Judges issue unanimous decision and say Palestinians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to allow unimpeded access of food aid into Gaza, where sections of the population are facing imminent starvation, in a significant legal rebuke to Israelas claim it is not blocking aid deliveries.
A panel of judges at the UNas top court, which is already considering a complaint from South Africa that Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory, issued the ruling after an emergency measure in January obliging Israel to admit emergency aid.
Continue reading...Judge orders disgraced crypto mogul to forfeit $11bn in assets and says he showed no remorse for his crimes
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul who perpetrated one of the largest financial frauds in history, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11bn in assets. His lawyer reiterated a pledge to appeal the sentence the same day.
The judge, Lewis Kaplan, issued the penalty in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday. Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy to launder money late last year.
Continue reading...Labour leader was asked how party would plug APS4bn gap at launch of its local election campaign in West Midlands
Keir Starmer has told voters he cannot aturn the taps ona to fix the crisis in local authority funding as he was quizzed on how Labour would plug councilsa APS4bn gap at the launch of its local election campaign.
aI canat pretend that we could turn the taps on, pretend the damage hasnat been done to the economy a it has,a he said. aThereas no magic money tree that we can waggle the day after the election. No, theyave broken the economy, theyave done huge damage.a
Continue reading...Opposition MPs criticise changes to rentersa reform bill, which cast doubt on removal of no-fault evictions
Rishi Sunak and Michael Gove have been accused of caving in to Tory MPs lobbying in favour of landlordsa interests after it emerged that significant aspects of the rentersa reform bill are to be watered down.
Changes will include an amendment to prevent tenants ending contracts in a tenancyas first six months, and another casting doubt on the removal of no-fault evictions, a minister told MPs in a leaked letter.
Continue reading...Eva Tennent, whose operations were scheduled in Edinburgh, has Rett syndrome and advanced scoliosis
A 10-year-old girlas spinal condition has become inoperable after her planned surgery was cancelled seven times in six months, her mother has claimed.
Eva Tennent suffers from Rett syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development, and has advanced scoliosis that causes her spine to twist and curve to the side.
Continue reading...After regulator resists 40% increase in bills, shareholders deny request for more cash a raising spectre of nationalisation
aC/ Who will win in standoff between Thamesas investors and watchdog?
Thames Water appears to be on the road to nationalisation after its investors signalled they were unwilling to pump more money into the debt-laden utilities company, amid a standoff with the regulator and government over raising customer bills.
Britainas biggest water supplier said on Thursday its shareholders had refused to provide APS500m of emergency funding due this week to secure ithe companyas short-term cashflow.
Continue reading...Man in his 40s detained on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter, Essex police say
A man in his 40s has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the death of the Gogglebox star George Gilbey, who died after a fall at work, Essex police said.
The 40-year-old reality star was best known for appearing on the Channel 4 series alongside his mother, Linda McGarry, and stepfather Pete McGarry, who died aged 71 in 2021.
Continue reading...Leicester have sacked womenas team manager Willie Kirk after an investigation into an alleged relationship with a player.
The Guardian revealed on 8 March that Kirk had been suspended while the club carried out an investigation into an alleged relationship with one of his squad members. The manager was then absent from the teamas 2-0 defeat of Liverpool, which earned them a place in the FA Cup semi-finals, where they will play Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 14 April, with assistant Jennifer Foster and first-team coach Stephen Kirby sharing caretaker duties. They have since lost the two leagues game they have played, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Tottenham and 3-2 loss against Brighton.
Continue reading...IS has stalled in Iraq and Syria but officials believe it has been planning new attacks on west for years
Islamic State (IS) remains defeated in its core strongholds of the Middle East but has made significant progress in Africa and parts of south Asia, winning territory and resources that could serve as a launchpad for a new campaign of extremist violence, analysts and officials believe.
European governments have moved to their highest levels of alert for years after the attack on a concert hall in Moscow last week by militants from IS which killed 140 people.
Continue reading...Maxine Peake and Sarah Schulman among signatories of open letter asking singer to withdraw from contest
More than 450 queer artists, individuals and organisations have called on the UKas Eurovision contestant, Olly Alexander, to boycott this yearas competition in solidarity with Palestine.
The actor Maxine Peake and the novelist and playwright Sarah Schulman are among the signatories of the open letter calling on the singer to withdraw from the contest in May due to the conflict in Gaza.
Continue reading...Mayoral races may be important indicator of Keir Starmeras political momentum as party seeks to turn 20-point national lead into results
If a telltale sign of a politicianas confidence is how willingly they expose themselves to direct media scrutiny, then the likely narrative of Mayas local elections was on full view on Thursday in Dudley.
While Rishi Sunak had followed his Conservative launch speech last Friday with the strictly controlled and limited format of a brief TV clip, Keir Starmer answered journalistsa questions for about 40 minutes, covering everything from council spending to Angela Rayneras tax affairs.
Continue reading...Scotland could become first part of UK to offer terminally ill adults assistance to end their lives if Holyrood approves bill
A new bill to legalise assisted dying in Scotland has been published at Holyrood by the Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, in a fresh attempt by supporters to get the measure enacted for the first time in the UK.
Continue reading...Ofwat denies shareholder demands for higher bills and looser environmental regulation
aC/ Thames on road to state rescue amid investor standoff with Ofwat
The news that Thames Wateras investors have pulled the plug on future investment in the ailing utility, leaving it vulnerable to future nationalisation, is the culmination of a long game of brinkmanship with the industry regulator, Ofwat.
As talks behind closed doors reached their conclusions in recent weeks, tempers were fraying. One insider described the discussion as very heated.
Continue reading...As Nenaas 99 Red Balloons turns 40, we look back at the best continental foreign-language songs that achieved cross-Channel success
Shuffling French Euro-disco with vocals in Spanish and a melody line worthy of a John Barry spy thriller theme, El Bimbo might be the apotheosis of the 70s aholiday hita, brought back from the continent as a souvenir like the musical equivalent of a straw donkey. Still, far better than 1974as other big holiday hit, Y Viva EspaA+-a.
Continue reading...One wants to fix the second chamber. The other would scrap it and bring in the aDanish systema. Can they meet halfway?
Hartley, 73, Worthing
Occupation Retired architect
Continue reading...After overseeing a transformation of the National Portrait Gallery he will need to draw on that experience in his new role
Nicholas Cullinan, who has been appointed as the new director of the British Museum, was seen as the favourite for the job due to his reputation in the art world as an energetic leader.
As the director of the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) since 2015, the 46-year-old art historian and curator oversaw the most ambitious redevelopment in the institutionas history, a APS41.3m refurbishment and rehang of its collection.
Continue reading...Godas Ghostwriters by Candida Moss aims to shine a light on the contributions to Christianity by imprisoned workers
Enslaved people wrote the Bible, carried the messages of the apostles and spread the word of Jesus around the Roman empire, according to a shocking new book by the theology professor Candida Moss. Godas Ghostwriters: Enslaved Christians and the Making of the Bible argues that apostles and early Christians used enslaved scribes, secretaries and messengers to write the New Testament and shape the very foundations of Christianity.
aThe overwhelming literary and archeological evidence shows that this kind of work was done by enslaved or formerly enslaved people,a says Moss, the Edward Cadbury professor of theology at the University of Birmingham. Scholars think only about 5-10% of Romans were literate: the very wealthy a and the people they enslaved.
Continue reading...The star of The First Omen takes your questions on working as a chimney sweep, finessing his perfect sandwich a and hoping to die in a hail of bullets
Thereas an argument that youare the person James Bond matures into: women still want to sleep with you and men want to be you. Whatas your secret? MarcoPoloMint
I have no idea. I donat get out much and I donat identify with whomever theyare talking about. I did used to quip that I could be James Bondas grandfather and Iave always wanted to say: aThe nameas Nighy. Bill Nighy.a Iam very happy to hear, but itas a bit of a stretch for me to grasp.
When you were younger, you travelled to Paris to write a book, but never completed it. Will you ever dust down your great unfinished novel to realise your literary ambitions? VerulamiumParkRanger
I had a very romantic idea a I was a walking cliche in my 20s a of running away to Paris to write the great English short story. The pathetic thing is that I went and stood in the TrocadA(c)ro, outside the Shakespeare and Company bookstore and under the Arc de Triomphe, hoping to catch some vibes. I sat down for an hour in front of a blank page and drew a margin, like at school, for the teacheras remarks, but the doorbell went or the phone rang and that was the end of my literary career.
From picking a perfect fragrance to spraying your radiators and getting rid of the worst stinks, here is how to make sure your life always smells sweet
From a fancy fragrance to a simple bowl of oranges, scent can transform how you feel about yourself, another person or a place. But how can you work out what suits the moment? And the best way to get rid of a stink? Perfumers reveal how to make your world smell fantastic.
1. Smell is an extreme sensation
aScent provokes a visceral reaction,a says Ezra-Lloyd Jackson, a perfumer and artist who makes wearable fragrances under the brand name deya and creates scent installations for art exhibitions. What fascinates him about working with scent is the process of transforming asomething that is grotesque or alarming into something that is familiar and comforting, or vice versaa.
2. Your reaction to a smell is linked to memory
Maya Njie makes perfumes inspired by her Swedish and Gambian heritage. She tried to capture this feeling in other artistic forms before realising that what she really wanted was to portray the way it smelled. aWe know that our sense of smell is directly linked to the part of the brain where our memories are stored,a she says. aSo it makes a lot of sense that fragrance and smells are connected to our memories. If you smell something that someone has worn, or you go to a house that belongs to your grandparents, smelling makes you feel way more emotional than a photo ever could.a Jackson describes this as ainternal time travel. It is another form of communication that isnat linguistic.a
3. It is possible to train your nose
aThat is what perfume is all about,a says Jackson. He didnat have a very orthodox route into perfumery: aI went straight into a laboratory and got to work, but most people will train at one of the schools in France, where the first year is all about learning 500 smells.a Brighton-based French perfumer Elodie Durande, who works for Somerset label Ffern, honed her craft at the University of Montpellier. aYou start out by working on your olfactory skills, remembering smells and describing smells,a before receiving a wide-ranging education about the perfume industry, she says.
(Domino)
These two reissued solo albums from the German singer have a fearsome reputation a but they offer an experience like no other
To say Nico is an artist more talked about than listened to is putting it mildly. In recent years, her life has been the subject of two plays, two autobiographies, a biopic and at least four songs, Lowas Those Girls (Song for Nico) and Beach Houseas Last Ride among them. But Spotifyas list of her 10 most popular tracks contains two of her three contributions to the first Velvet Underground album a These Days and The Fairest of the Seasons a the two Jackson Browne covers from her debut solo album that were featured in Wes Andersonas The Royal Tenenbaums, and a| five Velvet Underground songs that donat actually feature Nico: she does appear on the No 1, Sunday Morning, but only as a spectral presence, her few backing vocals buried deep in the mix. Itas hard to think of another artist so tangentially attached to their most-streamed song a Milli Vanilli, perhaps.
Perhaps this is rooted in the fact that Nicoas slender solo oeuvre is preceded by its reputation, or rather reputations plural. In the popular imagination, her solo work falls into three categories: unrepresentative (jaunty debut single Iam Not Sayina and Chelsea Girls, which the singer hated so much, she burst into tears the first time she played it); cobbled together to fund her heroin habit (1981as Drama of Exile, 1985as Camera Obscura); and famously unlistenable, including the two albums reissued here. Indeed, the fearsome reputation of 1968as The Marble Index was burgeoning before it was even completed. Supposedly it lasts only half an hour because thatas as much as its putative producer, Frazer Mohawk, could stand to listen to before being overwhelmed by despair.
Continue reading...An accurate gut feeling can be hard to distinguish from overreaction, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith. But thereas probably a good reason you feel this way regardless
My boyfriend and I have been together for five years now, and for the most part, things have been really good. But lately, Iave been noticing some stuff thatas got me really confused and frustrated. First of all, heas been really distant, like heas always got something on his mind but wonat tell me. And when I try to talk to him about it, he brushes it off like itas nothing. Plus, heas been cancelling plans at the last minute, which is not like him. Itas like heas avoiding spending time with me.
But hereas the real issue: I caught him red-handed flirting with some other girl on social media! I trust him, but this is making me second-guess everything. I donat know whether to confront him about it or just keep quiet and hope it blows over. I just canat decide between wanting to salvage what we have and not wanting to be played for a fool. And to top it all off, Iam scared that if I bring it up, itall just lead to a huge fight and make things worse. So please help, what should I do?
Continue reading...If Thames Water collapses in the weeks ahead, there is only one smart, long-term response: public ownership
aC/ Adam Almeida is a senior data analyst at the thinktank Common Wealth
The question mark over the future of Britainas largest water supplier, Thames Water, has put its 16 million customers across London and south-east England a myself included a in an uncertain position. While water will still keep coming out of our taps, the price of these financial woes will probably be borne by customers and taxpayers. Meanwhile, Thames Wateras shareholders have spent the last three decades benefiting from the companyas massive financial gains. If ever we needed an example of the risks of selling essential infrastructure to investment firms, this is it.
Auditors warned in late 2023 that the debt-laden company could run out of money by April if shareholders did not inject it with much-needed cash. Now investors are saying they wonat provide Thames Water with APS500m of emergency funding, leading to speculation that the company will be temporarily renationalised.
Adam Almeida is a senior data analyst at the thinktank Common Wealth
Continue reading...Sir John Mitting will rule on whether undercover officers broke the law by deceiving women like me. Yet heas a member of a male-only club
Those of us involved in the so-called spy cops scandal have followed with interest the recent media coverage of the men-only Garrick Club and its membership list of high-profile individuals. It is not news to us that senior judges and powerful men in the security services have been members. Included among the elite was the chair of the public inquiry into undercover policing, John Mitting. Since his appointment as inquiry chair in 2017 we have been calling this out, as we believe it is an obvious conflict of interest a yet our concerns have predictably been ignored.
The inquiry had been established two years earlier by the then prime minister, Theresa May, as a direct result of investigations by women like me into the disappearances of our ex-partners, and the subsequent revelations of their true identities as Metropolitan police undercover officers. The abuse of women, and institutional sexism in the police, are fundamental to understanding the significance of this inquiry.
Alison is one of eight women who first took legal action against the Metropolitan police over the conduct of undercover officers and a founder member of Police Spies Out of Lives. A core participant in the public inquiry into undercover policing, she is one of the authors of Deep Deception a The Story of the Spycop Network by the Women who Uncovered the Shocking Truth
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
There have been no changes since the ex-mogulas conviction as lawmakers fail to pass regulations to protect the public
There is a palpable feeling of relief in the cryptocurrency industry. Evangelists are preaching the good news that the industry has been purged of the Sam Bankman-Frieds, the Alex Mashinskys, the Do Kwons and the Changpeng Zhaos of the world. They proclaim that crypto can finally ascend from its purgatorial, awild westa days to become a respectable sector of the financial world blessed by regulators and speculators alike.
That exultant attitude has contributed to surging cryptocurrency prices, which surpassed previous all-time highs in the weeks leading up to Bankman-Friedas sentencing of 25 years in prison on Thursday.
Continue reading...If the high-rollers surrounding the disgraced FTX founder had any qualms about taking his money, they didnat show it
Later today, a man who has recently turned 32 will be hauled in front of a Manhattan judge. Already convicted of huge fraud, he knows heas going to prison. The only question is for how long. If the US government gets its way, he will not emerge before his 80th birthday.
This is the final disgrace of Sam Bankman-Fried. The judge, politicians and the worldas press will declare him one of the biggest swindlers in American history. They will note how within three years he built a marketplace for digital currencies, or crypto, that was worth around $32bn a and made himself the worldas richest person under 30. Still it wasnat enough. He spent perhaps $8bn of his customersa savings on luxury homes, risky investments and whatever else took his fancy.
Continue reading...Small venues are the heart of our musical culture. Hereas my two-pronged plan to keep that heart beating
Grassroots venues are the foundation upon which the mighty British music industry has been built, fuelling the phenomenal level of talent this small island has produced. Yet while successive governments have shouted about how they are a shining demonstration of the countryas creativity, the very same people have cut funding and opened the cultural sector to the most brutal market logic. Alongside government neglect, small venues across the country also face rising trade costs, pressure on disposable incomes, greedy property developers, post-pandemic changes in attitudes to communal experiences and the continuing shift towards an increasingly screen-based lifestyle.
I cut my teeth DJing and dancing in small venues up and down the country, from my earliest experiences at Christieas, in Sutton a when Iad head home after Carl Cox finished up as I had to be at school the next day a to a 10-year weekly Monday residency at Bar Rumba in Soho and many formative nights at the Hare & Hounds in Birmingham. There are countless more a far too many to list them all. If it werenat for these backrooms, I would not be where I am today as a DJ. Nor would I have encountered (and still do!) those voices that push the culture forward and bring energy and positive momentum to our world.
Gilles Peterson is a DJ, broadcaster and founder of Brownswood Recordings
Although there are significant financial and emotional benefits to returning to the nest, it should be a choice
The 2021 census already confirmed it: more adult children than ever are still living with their parents. But the Financial Times has recently revealed just how drastically the scales have tipped: about 40% of 18- to 34-year-olds now live with their parents, making it the most common domestic arrangement for this age group. Previously, it was living as a couple with children.
Itas not just an epidemic of Young, Dumb and Living Off Mum a Iave moved back home twice since graduating in 2018, and I know plenty of young well-to-do professionals who have felt obliged to do the same, or not moved out at all. There are also plenty of people who are unable to live in their family home due to distance and perhaps wish they could.
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