Boris Johnson Johnson urged to justify 'awarding public funds to close friend'The Guardian - Matthew WeaverBoris Johnson is under pressure to explain why he allegedly failed to declare an interest in the allocation of public money to a close female friend while he was mayor of London. The Sunday Times reported
World News From smashing tiles to driving sheds: the weird world of wacky record breakersThe Guardian - James McMahon‘I realised I needed to make gravity work for me, not against me’ Getti Kehayova, 42, Las Vegas, USA. Record: the largest hula hoop spun (female) is 5.188m in diameter, and the spin was achieved by Getti
Rugby Union Ireland earn bonus point after powering past Scotland with physical displayThe Guardian - Paul Rees at the Yokohama International StadiumIreland took control of the group with a typically efficient bonus-point victory over Scotland, whose pre-match confidence washed away in the rain. The Scots now face a potential quarter-final decider
The Theatre Bianca del Rio review – startlingly mean drag star loves to hateThe Guardian - Brian LoganIt’s a big night for Bianca del Rio, breakout star of RuPaul’s Drag Race and the first draq queen to headline Wembley Arena. And she’s celebrating the occasion by being unspeakably vicious about everybody.
Thomas Cook Thomas Cook in last-ditch talks to avoid collapseThe Guardian - Simon Goodley and agenciesThomas Cook is holding last-ditch talks with key players on Sunday morning in a bid to avert a collapse that will affect 150,000 UK holidaymakers abroad and put 9,000 British jobs at risk. The travel is
Lifestyle (UK) Ease the chill by sowing for brighter daysThe Guardian - James WongI am not afraid to admit it. There are some plants that I have a troubled relationship with. While nerines and amaryllis are some of my very favourite garden flowers, for their ability to erupt like pastel
Books Breaking and Mending by Joanna Cannon review – clinical diagnosisThe Guardian - Hannah BeckermanThere have been a plethora of medical memoirs. What sets Cannon’s apart is the novelist’s keen observational eye Before Joanna Cannon became a bestselling novelist with The Trouble With Goats and Sheep
Politics Labour MP Mike Hill suspended over claims of sexual harassmentThe Guardian - Press AssociationA Labour MP has had the whip withdrawn and his party membership suspended after allegations he sexually harassed a woman. It is understood the party is investigating the backbencher Mike Hill, the MP Hartlepool,
United Kingdom Corbyn suggests UK could be better off after Brexit if deal is rightThe Guardian - Heather Stewart political editorJeremy Corbyn has suggested a Labour Brexit deal could be preferable to remaining in the European Union, putting himself on a collision course with activists and MPs pushing for the party to campaign remain.
Surveillance Think only authoritarian regimes spy on their citizens?The Guardian - Kenan MalikAlmost half the world’s countries now deploy AI surveillance systems. So says a new report, The Global Expansion of AI Surveillance, from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Such technologies
Thomas Cook Thomas Cook goes into administrationThe Guardian - Simon GoodleyThomas Cook has fallen into administration after the failure of last-ditch rescue talks, stranding 150,000 British holidaymakers and putting 9,000 UK jobs. The government and the UK aviation watchdog now
Technology How to survive a Twitter stormThe Guardian - Tanya GoldI am an addict: to alcohol, to nicotine, to sugar I began to hate my own name Because Twitter is monomaniacal, almost no one defended me They seemed fascinated that I am fat It was my fault. Sometimes
Travel Beyond borscht: a food tour of RussiaThe Guardian - Ed CummingAt Taste to Eat, a contemporary restaurant with a distinctly SEO-unfriendly name in St Petersburg, I am about to plunge into a chicken kiev, its heart bursting with garlic. Over the past five days I have
British Humour Golden toilets, golden arches. As for David Cameron...The Guardian - David MitchellI hope whoever stole the golden loo gets away with it. It just seems fun, like an Ealing comedy Like most people, I enjoyed the news of the theft of that gold toilet. I’m glad the gold toilet exists (or
Art St John’s College, Oxford library and study centre – a touch of mod in the quadThe Guardian - Catherine SlessorComposed of a historic patchwork of colleges, Oxford is a unique urban ecosystem. Its basic building block is the quad, a hangover from the medieval era when learning was conducted in monasteries. College
The Arts Russell Tovey: ‘Art is for everyone. It will change you, it will outlive you’The Guardian - Miranda SawyerThe Sensation exhibition blew my mind. It felt like something had shifted. It was my Woodstock moment Cor, Russell Tovey’s apartment is gorgeous! A New York-style warehouse-style place, with wooden floors,
Books On my radar: Orlando Figes’s cultural highlightsThe Guardian - Orlando FigesBorn in north London in 1959, Orlando Figes has published a number of works on Europe and Russian history. Between 1984 and 1999, he taught at Trinity College, Cambridge; he is now professor of history
Politics Tiny changes might seem insignificant. But they are how we save the planetThe Guardian - Peter BeaumontIn the heat of political debate, we forget sometimes the importance of individual acts There is a celebrated line in Jared Diamond’s Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive, his bestselling of
World News Sicilians dare to believe: the mafia’s cruel reign is overThe Guardian - Lorenzo Tondo in PalermoI remember the day as if it was yesterday – 23 May 1992, the day that changed Sicilians’ lives for ever. I remember my mother’s tears as she sat glued to the TV, watching what looked like an earthquake.
Facebook May I have a word about… Facebook claiming the word ‘book’The Guardian - Jonathan BouquetIt’s the bare-faced impudence of Facebook that takes the breath away. Mark Zuckerberg’s seemingly uncontrollable behemoth, having exerted ownership over “like”, “wall”, “poke” and “quest”, is now seeking
NHS NHS bed shortages cause late cancellation of cancer surgeriesThe Guardian - Denis Campbell Health Policy EditorTrust apologises after patient is sent home twice when ready for surgery One of the NHS’s biggest hospital trusts has apologised to a 78-year-old man after it had to cancel his cancer surgery twice in
Vegan Vegan college menus on the rise as students return to universityThe Guardian - Donna FergusonUniversity campuses across the country are cutting meat from their canteen and cafe menus under pressure from growing numbers of vegan students and staff. This year, more university cafeterias than ever
Cricket Somerset and Essex create thrilling climax but what is the future of county cricket?The Guardian - Tanya AldredWith autumn stepping into its strides – and conkers rolling fat and round outside the pavilion at Lord’s – cricket still has one hand to play in this eye-popping summer. A single round of the County Championship
Colin Firth Ethical fashion campaigner Livia Firth: ‘We have turned a corner finally’The Guardian - Hannah MarriottEthical fashion used to be unfashionable. When Livia Firth launched her consultancy, Eco-Age, a decade ago, she says, “it was something no one was talking about”. During the current round of fashion shows
Namibia Italy overcome early scare to beat spirited Namibia in Rugby World CupThe Guardian - Reuters and Press AssociationItaly scored three tries within the space of 10 minutes, either side of half-time, to give themselves breathing room against a stubborn Namibia before recording a 47-22 win at the Hanazono Rugby Stadium
Lifestyle (UK) The little chap is in no rush to walk… which is no bad thingThe Guardian - Séamas O’ReillyA year ago I wrote about Just You Waits, those parents who answer any comment you make about your current difficulties by saying ‘just you wait’ and referencing some other, greater trial down the road.
Lifestyle (UK) Imaginary friends can help grown-ups, as well as childrenThe Guardian - Eva WisemanWe put faith in imaginary friends, because at least they always have an answer Until a year ago we had an invisible lodger in our house named Uncle. My daughter would call him on the phone, elaborate arrangements
Books Will and Testament by Vigdis Hjorth review – a traumatic inheritanceThe Guardian - Holly WilliamsHjorth uses repetition in a way that feels truthful of someone trying to process trauma. But it’s also stultifying When published in Vigdis Hjorth’s native Norway in 2016, Will and Testament became both
The Theatre The week in theatre: Faith, Hope and Charity; The King of Hell’s Palace; Chiaroscuro – reviewThe Guardian - Susannah ClappAlexander Zeldin’s new play is not like anything I have seen before. Directed by the author, it creates its own category of intensity: slowly paced but sharply felt. It is as if an audience is seeing action
Books How our poet laureate has embraced his new roleThe Guardian - Richard BrooksPoet laureate Simon Armitage read out his latest work, Fugitives, on Saturday on a hill above Morecambe Bay. Commissioned by the National Association for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty to celebrate
