in pursuit of a new career that we didn’t even know existed in our 20s. And listening to her talk about summer reading lists, I am seized with an unexpectedly sharp stab of envy. Who doesn’t occasionally dream of turning back the clock and starting over? It should never be too late to experiment with something new, or to unwind decisions blindly made decades ago. Yet mature students are an increasingly endangered species. A midlife career change like this is a luxury most people who work for a living can’t afford and it’s those who most need to retrain – men and women panicking that their jobs are disappearing from underneath them thanks to technological change, or those who messed up at school and only ...

Acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan warns stability in the region is under threat, including the South China Sea The United States will no longer “tiptoe” around Chinese behaviour in Asia, with stability in the region at threat on issues ranging from the South China Sea to Taiwan, acting US defence secretary Patrick Shanahan has said. Shanahan did not directly name China when making accusations of “actors” destabilising the region, but went on to say on Saturday that the United States would not ignore Chinese behaviour, the latest acerbic exchange between the world’s two biggest economies. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WaTnw4

By ISABELLA GRULLÓN PAZ from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2Z5VnaJ

Mobster who climbed ranks of New York crime in 1970s was played by Denzel Washington in acclaimed 2007 movie Frank Lucas, the former New York drug kingpin whose life was the subject of the 2007 movie American Gangster, has died. Lucas, who was 88, died on Thursday in New Jersey, his nephew Aldwan Lassiter said. Lucas had been in declining health, according to his former lawyer. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Mi1hUu

By MIHIR ZAVERI from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2JW3tzh

Fox News Breaking News Alert Death toll in Virginia Beach shooting now 12, plus shooting suspect: police 05/31/19 7:08 PM

King Salman accuses Iran-backed groups of drone strikes on oil tankers at third and final summit of Gulf and Arab leaders Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has said that attacks on Saudi oil assets last month are a threat to global oil supplies and regional security, while again accusing Iran-backed groups of carrying them out. “The drone attacks on Saudi oil pumping stations carried out by groups supported by Iran not only threaten the security of the kingdom and the Gulf, but also threaten maritime safety and global oil supplies,” Salman said at an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation summit in the Saudi city of Mecca on Saturday. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2KnQw0a

Taplytics Is Hiring Engineering Managers in Toronto by aglazer | on Hacker News .

The mayor of Okuma, home of the damaged nuclear power plant, has been in exile for eight years – here he writes about finally returning The residents of Okuma were among more than 150,000 people who were forced to flee their homes after the March 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. As one of the wrecked plant’s two host towns, Okuma, was abandoned for eight years before authorities declared that radiation levels had fallen to safe levels, allowing residents to return. Even now, 60% of Okuma remains off-limits, and only a tiny fraction of the pre-disaster population of 11,500 has returned since their former neighbourhoods were given the all clear in April. A month later, Okuma’s mayor, Toshitsuna Watanabe, and his colleagues returned to work at a new town hall. In the first of a three-part diary for the Guardian, Watanabe describes his feelings when, after years of displacement, he and other residents ended their nuclear exile. Continue reading... fr...

Boom in home-made clothes-making hides bitter divisions about size inclusivity, race and if a kimono should be called a jacket Last week, popular fashion patternmaker Papercut Patterns posted a short video on Instagram of one of their patterns being reprinted. The clip was just long enough to see the name of the pattern, the Kochi jacket, passing through the rollers. Three weeks ago, that pattern had a different name. The square-cut short jacket, with optional side ties, was released in June 2017 with the name Kochi Kimono. For 18 months, amateur sewers — most prefer the term “sewist”, for reasons of homonym — had been making their own versions and sharing the results on Instagram tagged with #Kochikimono. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Z2SmYr

‘Yesterday I was African, today I am lost,’ Zimbabwe-born Takunda Muzondiwa tells an Auckland audience. A video of her describing the racism she has faced in her adopted country has clocked up more than 500,000 views. 'Maybe I was blinded by the neon sign of opportunity, failed to read the fine print that read: “Assimilate or go back where you came from.”’ Her speech was part of the New Zealand Human Rights Commission's annual Race Unity Speech awards, where six of the country’s best high school speakers addressed how race relations could be improved. She delivered a poem she wrote to ‘the man who sat behind me on the train last week who had the audacity to touch my hair without even asking’.  The year 13 pupil calls for educational institutions to place a greater emphasis on language, culture and history, arguing 'the more students feel they belong in an educational context the better they perform' Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2IcBgRd

With durian desserts turning up on must-try lists and McDonald’s menus, the divisive fruit could be heading to the mainstream Ramadan fast has just broken for the day and the queues at the train station McDonald’s stretch out beyond the shop doors. I’m in Kuala Lumpur and, looking around, the most popular item for customers breaking their fast is the durian McFlurry. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WHYgRC

About 70 creatures found washed up on coast of North America but federal agency believes it is a small fraction of total fatalities US government scientists have launched an investigation what has caused the deaths of an unusually high number of gray whales found washed up on the west coast of North America. About 70 whales have been found dead so far this year on the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington and Alaska, the most since 2000. About five more have been discovered on British Columbia beaches. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2I9jI8v

By SCOTT SHANE and NICOLE PERLROTH from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WesNXK

By ADAM GOLDMAN from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2KecKlm

By MANNY FERNANDEZ and JOHN SCHWARTZ from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/30VdEZT

By ELLEN GABLER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2QFci0S

By AMY HARMON and ALAN BLINDER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2MipnOR

By PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2HMUcXQ

US president backs Tory in leadership run and reacts to criticism by duchess Donald Trump has backed Boris Johnson to be the next prime minister, in an interview with the Sun in which he also called Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, “nasty”. The president, speaking to the British newspaper before he visits the UK on Monday, expressed support for the former foreign secretary in his bid to replace Theresa May, saying: “I think Boris would do a very good job. I think he would be excellent.” Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WhU7UY

By ANNIE KARNI and MAGGIE HABERMAN from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2HMdxZg

The all-rounder came in when England were wobbling but set up a big total, then took a wonder catch and the last two South Africa wickets to deliver a convincing victory According to the ICC the average age of people who have bought tickets for this World Cup is 40, but one would never have known it on Thursday morning. It felt as if there were 25,000 children spilling out of the tube stations and pouring up Harleyford Road towards the Oval. Everyone who cares feels a bit like a little kid again on days such as this, especially now England have a team worth getting childishly excited about. So the stands rang with that very particular sound, unique to a cricket ground, the happy chitter‑chatter of people who have escaped adult life for the day and are waiting for the start of play. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2I74uRp

Golden State Warriors 109-118 Toronto Raptors Raptors win first game of series in NBA finals debut As it happened: Hunter Felt’s minute-by-minute report Since the Toronto Raptors’ first NBA season in 1995, the team and their fans have suffered through outright embarrassment and agonizing playoff defeats, waiting for their moment on basketball’s biggest stage. On Thursday night, the Raptors didn’t just arrive on that stage for the first time but showed that they belong with a gritty and resolute 118-109 win over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the NBA finals. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EKZIIr

Liverpool defender was in Homebase the day after last season’s Champions League final. He hopes to be celebrating this time Kiev is boxed off and parked in the past for Andy Robertson, whose shuddering return to earth after last season’s Champions League final included buying a barbecue in Homebase the following day, but the brutal lesson in what it takes to win European football’s greatest prize has not been forgotten. That much is clear in his blunt dismissal of the theory that Liverpool’s season of 97 Premier League points and the greatest comeback in Anfield’s European history deserves a crowning glory. “I’ve heard a few people say that but, for me, we don’t deserve anything yet,” says the Scotland captain. “The Premier League shows that. A lot of people would say 97 points deserves the Premier League but it didn’t because Manchester City got 98. They were that little bit better than us in the end. We deserve nothing, only what we put into the game and what we get out. If we ha...

By ADAM LIPTAK from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2MhhBVB

By MICHAEL TACKETT from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2IeMdSe

By LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2Wcq3dk

By JIM TANKERSLEY from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WbQKyN

By EMILY COCHRANE from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2Xk4e88

By SHANE GOLDMACHER and LISA LERER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2XdYkoR

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WFFFpj

By KATIE BENNER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WcwRaS

By ZACH MONTAGUE from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2XfcZQN

By STEPHANIE SAUL from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WdcYAk

By ALAN RAPPEPORT and THOMAS KAPLAN from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2KfayKq

By ASTEAD W. HERNDON from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2KfIuXs

By CHARLIE SAVAGE and NICHOLAS FANDOS from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2WxRjSU

Legalist (YC S16) Is Hiring by chaigh | on Hacker News .

Bottomless (YC W19) Is Hiring in Seattle: Engineering, Operations, Data Science by seizethecheese | on Hacker News .

Pachyderm (YC W15) Raised $10M and Is Looking for a Senior JavaScript Engineer by jaz46 | on Hacker News .

Atomwise (YC W15) Is Hiring a Senior Systems/Cloud Engineer by izharw | on Hacker News .

Tesorio (YC S15) Is Hiring Engineering Managers, Senior Engineers by FabioFleitas | on Hacker News .

Six-year-old taken to Leeds General Infirmary after incident at Lightwater Valley A six-year-old boy has been airlifted to hospital after an incident at Lightwater Valley theme park in North Yorkshire. One witness said he saw the child fall “face down” from the Twister rollercoaster shortly before midday on Thursday. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WeqXpQ

Testimonies for independent inquiry reveal how abusers use beliefs to manipulate victims Children who were sexually abused in religious institutions often did not disclose assaults and mistreatment because they felt ashamed and guilty, a report from the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse (IICSA) has said. Almost one in five of those abused reported a loss of faith as a direct consequence of their experiences, according to testimonies given to the inquiry’s truth project. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YYo35j

Streaming firm says increases will let it spend more on shows as it looks to see off Disney+ Netflix is to raise prices for UK subscribers by up to 20% as it looks to invest more in programmes ahead of the arrival of deep-pocketed rival Disney’s eagerly anticipated service later this year. The streaming company, which has not raised prices in the UK since 2017, is increasing the cost of a standard plan by £1 to £8.99 and premium by £2 to £11.99. The price of a basic plan remains unchanged at £5.99. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2wpUZaE

Freed from Game of Thrones and waging eco-terror in the new monster flick, cinema’s go-to bad aristo talks about turning down 007 and paparazzi ambushes Charles Dance is 15 minutes late. “London, yer know?” says the 72-year-old actor through a mouthful of pastry. His friends call him “Charlie” and Americans call him “Chuck”, though for his mother there was never any ambiguity. “‘His name’s Charles,’ she’d say. She ’ad a few ideas above ’er station.” The voice is rougher and more gor-blimey than the one to which audiences are accustomed, as well as friendlier and less imposing. His thinning hair, formerly red and now sand-coloured, is swept back, and he is wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt over a white T-shirt. The silver bracelet halfway up his forearm could pass for memorabilia from Game of Thrones , in which he played Tywin Lannister , shot by his own son with a crossbow while on the loo. Any confusion between the upper-class roles in which Dance has specialised throughout his 35-...

Vox became the first far-right party to win more than a single seat in Spain's parliament since the Franco era when it won 24 in the general election. Last week, it fought its first mayoral campaign in El Ejido, a town in Andalucía with a population of 90,000 people, 30% of whom are migrants. Many of them work in the 150 square miles of greenhouses that surround the town. We follow the campaign and talk to Spaniards and migrants to find out why this socialist stronghold of 40 years is turning to the right Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XfT4Ba

Thirteen years after it was abruptly cancelled, David Milch’s grimy, glorious western finally gets the ending it deserves. Take note, Game of Thrones! The moral panic caused by the Game of Thrones finale was a reminder that your biggest fan can turn Rupert Pupkin if they think you didn’t quite nail the landing. Whatever misgivings you may have had about The Iron Throne , at least the show delivered a grandstand finish. The 2006 finale of HBO’s Deadwood can barely be called that. A show abruptly cancelled after its third season was completed, its swansong fell flat with character arcs terminated in mid flight and a whole world of possibilities unexplored. Set in the historic lawless mining camp in the Black Hills gold rush of the 1870s, Deadwood melded profanity and poetry like no TV show before, reimagining the historic figures of the town in a bloody, grimy revisionist western that felt resolutely arthouse from its first shot to its last. It deserved better and now Deadwood: The Mov...

The actor’s grumble about London reflects a wrongheaded view on immigration, unchanged since the days of empire “Some years ago I opined that London was not really an English city any more,” is how John Cleese began a tweet on Wednesday . “Since then, virtually all my friends from abroad have confirmed my observation.” When eight long years ago he made a similar claim, he gave us the unabridged version. “I’m not sure what’s going on in Britain,” he said while appearing on an Australian TV programme. “Let me say this, I don’t know what’s going on in London because London is no longer an English city and that’s how they got the Olympics. They said: ‘We’re the most cosmopolitan city on Earth,’ but it doesn’t feel English.” He bemoans immigrants in London, but because of race and class he’s called an 'expat' in the Caribbean Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XfnJyJ

In his first comments since his report was released, Mueller set the record straight on his report’s most contested conclusion: that a sitting president cannot be charged For those who hoped that Robert Mueller’s first public comments since his report was released would do what it failed to – free us from a demagogue who has taken American democracy hostage – Wednesday must have come as a disappointment. If Mueller’s parting words as special counsel had a familiar ring, it is because they echoed, often verbatim, statements that appear in his lengthy report. And yet in his characteristically restrained manner Mueller did, I believe, seek to set the record straight on his report’s most contested conclusion: Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2W1r1E6

There are good proposals in the Augar review, but it doesn’t confront the real problem: our marketised university system There are lots of good proposals in today’s Augar review of post-18 education and funding in England, including the restoration of maintenance grants for the poorest students, new funding opportunities for adult learners, and the expansion of further education colleges. Yet its downfall is that it fundamentally fails to grapple with the contradictions at the core of our marketised education system. As such, it gets some big calls wrong. For starters, the review correctly notes the plight of further education thanks to a decade of underinvestment, but the welcome call for increased spending is balanced out in a “rob Peter to pay Paul”-style raid. It will leave universities facing real terms cuts of 11% over the next three years – cuts that, if realised, would leave universities billions of pounds worse off and damage students, staff and the UK’s academic capacity. ...

For decades the US and others have pursued a free-market agenda which has failed spectacularly What kind of economic system is most conducive to human wellbeing? That question has come to define the current era, because, after 40 years of neoliberalism in the United States and other advanced economies, we know what doesn’t work. The neoliberal experiment – lower taxes on the rich, deregulation of labour and product markets, financialisation, and globalisation – has been a spectacular failure. Growth is lower than it was in the quarter-century after the second world war, and most of it has accrued to the very top of the income scale. After decades of stagnant or even falling incomes for those below them, neoliberalism must be pronounced dead and buried. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WfBzo4

Club’s highest earner has underperformed this season and his manager has also left many fans underwhelmed. But the board does not appear to have the conviction to make a hard decision As Mesut Özil trudged, head bowed, around the pitch at the end of it all in Baku it was pertinent to wonder what has become of him and where it all goes from here. He is the lost playmaker. His once proud joy in the assist, his once delicate ability to be the subtle architect of a game, has dwindled to the point where it is really worth revisiting a highlights reel from previous years to remember how – even with that idiosyncratic languid style which means he seldom looks keen for a battle – his gifts had so much more presence. Related: Old failings rear up in Baku to leave Arsenal’s ambitions shipwrecked | Amy Lawrence Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Iclkyv

YC Work at a Startup Expo on 6/29: Meet with 40 YC founders and find your next role by ryankicks | on Hacker News .

By PETER BAKER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2QB7ppf

PM calls on her successor as party leader to reduce the burden of debt on young people Theresa May has thrown down the gauntlet to the Tory leadership candidates to slash tuition fees and reinstate maintenance grants for the poorest students. In a speech in London, the prime minister acknowledged she no longer had power to implement the policy as she was leaving office . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2KftR6b

Angry reaction to story of victims’ lives is extraordinary, says Hallie Rubenhold A historian who has told the true story of Jack the Ripper’s victims has spoken of the “offensive”, “stupid” and almost “laughable” trolling she has received from Ripperologists. Hallie Rubenhold said she had even been compared to Holocaust denier David Irving for her book, in which she challenges the traditional narrative that the murdered women were all sex workers. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2I7ahq9

Some party members have voiced anger after he was removed for voting Lib Dem Labour is to review its expulsion of Alastair Campbell after he voted for the Liberal Democrats in the European elections, the party has said. Tony Blair’s former director of communications was forced out after he revealed he his decision not to vote for Labour over its lack of commitment to a second Brexit referendum. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Ml30s8

Three US law firms looking into whether Metro’s bosses took part in securities fraud Metro Bank shares fell 10% as three US law firms announced they were investigating whether the lender’s bosses took part in securities fraud. The New York-based firms Pomerantz and Levi & Korsinsky announced fresh investigations into the bank, while Glancy Prongay & Murray confirmed it was continuing with a probe launched earlier in May on behalf of investors. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Xh4HI6

Hearing is latest stage in possible extradition of WikiLeaks founder to US Julian Assange was too ill to appear by video link for the latest hearing in relation to his possible extradition to the US, lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder told a court. The hearing was the first since 2 May , when lawyers for the US government began pressing its case to extradite him to face trial for what they described as one the largest compromises of classified information in history. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/30SPr6z

Ma Jian spent five weeks with protesters in the Beijing square before the massacre 30 years ago. He remembers those who died for their beliefs As a child in the dark days of the Cultural Revolution , I dreamed of being a painter. My art teacher warned me that paintings could land a person behind bars, especially portraits, and advised me to stick to anodyne landscapes. In my 20s, after Mao died in 1976 and Deng Xiaoping rose to power, I moved to Beijing. The country was opening up at last. During the day, I took photographs for a state-run magazine; in the evenings I painted sombre impressionist visions of deserted streets, which I hung on the walls and ceiling of my one-room shack. Dissident scholars and writers would gather at my home to drink beer and discuss the latest translations of Virginia Woolf, Jorge Luis Borges or Claude Simon. We relished the small freedoms granted to us, but wanted more. We read Allen Ginsberg’s Howl , and longed for the day when we too could sing out...

Muslims are coming to the end of a month of fasting, which in Britain often means evening meals featuring heaps of meat. But there is a plant-based option The final days of Islam’s month of fasting are with us. And as Ramadan draws to a close, so does “Veganadan”, in which a growing number of Muslims adopt a plant-based diet for four weeks. I am keen to eat less meat in Ramadan, but it can be a challenge when you are invited to iftar , the meal with which Muslims break their day-long fast, and there is only meat on the table. After 18 hours without food (an extra 40 minutes if you are in Scotland), hosts like to lay on a generous banquet, and a typical iftar spread includes an array of lamb samosas, kebabs and roast chicken. When I am at home, iftar tends to be a more vegan affair: a fresh fruit salad of mangoes, raspberries, blueberries and honeydew melon sprinkled with chopped dates, for example, along with a platter of peas fried lightly with cumin seeds, followed by yellow dal an...

New study confirms natural cycles play little role in global temperature trends and tackles discrepancies in previous models Emissions from fossil fuels and volcanoes can explain nearly all of the changes in Earth’s surface temperatures over the past 140 years, a new study has found. The research refutes the popular climate denial myth that recent global warming is merely a result of natural cycles. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Wx5zv5

Brexit has robbed the Corbyn project of its identity. Backing a referendum and shaking up the shadow cabinet would help Labour needs a drastic reboot. The Tories may be in existential crisis, desperately flapping around in a rising tide of rightwing populism, but Labour’s hopes of securing the sizeable majority it needs to enact a transformative agenda are uncertain. The Brexit mire has robbed the Corbyn project of its core identity, a sense of insurgency; stripped away its optimistic, idealistic gloss; and suppressed the enthusiasm of Labour’s members and the voters most inspired by its 2017 manifesto. Its desperate, indeed honourable, desire for a Brexit compromise in a painfully fractured nation, to be the party that skilfully transcended the divisions bequeathed by a referendum result three years ago, was remorselessly kicked to death in polling stations last week . If the party’s position was intended to be a Rorschach inkblot in which remainers or leavers could see what they want...

Pro-EU MPs will welcome Bercow’s perceived partiality – but his eventual successor could lean the other way The Tories don’t agree on much these days. Some even want a general election now as a way to deliver what they view as a true Brexit. However, they can all get behind some good, old-fashioned John Bercow bashing. Ministers report that the only good cabinet meetings these days are those where they can go around slagging off the House of Commons Speaker over his latest – aggravating – decision on Brexit. So Bercow’s announcement that he has no plans to step down this summer – or in the foreseeable – will be generally ill received in the Tory party. When it comes to the challenges any Conservative leader faces delivering Brexit, the Speaker ranks in the top three – alongside a hung parliament and Brussels’ reluctance to renegotiate. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WtXRSB

Like many, I’ve experienced severe side-effects from withdrawal. Now clinicians are starting to take them seriously It’s something of a relief to see before you in black and white what you have known to be true for a long time: in this case, that antidepressant withdrawal symptoms aren’t, well, all in your head. In what has been described as a significant shift in position, the Royal College of Psychiatrists accepts that it has not paid enough attention to patients suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms when coming off antidepressants. Related: Antidepressants: Please, PLEASE, do not just abandon your meds! Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/30TxyVg

Local government is being forced to be creative by funding reductions that discriminate against the north • Joe Anderson is mayor of Liverpool News that councils are running out of reserves will come as no surprise to anyone involved in local government. It confirms what I and many of my counterparts around the country have been saying for years: councils have been hardest hit by austerity . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2W0biWa

EU students are being deterred by the prospect of higher fees after Brexit. The Augar review failed to address this There has been plenty of speculation about what the Augar review of post-18 education and funding will mean for universities’ bottom lines. The report has proposed slashing tuition fees in England to £7,500, at a time when universities are feeling the effects of Brexit on EU recruitment and funding. There is a risk that the government may not compensate universities for this loss in revenue, which means they may instead look to international student student recruitment to strengthen the sector. But the Augar review report misses a key opportunity to address this. Related: 'It's a dangerous time': can UK and US universities survive funding cuts? Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2QuNx7e

The manager could go after winning the Europa League and a top-three finish. Eden Hazard is on his way. It sums up Chelsea You hope Maurizio Sarri enjoyed his first trophy in professional football – but this, surely, was not how he imagined it when he whiled away the hours working on the foreign exchange desk at a bank in Florence. Perhaps he had dreamed of one of the great citadels of European football, of Wembley or San Siro, of the Camp Nou or the Luzhniki, but instead he got the Olympic Stadium in Baku. It is a place so ill-conceived that not only is the stadium inaccessible to most of Europe but the pitch seems inaccessible from most of the stands, laid out like a Subbuteo cloth on a snooker table, as though somebody had seen the London Stadium and thought: “We’ll do that, but more so.” Related: ‘I think it’s goodbye’: Hazard ready to leave Chelsea after Europa League win Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EGBNK8

By KATIE GLUECK from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/30SWMTD

By RYAN SCHUESSLER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2JKZg15

Former international development secretaries among 50 British MPs urging introduction of tighter regulations on disclosure Three former international development secretaries are among 50 British MPs urging the British chancellor to take “strong action” to increase transparency on loans to governments, in advance of next month’s G20 meeting. Citing the alleged involvement of UK-based companies in secret loans to Mozambique, Andrew Mitchell, Justine Greening and Hilary Benn joined parliamentarians from every party in calling for regulations to ensure loans to governments are publicly disclosed. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Xl6r3m

By Unknown Author from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/313cEmK

Segment is hiring engineers to build our Developer Platform by calvinfo | on Hacker News .

Home affairs select committee urges government to change rules of EU settlement scheme The government has been urged by MPs to urgently change its policy on EU citizens in the country if it is to avert a “Windrush-style catastrophe” in the years after Brexit. Politicians on the influential home affairs select committee have said they have “serious concerns” about the design of the settlement scheme for EU citizens, launched by the Home Office two months ago. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XdngNz

• England take on South Africa in opening game on Thursday • Faf du Plessis confident Rabada can capitalise on the occasion Eoin Morgan has warned his England players that “blind belief” will not be enough to claim World Cup success this summer, with the captain eyeing a win by any means possible – rather than a statement of intent – against South Africa on Thursday. Four years of trailblazing one-day cricket will finally come to a head over the next six and a half weeks as England, the world’s No 1 ranked side and playing on home soil, look to claim their first 50-over global trophy at the 17th attempt. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YOEfpM

Police say they are not initially treating incident at Masjid At-Taqwa as terrorism-related Two people have been taken to hospital after a suspected hit-and-run incident outside a mosque in Leicester. A man in his 40s and a teenage boy were struck by a vehicle outside the Masjid At-Taqwa on Humberstone Road at 1am on Thursday. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WrxxIP

Edible slime, jelly worms, ‘unicorn noodles’: what better way to entertain children than by making a mess in the name of science? The last time I did science in the home with an 11-year-old, something happened that I can’t tell you about until the person whose chair it was has died. That is my abiding conclusion about the natural sciences: they stain, and don’t let anybody ever tell you they won’t. Nevertheless, I have just undertaken science in the kitchen – nudged by a new book, The Kitchen Science Cookbook by Michelle Dickinson – because I have exhausted all the other ways of getting them to join me there. “This dish reminds me of evenings spent making bechamel with my mother, her apron brushing against my cheek as we spake of fat and its magical alchemy,” said every cookbook ever, but my parenting is much more in the Johnny Ball style: “Kids, you can’t teach them anything, but they learn everything from you.” I’m still in phase one: they will not touch my wisdom with a bargepole....

• Belgian scores twice in 4-1 victory over Arsenal in Baku • Real Madrid target Hazard admits: ‘I want a new challenge’ Eden Hazard has confirmed his desire to pursue a new challenge after seven years at Chelsea, having delivered an inspirational performance as a parting gift as his team thrashed Arsenal to claim the Europa League. The Belgian will now hope Real Madrid can strike an agreement to complete his long-mooted move to the Bernabéu, with talks due to resume between the clubs this week. The 28-year-old’s double helped claim the 16th major trophy of Roman Abramovich’s ownership, and a first for Maurizio Sarri as a coach, as Chelsea ran riot with four goals in 23 second-half minutes to brush aside Arsenal. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2wC8dkV

April manufacturing fell 44.5% as factories shut down for an EU exit that never came Car production plunged by nearly half in April as factories shut down to prepare for a Brexit date that never came, prompting renewed anguish from the UK motor industry at the “untold damage” done by prolonged uncertainty. In a slump that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) described as “extraordinary”, 70,971 vehicles rolled off the production lines in April, down 44.5% from 127,970 in the same month of last year. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EHl4GK

Mueller says Russia investigation didn’t exonerate president … your energy bill may be about to skyrocket … and ‘ghost protocol’ plan for digital spying Hello, I’m Warren Murray and this is news to you. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EFfN2A

Exclusive: Former minister Ed Davey aims to broaden party’s appeal with climate focus The former Liberal Democrat cabinet minister Ed Davey launched his bid for the party leadership on Thursday, pledging to fight a no-deal Brexit by working with remainers in parliament to make revoking article 50 the legal default if no agreement on leaving the EU is reached by October. Davey, the former secretary of state for energy and climate change, said he would make stopping Brexit the cornerstone of his leadership, but also said the party must broaden its appeal and that he would do so by focusing on the environment. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/30RPmA3

Increases follow controversial rise in Ofgem’s price ceiling for default tariffs Thousands of households face energy bill increases of up to £362 a year because more than 60 fixed-price gas and electricity deals are about to end. Expiring deals from 13 different suppliers, including four of the “big six” players – British Gas, EDF, npower and Scottish Power – would add an estimated £42m to the energy bills of almost 193,000 households, assuming they all did nothing. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2QyNCHc

Canna Kitchen owner says police and trading standards told him CBD oil was legal A south-coast vegetarian restaurant has become the first UK food business to be shut down for infusing its dishes with CBD cannabis oil despite its owners saying they were assured less than a year ago by police and trading standards that the products were legal. The Canna Kitchen , in Brighton, has been closed since a police raid at the start of May. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YUbBDB

GCHQ ‘ghost protocol’ would seriously undermine user security and trust, says letter A GCHQ proposal that would enable eavesdropping on encrypted chat services has been condemned as a “serious threat” to digital security and human rights. In an open letter signed by more than 50 companies, civil society organisations and security experts – including Apple, WhatsApp, Liberty and Privacy International – GCHQ was called on to abandon its so-called “ghost protocol”, and instead focus on “protecting privacy rights, cybersecurity, public confidence, and transparency”. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2WzP3ug

Two major studies add to body of evidence against foods made with industrial ingredients People who eat large amounts of heavily processed foods, from breakfast cereals and ready meals to muffins and ice-cream, have a greater risk of heart attack, stroke and early death, according to two major studies. The findings, from separate teams in France and Spain, add to a growing body of evidence that foods made in factories with industrial ingredients may have a hand in an array of medical disorders such as cancer, obesity and high blood pressure. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HJlHBC

In turnaround from Cameron’s scrapped maintenance grants, May says move ‘has not worked’ Disadvantaged students in England could receive grants worth £3,000 a year to encourage them to remain in education after leaving school, according to proposals from a government-commissioned report backed by Theresa May. The report into post-age 16 education and funding would, if accepted by a future government, see a shift in funding from universities to further education (FE) and vocational training. Universities would lose income for “low value” courses while their graduates would be making higher student loan repayments until the brink of their retirement. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2QyereL

NSPCC says racial abuse and bullying of children in UK has risen by a fifth since 2015-16 Children are whitening their skin to try to avoid a rising tide of racial hate crimes, in which even babies under one year old have been targeted, a charity has said. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said racial abuse and bullying of children had risen by one-fifth since 2015-16 to more than 10,000 incidents recorded by police last year. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2wtslFw

Charity urges UK government to expand national network of public charging points An inadequate public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the UK is forcing drivers to take risks by opting for highly dangerous alternatives at home, an electrical safety charity has warned. Three-quarters of those who resort to charging from their home mains supply using a domestic extension lead even admit to risky “daisy-chaining” – using multiple extension leads plugged into one another – to reach their car, according to a survey by Electrical Safety First . Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2HLJ3Xq

Defence secretary Penny Mordaunt has promised to introduce a ‘presumption against prosecution’ on historical prosecutions for military veterans. Samira Shackle looks back at the collapse of the investigation into abuse allegations in Iraq, while Conservative MP Johnny Mercer argues that soldiers have been unfairly hounded. Also today: Emma John looks ahead to the Cricket World Cup Earlier this month, the new defence secretary, Penny Mordaunt, promised to introduce a “presumption against prosecution” on historical allegations of abuse for military veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and anywhere else around the world – with the exception of Northern Ireland . Journalist Samira Shackle has previously investigated the collapse of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team for the Guardian and describes how many of those cases were thrown out after a lawyer, who acted for many of the alleged victims, was found guilty of misconduct and struck off as a solicitor. Continue reading... fro...

Human activity has transformed the Earth – but scientists are divided about whether this is really a turning point in geological history. By Nicola Davison It was February 2000 and the Nobel laureate Paul Crutzen was sitting in a meeting room in Cuernavaca, Mexico, stewing quietly. Five years earlier, Crutzen and two colleagues had been awarded the Nobel prize in chemistry for proving that the ozone layer, which shields the planet from ultraviolet light, was thinning at the poles because of rising concentrations of industrial gas. Now he was attending a meeting of scientists who studied the planet’s oceans, land surfaces and atmosphere. As the scientists presented their findings, most of which described dramatic planetary changes, Crutzen shifted in his seat. “You could see he was getting agitated. He wasn’t happy,” Will Steffen, a chemist who organised the meeting, told me recently. What finally tipped Crutzen over the edge was a presentation by a group of scientists that focused on...

Farage wants to hijack British patriotism and drag us to a catastrophic no-deal Brexit by 31 October All political parties were too self-absorbed to see it coming, but Nigel Farage’s 32% European election vote created a new dividing line in British politics – taking us well beyond the leave-remain split that has defined Britain since the referendum and threatens to dominate its politics for the foreseeable future. In the three years since 2016, when we should have been debating the bigger issue that the referendum raised – what kind of Britain we want to become – our rulers have been obsessed with one very narrow question: not even our future relationship with Europe, but merely the terms of our departure from it. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Mgw6Jb

As a greying Linda Hamilton dusts off the rocket launcher to take on a new Terminator, we look at how the cowering victims of 70s horror paved the way for today’s grizzled gunslingers T he trailer for Terminator: Dark Fate hinges on the return of Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor to the franchise. Halfway into it, she steps from an SUV with not one but two guns so big that the trailer slips into slow-mo in sheer awe. “Who are you?” another character gasps. Sixty-two year old women don’t usually get to be action stars. It’s common for guys like Clint Eastwood , Bruce Willis , Harrison Ford and Arnold Schwarzenegger to tote firearms and perform stunts into their 50s, 60s, even 70s. But women in action films are typically younger than their co-stars, often by decades. In last year’s Mission: Impossible – Fallout , Tom Cruise was 55; female lead Rebecca Ferguson was 35. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2K9vORK

Once his songs of loneliness and shyness made him a hero to misfits and outsiders. Yet now he is voicing his support for a far-right party It was once a hearing aid, or a swinging bunch of gladioli. In the 80s Morrissey had a unique way with stage props – let’s face it, he had a unique way with everything – utilising them to upend the macho cliche of live performance while offering solidarity to the marginalised. These days, however, Morrissey prefers a different kind of onstage provocation. During a recent performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (and at a number of live shows in New York), the former Smiths singer sported a For Britain badge. For those unfamiliar with it, For Britain is a far-right political party . Even Nigel Farage believes it is made up of “Nazis and racists”. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2JIMuAl

We don’t talk enough about the street food scandal – leftovers chucked away without a second thought Every day for the past month complete strangers have bought me lunch. And breakfast. And dinner. And they don’t even know it. I have been living high on the hog, and it hasn’t cost me a penny – because I have been dining out on the half-eaten fast food and takeaways thoughtfully abandoned by my fellow Britons on pavements and park benches and tube platforms all over the city. Sometimes they even leave them in bins. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2JMl7VL

The Femm app has users in the US, EU and Africa and sows doubt over the safety of birth control, a Guardian investigation has found A popular women’s health and fertility app sows doubt about birth control, features claims from medical advisers who are not licensed to practice in the US, and is funded and led by anti-abortion, anti-gay Catholic campaigners, a Guardian investigation has found. The Femm app, which collects personal information about sex and menstruation from users, has been downloaded more than 400,000 times since its launch in 2015, according to developers. It has users in the US, the EU, Africa and Latin America, its operating company claims. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2Ia3ID8

The arch-Brexiter’s tome has sales to match its awful reviews, but he’s not the first politician who’s struggled to flog a book Let’s play a game: is this from a review of Conservative MP and arch Brexiter Jacob Rees-Mogg’s book The Victorians, or not? “Morally repellent”, “abysmal” and “soul-destroying”, “reads like it was written by a baboon”, “too pompous and too cliche-ridden”, and “a boring tome” full of “little more than commonplace cliches”. Answer: all but the last. That was Benito Mussolini’s zinger about Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Who knew he had it in him? After the nation’s historians eviscerated Rees-Mogg’s 500-odd pages of pompous jingoism, it seems that the public were not even curious: The Victorians sold a dismal 734 copies in its opening week to reach the lofty heights of 379th spot on Nielsen’s UK book charts. Half of those were sold in the Midlands (15%) and London (35%), suggesting that whichever bookshop is closest to parliament had a very good week. The south...

A happiness expert says wives are more miserable than other women. Is it because they find they’ve married another child? Tchuh, women. Never bloody happy, are they? Except, it turns out, they are, just not in the way they were told to be, and thought they should be. According to a new book by Paul Dolan , a professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, marriage and children do not – despite several millennia of literature claiming otherwise – give women the sought after happy ending. In fact, they put them at “higher risk of physical and mental conditions than their single counterparts”. (Dolan does not specify whether those mental conditions include insanity from watching the same Peppa Pig episode 1,174 times.) Now, I’m going to take some things for granted, the first of which is that Dolan is referring to heterosexual married couples, as is implied by how he has discussed his findings so far. The second is that the people Dolan interviewed are answering hones...

He may be the frontrunner, but the former foreign secretary will surely lose his allure. Look out for the unexpected Something important and wholly without precedent is happening in plain sight in British politics – but not enough attention is being paid to it. The something is that never before has a new British prime minister been chosen by the grassroots members of the ruling political party. Such a thing might have happened in 2007, when Tony Blair resigned, but Gordon Brown was chosen unopposed. It nearly happened in 2016, after David Cameron stepped down, but in the end the other candidates stood aside in favour of Theresa May . Now it’s the third time it could happen, and this one is almost certain to be different. There are already 11 candidates in the field to succeed May. Five more are said to be weighing whether to join. Many will fall at the first and subsequent hurdles in June, when Tory MPs begin a series of elimination votes in Westminster. But it would be a surprise i...

Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2XfJSNc

The rise of anti-Jewish actions in Germany is profoundly worrying, but Angela Merkel’s fightback sets an example of moral seriousness and rigour The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has spoken openly about the spectre of antisemitism in Germany. She told CNN that “We have always had a certain amount of antisemites among us ... Unfortunately there is to this day not a single synagogue, not a single day care centre for Jewish children, not a single school for Jewish children that does not need to be guarded by German policemen.” Her remarks came a week after the country’s ombudsman for antisemitism, Felix Klein, suggested that observant Jews would be wise not to wear kippahs (skullcaps) in public. Taken together, these developments might suggest that Germany is sliding back into its dreadful past. In fact, they are signs of a determination that this must not happen. The crime figures do not suggest there is a crisis under way – though crime statistics do not measure fear. The Jews of...

Beware the MP – and Tory leadership contender – who claims there are easy ways out of Britain’s Brexit crisis In the aftermath of Sunday’s European election results, and as the ranks of Tory leadership contenders swell, every MP should be in a state of alarm about the condition of British democracy. The problem is not that people are denied a voice – millions of opinions have been freely expressed in polling booths – but that parliament looks incapable of satisfying voters’ conflicting demands. Brexit, as it was sold to the country in 2016, cannot be delivered. The view asserted by Nigel Farage and much of the Conservative party that pro-Europeans are refusing to deliver it is false. It is true that parliament prevented the UK from leaving the EU without a deal, but that outcome would have betrayed promises made by the leave campaign three years ago. The offer of that campaign was an easy glide into a brighter future where Britain would have “taken back control”. But the reality of u...

Raab is still on the starting line, Gove is doing OK – but when it comes to jogging for the cameras, Hunt is showing everyone a clean pair of heels Prospective Conservative party leaders are out for early morning runs. It feels like they’re all at it. What are they trying to prove exactly? Well, I suppose that’s obvious: physical and, by association, metaphorical fitness for office. I decided to apply some rigorous analysis to these jogging photo ops. You can do this too. All you need is a computer, an internet connection and the knowhow to search “[candidate’s name] running. Images”. Herewith are my conclusions: zero points for Dominic Raab. Not one running shot could I find on Google. And he looks as fit as a butcher’s dog, doesn’t he? There’s also that allegation about him being a karate expert , but I couldn’t see a decent shot of him in his martial arts pyjamas either. He must be keeping his powder dry for a big athletic photo op on the morning of the first vote. James Cleverly ...

At the end, even Maurizio Sarri’s superstitions went out of the window. The Italian normally refuses to step on to the playing surface, though he could not contain himself at the final whistle. Sprinting forward on to the turf, arms raised in triumph, Chelsea’s head coach celebrated the first major trophy of a career that has spanned two decades. It was hard to begrudge him his moment. Related: ‘I think it’s goodbye’: Hazard ready to leave Chelsea after Europa League heroics Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2EHget7

Unai Emery’s side capitulated against Chelsea and, with such an important summer ahead, the damage may be severe There was something almost pitiful about Unai Emery gesturing enthusiastically from his technical area, urging his team forwards, in the 90th minute at 4-1 down. He suddenly looked like a footballing King Canute, trying to stem a tide that washed all over Arsenal and left their present and future ambitions shipwrecked. The scale of the capitulation left Arsenal in shock. At the end of it all, the shattering despair felled their players. They had been banking on this, hoping that the Europa League final would bring a happy ending to this season and positivity for the next with a return to the Champions League. Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2YWVEMO

Eoin Morgan’s side start as favourites to lift their first title but tournament offers once-in-a-generation to revive interest The last time England hosted the Cricket World Cup 20 years ago they suffered the embarrassment of being knocked out before the official tournament song had even been released. Their record has scarcely improved since. Yet when Eoin Morgan’s side open the 2019 tournament against South Africa on Thursday they will be in the unfamiliar role of favourites. England’s captain also has his eyes on another prize: a once-in-a-generation chance to revive interest in cricket, which has slipped since it went behind Sky’s paywall after England’s Ashes victory in 2005. As Morgan said yesterday: “The World Cup raises the profile of the game and is a platform for every young kid in this country to have a hero or inspiration to pick up a ball or a bat. If we were to go on and win it, I couldn’t imagine what it would do.” Continue reading... from The Guardian http://bit.ly...

By ELLEN GABLER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2VZzdox

By ELLEN GABLER from NYT U.S. https://nyti.ms/2KefSxQ