The Voice Reveal

Fabian Society also wants a ‘culture pass’ for children to help break the ‘class ceiling’ in the sector Everyone in Britain should be issued with a “universal library card” and children should spend 10% of their school time on arts activities, according to a new report. The Fabian Society’s Arts For Us All calls for Keir Starmer’s government to remove the “class ceiling” by democratising access to the arts in schools and ensure culture is a prominent feature of its “ decade of economic renewal ”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/9IqcPLY via IFTTT

Unusually high turnout expected in what is also first vote since Indian PM stripped region of statehood five years ago For the first time in almost 40 years, Bashir Ahmad Thokar, a 75-year-old apple farmer, cannot wait to cast his vote. In the Himalayan valleys and mountains of the Indian region of Kashmir, elections have long been deemed a tainted affair, marred by rigging, boycotts and violence. But as Kashmiris go to the polls on Wednesday to vote for their first regional assembly in a decade, this time there has been a palpable buzz. “This is the first time since 1987 that the people of Kashmir are excited about the elections,” says Thokar. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/w0Cb4Fp via IFTTT

Polls show Shigeru Ishiba, Shinji Koizumi and Sanae Takaichi are best placed to replace PM Fumio Kishida later this month With just 10 days to go before Japan ’s governing party elects a new leader – who will automatically become prime minister – the contest is still too close to call. Among the frontrunners are Shigeru Ishiba, a model aircraft enthusiast and security policy wonk about to embark on his “final battle”, and Shinjiro Koizumi, the youthful, photogenic son of a former prime minister who once insisted the fight against climate change could be “sexy” and “fun”. The race has been complicated by a new poll in which ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP) supporters named Sanae Takaichi, the ultra-conservative economic security minister, as their preferred choice. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/EnYy1IC via IFTTT

Alison Rose appointed as diversity and inclusion adviser at leading firm Mishcon de Reya Alison Rose, the former chief executive of NatWest, has taken a job as an adviser to one of the UK’s top law firms as she tries to return to the City after a career-damaging row with Nigel Farage last year. Rose is joining Mishcon de Reya as a diversity and inclusion adviser, a role that will involve mentoring some of the firm’s partners. She will also work closely with the equity, diversity and inclusion committee at the firm, which is known for having represented Diana, Princess of Wales during her divorce. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/h6BsSPu via IFTTT

Would a fully honest portrayal of what has happened in Gaza this year be unbroadcastable? This film is full of unforgettably harrowing moments – but still, so much more should have been said Making a documentary about Gaza for British television must be a daunting task. It was ever thus – any contentious assertion will be met with unusually fierce criticism – but now film-makers have to contend not only with the sheer size of the current crisis, but the fact that it has already played out in real time via social media, in a way that previous flashpoints have not. It may well be that a fully honest portrayal of what has happened in Gaza in the past year would be deemed unbroadcastable, but if you fall short, informed viewers will know. Into the Abyss, a new feature-length documentary by Robin Barnwell, suffers from the same fundamental problem as the BBC’s The Darkest Days, shown in April. It does a fine job of conveying the scale of the horror and terror inflicted on Israel on 7 Octo

Final: Gloucs, 129-2, beat Somerset, 124, by eight wickets David Payne’s 3-27 helps dismantle holders Somerset When Ollie Price smashed a six down the ground, it was done. Gloucestershire, the least fancied side heading into finals day, had their hands on a first T20 Blast Trophy – announcing themselves champions in emphatic style. Throughout the day, they produced a tour de force of T20 cricket. Cameron Bancroft and Miles Hammond batted superbly to reduce Somerset’s bowlers to cannon fodder. But the foundations were laid by Gloucestershire’s bowlers. Twice, they restricted their opponents to sub-par totals. On both occasions, the chases felt mere formalities. It shouldn’t have been this easy: having waited nine years for fresh silverware, Gloucestershire added to their cabinet without breaking a sweat. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/dv0lTmb via IFTTT

What is wrong with people in this country?! Sign up here to get an email whenever First Dog cartoons are published Get all your needs met at the First Dog shop if what you need is First Dog merchandise and prints Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1uYGQcA via IFTTT

Women are only permitted to lease land in the Pacific country as advocacy groups call for reform to the system Ofa Ki Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki was attending a workshop on gender issues in Tonga many years ago when she came to a striking realisation: “If my father dies everything in our house, from the land to belongings, will automatically transfer to my brother.” The 49-year-old went straight to her dad and said “if you die, I will inherit nothing. He looked at me with nothing to say, and I told him that it was really unfair.” Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YcP8twl via IFTTT

US and UK leaders’ talks dominated by row with Russia over use of Storm Shadow missiles Joe Biden dismissed sabre-rattling threats made by Vladimir Putin as the US president met with the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, at the White House on Friday. Biden said he did not accept that Ukraine using western-made Storm Shadow missiles to bomb targets in Russia would amount to Nato going to war with Moscow. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/j4sASuf via IFTTT

The Miami Dolphins quarterback was helped off after being injured in the third quarter of the 31-10 defeat. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/Caq6jkx via IFTTT

Jesus said many call themselves Christians, but the proof is in the way a person lives following justification. from Christianity.com https://ift.tt/Mhm8fdZ

In 2024 four journalists have been killed, with others jailed, as they report on human rights abuses by the military junta The year 2024 is already the deadliest since the coup for media operating in Myanmar, with three deaths recorded last month alone as the junta is accused of imposing a “terror campaign” on the press. Htet Myat Thu, 28, and Win Htut Oo, 26, both freelance journalists, were shot dead during a raid on their home by the military junta on 21 August in the southern Mon state. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/4aZLlnP via IFTTT

Attack marks first time a missile has struck a civilian vessel transporting grains in open waters of the Black Sea. What we know on day 933 See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1euYfPn via IFTTT

On this year’s Video Music Awards black carpet, pop’s biggest stars opted for lace, 90s glamour and the barely there Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/8WCTAJH via IFTTT

Suspect has been arrested and charged while ‘Roaring Lion’ photograph is to return to lobby of Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in coming weeks An art theft that gripped Canadians has been solved: a famed portrait of a scowling Winston Churchill that was stolen from an Ottawa hotel has been found in Italy and the thief nabbed, police have said. The “Roaring Lion” picture of the late British prime minister had been given to the Fairmont Chateau Laurier hotel in Ottawa by the late Armenian-born Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ZAMCSt0 via IFTTT

Ex-leader was jailed in 2009 for corruption and human rights abuses but granted a humanitarian pardon last year Alberto Fujimori, Peru’s former strongman leader throughout the 1990s and the country’s most divisive leader, has died aged 86, just 10 months after he was granted a pardon and freed from jail. The ex-president died at the home of his daughter and political heiress Keiko Fujimori in the Peruvian capital Lima on Wednesday evening. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/rITpQkA via IFTTT

War damage, demolition and refurbishment blamed for disappearing roundels now themselves part of history The very first commemorative blue plaque was awarded in 1867, in honour of the poet Lord Byron at his house and birthplace in Holles Street, near Cavendish Square in London. But the plaque – the first in a long, prestigious tradition of recognising some of the most influential figures in history – was lost when the house was demolished in 1889. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JIBtPSQ via IFTTT

Chancellor says move will create as many as 14,000 jobs at firm’s datacentres and in a range of other industries Amazon’s cloud computing arm will invest £8bn in the UK to build datacentres that support customers in London and the west of England, Rachel Reeves said on Wednesday. The chancellor said the investment, which it was estimated would create as many as 14,000 jobs at Amazon and in local businesses, was part of the government’s “long-term mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off”. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/32d7FeJ via IFTTT

Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers, National Gallery, London This daring, dazzling exhibition gives us a thrilling sense of the artist’s transfiguring genius, showing how he remade the world around him with beauty, hope and searing colour Neither The Poet nor The Lover , whose portraits open the this heart-stopping Van Gogh exhibition, were quite what they seem. The Lover’s eyes gazes dreamily from a face of blue-green tints, wearing a red cap flaming against an emerald sky, in which a gold moon and star twinkle. In reality, he was an army officer called Paul-Eugène Milliet, whose affairs were less ethereal than the painting suggests. “He has all the Arles women he wants,” wrote Van Gogh enviously. The Poet’s face, meanwhile, is anxious and gaunt, its ugliness badly hidden by a thin beard, as the night around him bursts into starshine. He was a Belgian painter called Eugène Boch whose work Van Gogh thought so-so. But beggars can’t be choosers. They were among the few friends Van Gogh had in

Peers said they were raising a ‘big red flag’ and tough choices will be needed The pressing risk of the national debt becoming unsustainable will force Britain into the unenviable choice of paying higher taxes or the state doing less, a House of Lords committee has warned. A report by peers said tough decisions and a new set of rules for the public finances were needed in order to put debt – currently just under 100% of annual national income – on a decisive downward path. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qpo2iIH via IFTTT

Which? asks both to ‘do the right thing’ by refunding difference between face value of tickets and final inflated price Oasis and Ticketmaster should refund fans who ended up paying hundreds of pounds more than the face value of tickets after so-called “dynamic pricing” was used to inflate prices, the consumer group Which? has said. Which? called on the band and the ticketing company to “do the right thing” and refund the difference between the face value of the tickets and the heavily inflated price many ended up having to pay. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/phSoyuk via IFTTT

Anger is rising at Indonesia’s new administration – while Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines, Laos and Brunei are all led by the children of former leaders In early August, against a backdrop of deadly student-led protests, Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina resigned her position, bringing to a close a political dynasty that stretched back to the country’s founding. This week, students took to the streets on the other side of Asia, to protest against amended election laws that have helped foster the establishment of a new dynasty. In a few weeks Prabowo Subianto will be sworn in as Indonesia’s president – and with him his vice-president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the 36-year-old son of current leader Joko Widodo. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/RBFG3QS via IFTTT

Belarussian keeps composure to beat American 7-5, 7-5 World No 2 has won two grand slam titles this year As Aryna Sabalenka has cemented herself at the top of her sport over the past two seasons, in so many of the biggest grand slam matches her greatest opponent has been herself. Even when she has come in radiating with confidence, her game in full bloom, her head so often gets in the way. Recovering from so many painful collapses has required resilience beyond measure. Nowhere have these struggles been more evident than in New York, a city that perfectly suits her electrifying game and outsized personality but where the positives from her two semi-finals and a final in the past three years had been blunted by brutal losses. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ElePH0z via IFTTT

The British number one was sick four times on court during his US Open loss to top seed Jannick Sinner. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/gdKLiUc via IFTTT

‘Talking dictionaries’ among the tools used by researchers to document languages and record Indigenous environmental knowledge Joe Natuman watches for falling leaves and new shoots on trees as a sign it’s time to garden. Then, when a southern wind begins to blow in his small village in Vanuatu’s Tafea province, he is the first to plant yams. Soon, others will follow his lead. Like his forefathers, Natuman is a tupunus, meaning he was born into a lineage that is trained to develop an understanding of how natural forces impact agriculture and wellbeing. As a tupunus, Natuman is respected for his knowledge and ability to identify and use hundreds of plant species and special inherited stones to practise “ weather magic ”. He also senses winds and uses weather to help his community. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gLR23KX via IFTTT

Parents and campaigners have called on education and health authorities to end the practice of requiring children to strip off for school health checks “My chest was completely exposed and I felt embarrassed,” writes a Japanese girl after undergoing an annual health checkup at her middle school. Another says: “Before the exam our teacher told us we would have to lift up our tops and bra … I didn’t want to do it but I couldn’t say no.” The testimony from two 13-year-olds, seen by the Guardian, is typical of the discomfort – and in some cases trauma – felt by children attending schools in Japan that can require boys and girls as young as five – and as old as 18 – to strip to the waist during health examinations. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/QsM2PJD via IFTTT

Health charities call for taxes on salty products and bans on junk food sponsorship of sport to help cut deaths from heart disease Hard-hitting cigarette-style warning labels should be put on everyday foodstuffs, new taxes imposed on salty products and junk food sponsorship of sport banned to cut rising deaths from heart disease, health campaigners have said. These “bold” measures should be imposed as part of a determined drive to reduce the number of people dying prematurely from heart attacks and strokes, they said. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/5lzAhuI via IFTTT

More than 1,200 hectares of Cumbrian forest will be transformed into England’s highest nature reserve Skiddaw has long stood proud in the northern Lake District, a distinctive, treeless peak that is England’s sixth highest mountain. But now the fell’s barren heights will spring back to life after its purchase for rewilding by Cumbria Wildlife Trust . More than 1,200 hectares of Skiddaw Forest, once a royal hunting ground, will become England’s highest nature reserve and the UK’s biggest project to restore Atlantic rainforest, after the site came up for sale for £6.25m. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/lEK9prI via IFTTT

The Belarusian overwhelmed China’s Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in a repeat of the pair’s Australian Open final showdown. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/wojbMmk via IFTTT

Deputy prime ministers among senior Ukrainian officials to resign; more than 50 killed in Russian attack on Poltava, one of the deadliest of the war. What we know on day 924 See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/yQebHZm via IFTTT

Yahya Sinwar and at least five others accused by US justice department of planning and orchestrating the deadly attacks in which 1,200 people were killed See all our coverage of the Israel-Gaza war The United States has announced criminal charges against Hamas’ top leaders over their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the 7 October attack in southern Israel. The charges against Yahya Sinwar, the militant group’s chief , and at least five others accuse them of orchestrating the attack, which killed 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/vlqkL9X via IFTTT

God’s beauty and goodness are evident throughout the year – If we are willing to observe the small ways, the Lord reveals His grace every day. from Christianity.com https://ift.tt/fAkmhri

The swimmer is back in action a day after winning backstroke gold. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/o67anyp via IFTTT

International condemnation at Russian president’s unimpeded visit; bombing greets Ukrainian schoolchildren on first day back. What we know on day 923 See all our Russia-Ukraine war coverage Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Xk604U9 via IFTTT

New Delhi was seen as former PM’s greatest ally. Now it must reckon with a new government that wants accountability for her regime’s actions It was earlier this month, as protests swept Bangladesh and bodies lay on the streets, that prime minister Sheikh Hasina hastily boarded a helicopter. She was unaccompanied by any political aides and did not tell any of her senior ministers she was leaving. In a matter of hours, she touched down in neighbouring India, where she has been ever since. The protests that led to Hasina’s downfall had quickly escalated from student demonstrations on campuses to a nationwide mass revolution, with hundreds of thousands calling for her removal and the return of democracy. Hasina’s government responded with an onslaught of violence and bullets, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/AzpytGr via IFTTT

Queensland ambulance service says woman suffered ‘arm injuries’ before being taken to hospital Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A tiger handler has been mauled by a big cat in her charge at a Gold Coast theme park, with emergency services saying she is in hospital with injuries to her arm. A Queensland ambulance service (QAS) spokesperson said paramedics transported a woman from Dreamworld to the Gold Coast University hospital with “multiple lacerations to the arm” after “an incident involving a tiger” at about 9am Monday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ak8Awnz via IFTTT

The 27-year-old said he is ‘happy to be back in the quarter-final’. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/uq3UMnT via IFTTT

Gauff succumbed to a 6-2 4-6 6-3 loss to Olympic team-mate Navarro. from The Independent Sport https://ift.tt/CTwouA4 via IFTTT

In recent months, followers of influential liberal bloggers have been interviewed by police as China widens its net of online surveillance Late last year, Duan*, a university student in China, used a virtual private network to jump over China’s great firewall of internet censorship and download social media platform Discord. Overnight he entered a community in which thousands of members with diverse views debated political ideas and staged mock elections. People could join the chat to discuss ideas such as democracy, anarchism and communism. “After all, it’s hard for us to do politics in reality, so we have to do it in a group chat,” Yang Minghao, a popular vlogger, said in a video on YouTube. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/h0PB8wD via IFTTT