Conviction comes as Hakainde Hichilema faces growing criticism for suppressing political opposition
Two men have been convicted in Zambia of planning to use witchcraft to kill the president, Hakainde Hichilema.
Leonard Phiri, a village chief, and Jasten Mabulesse Candunde, a Mozambican citizen, were arrested in December after a cleaner reported hearing strange noises. Authorities said they were found to be in possession of a live chameleon and other “assorted charms”, including a red cloth, an unidentified white powder and an animal’s tail.
Musical, which originated on Broadway in 1981, will return in 2026 with auditions taking place in cities across the world
The hit musical Dreamgirls will return to Broadway with a global search to find its new stars.
The show originated in New York in 1981 and played until 1985, winning six Tony awards as well as two Grammys. The song And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going was also a No 1 hit on the R&B chart.
Experts hope that a ‘California effect’ will push other states to ban UPFs, similar to its law against six synthetic food dyes
California has long led the way on school meals. In 2022, it became the first state in the country to make school meals free for all students, regardless of income. Many districts have implemented farm-to-school programs to bring local foods into the cafeteria. And last year, months before the “Make America healthy again” movement would make its way to the White House, it became the first state in the nation to ban six synthetic food dyes from school meals.
This week, it passed legislation that will put it in the lead on school meals in yet another way – banning ultra-processed foods. On Friday, California lawmakers passed a bill that will define, and then ban, ultra-processed foods from school meals. The legislation, which must now be signed by the governor, Gavin Newsom, is believed to include the first statutory definition of ultra-processed foods in the world.
The singer’s album Man’s Best Friend bottles young women’s increasing sense of healthy relationships being out of reach
Sabrina Carpenter’s country-tinged synth-pop album Man’s Best Friendinitially drew attention for its divisive album cover. But as masculinity researchers, we see her work differently. It’s a cultural marker of a wider phenomenon: young women’s increasing withdrawal from dating and committed relationships.
Carpenter bottles the palpable exasperation of young women’s experiences with emotionally unprepared partners. And her feelings show up in the data. Women are more likely than men to say dating is harder than it was 10 years ago and they are twice as likely to cite physical and emotional risk as the reason why. The disproportionate emotional labor placed on women in relationships, paired with rising economic insecurity, does not compute.
Caroline Hayes is a researcher and narrative strategist, specializing in the intersection of tech, culture and gender; Carolina Hidalgo-McCabe is an organizer, researcher and the host of The Masking Tapes, a podcast that explores 21st century masculinity and the gender divide; Alice Lassman is a policy expert, with her forthcoming book exploring how AI’s influence on gender and emotions are reshaping economic life
Coach broke with tradition after first league win of season that helped calm talk about ability to take club forwards
Happiness was this once; now there is only relief but it is something. In fact, for a little while on Saturday night, it feels like everything. At the end of each game when the final whistle goes, so does Diego Simeone: sprinting down the tunnel and straight up the stairs, not a word to anyone and not outrun by anyone either, no stopping and no looking back. This time, though, is different. Juan Martínez Munuera brings Atlético Madrid’s 2-0 win over Villarreal to a close a little before 11pm, 63,312 fans erupting; a little after 11pm, at the top of the steps under the stand where the fourth official awaits his colleagues and the visitors trudge past tearing off tape and turning right, there’s still no Simeone.
Usually the first through, not even slowing here once he’s safely out of sight of supporters and cameras, a figure in a skinny black suit dashing past a pair of security guards, down the corridor to the left and into an empty dressing room, this time Atlético’s manager is outside under the lights instead. He heads on to the pitch, embracing his players. He screams at Koke, his captain, crushing him with a cuddle. Pulls Antoine Griezmann close and whispers something in his ear, only he has to shout to be heard over the noise. High fives his son Giuliano, who is also one of his wingers. And then joins the rest of them celebrating before the south stand, communion complete.
‘A guy from our record company told me to take out the whistling. I said no way. When the song went through the roof, he came to me, bent over and said, “Kick my ass!”’
Being a West German band made playing the Soviet Union in the late 1980s particularly special. We’d grown up in a divided country and had tried many times to play in East Germany, but they would never let us in. When we did our first gig in what was then Leningrad, the atmosphere was a bit grey, not very colourful or rock’n’roll – but hearts started opening up over the course of the 10 gigs we did in the city. It ended up a bit like Beatlemania, with fans circling our cars after every show.
He says his generation ‘just more talented’ than today’s
Legendary sprinter no longer runs and is ‘into Lego now’
Usain Bolt made his comeback to the world of track and field on Sunday night and, for a moment, it was like the good old days. There was his trademark To Da World pose before the 100m finals. The cheers and adulation of 60,000 fans in Tokyo’s National Stadium. A reminder of glories past.
Pope Leo criticises executive pay packages and talks about gap between rich and poor, in his first media interview
Pope Leo said “we’re in big trouble” when it comes to the ever-widening pay gap between the rich and poor, citing Elon Musk, who may be on course to become the world’s first trillionaire.
Leo made the remarks while criticising executive pay packages during his first interview with the media.
iPhone upgrade joined by watchOS 26, iPadOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe, adding a new look and features to devices
Apple will release some of the biggest software updates for its iPhone, iPad and smartwatch on Monday, radically changing the way icons, the lock screen and the system looks, as well as adding features for compatible devices.
Announced at the company’s developer conference in June, iOS 26, iPadOS 26, watchOS 26 and macOS 26 Tahoe introduce Apple’s new Liquid Glass design, giving everything a softer, more rounded and semi-transparent look that has proved divisive.
For me it started with Colombia and Gabriel García Márquez. As I read 200 books from different regions, I gained a clarity news reports seldom give
Sign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and more
Dear reader, are your shelves heaving under the weight of books by dead white folks? Do your eyes glaze over at the mention of foreign fiction? Is your reading diet missing the vibrant flavours of stories from Africa, Asia and Latin America? Restricting your reading to novels from Europe and North America is like going to an all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet and just eating tortillas. Why do that?
I have been getting to know about countries in the global south through literature. Being an intrepid traveller, current events addict and avid reader led me inexorably to read books from around the world. The book that most reeled me in to the ability of literature to open the door to another country was Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, a dazzling, magic-realist ride through Colombia’s fortunes and misfortunes. Eventually, a cocktail of wonder, wishfulness and wanderlust inspired me to write a book about the joy of seeing the world through books.
Pushpinder Khaneka is a journalist and the author of Read the World: The Best Books on Africa, Asia and Latin America
Théodore Pellerin is outstanding as Simon, a performer navigating a bullying boyfriend and a distant mother in Sophie Dupuis’s sad and celebratory film
Théodore Pellerin is a star, and director Sophie Dupuis knows it. In their third film together, the rising Canadian actor is at once magnetic and utterly heartbreaking as Simon, a young gay artist honing a budding career as a drag queen. At night, he transforms into Glory Gore, a glittery vision dressed in exquisite costumes that have been lovingly designed by his sister Maude (Alice Moreault). Off stage, Simon is much less self-assured, despite his swagger. An unexpected visit from his absent mother Claire (Anne-Marie Cadieux), along with a toxic romance with fellow drag performer Olivier (Félix Maritaud), soon throw this sensitive soul into an emotional whirlpool.
Dupuis’s astute writing keenly conveys the paradox of falling for a narcissistic manipulator. At first glance Olivier is a perfect creative and life partner, but soon whittles down Simon’s self-esteem with jabs about the latter’s talent and looks. As the relationship grows more dysfunctional, Dupuis pushes Pellerin to the edge of the frame, a visual correlation of his isolation among his real-life and drag family. Pellerin, moreover, embodies the character’s turmoil with stunning physicality; his quivering gaze betrays a vulnerability that starkly contrasts with his larger-than-life stage persona – and yet, like a boiling frog, he also luxuriates in the attention of his cruel lover.
Despite vaccination hesitancy, the end may be in sight for cervical cancer, which kills 64% of women with the disease
The questions come fast and furious: “Why only girls?”, “will it affect her periods?”, “can it cause infertility?”, “is it halal?” Inside the airy sports hall of Khatoon-e-Pakistan government girls’ school, the pupils in their crisp blue and white uniforms whisper among themselves, as their parents listen attentively to the health officials taking the session.
While there are some fathers in the chairs laid out for the occasion, the majority are mothers. The groundwork is under way ahead of Pakistan’s first nationwide rollout of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign.
A Korean-style rice bowl that’s ideal for using up vegetables – and to leave you with enough for lunch the next day
I love bibimbap, the Korean rice bowls – they’re a great way to use up bits and pieces in the fridge; arrange them beautifully on a bowl of rice and top with an egg and Korean chilli sauce. I don’t always have gochugaru at home, so came up with this addictive miso-peanut chilli sauce instead. Roast the vegetables in some sesame oil in a tray, pop the rice in the microwave, boil or fry an egg, and that’s dinner sorted.
Ricky Hatton’s family have opened up publicly for the first time since the news of the boxing legend’s death, saying they feel an “immeasurable” sense of loss.
The 46-year-old was found dead in what police said were no suspicious circumstances at his home in Hyde, Greater Manchester on Sunday, resulting in tributes being paid across sport and wider society towards the fighter, a former world welterweight champion.
South Korea’s government has said it will launch an investigation into whether human rights violations were committed when hundreds of its citizens were detained in a US immigration raid.
About 475 people, mostly South Korean nationals, were arrested at the construction site of an electric vehicle battery factory in the US state of Georgia on 4 September.
Director of strategy Paul Ovenden quits to avoid becoming ‘distraction’ after details of derogatory emails emerge
Nigel Farage has announced that Danny Kruger has defected to Reform UK from the Tories. Kruger, MP for East Wiltshire, is a leading social conservative, and co-chaired the New Conservatives group in the last parliament with Miriam Cates.
Farage said that Kruger would be in charge of preparing the part for government.
A new Google datacentre in Essex is expected to emit more than half a million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year , equivalent to about 500 short-haul flights a week, planning documents show.
Spread across 52 hectares (128 acres), the Thurrock “hyperscale datacentre” will be part of a wave of mammoth computer and AI power houses if it secures planning consent.
Home team were heading for a win to celebrate their 80th, but then up popped Jakub Kaminski in the 14th minute of added time
“I thought we got off to a good start until the thunderstorm.” In context it was a standard, anodyne, flat-batted answer by Köln’s Marius Bülter as he strove to analyse his team’s efforts. Quite unwittingly, it captured the chaos of the afternoon perfectly. It was an afternoon that was supposed to be about VfL Wolfsburg as the club celebrated their 80th birthday with as much flourish as this industrial corner of Lower Saxony could muster, with billowing clouds of green and white smoke accompanying club legends including 2009 champion Grafite and iconic defender Naldo leading the team on to the pitch in front of a (rare) sold-out crowd.
Yet typically Köln, the club that does football drama like few others, rudely barged in and made it all about themselves. In Lukas Kwasniok they have a new coach who, like the club’s best down the years, knows how to lean into the emotion and Effzeh are already an invigorating watch. As they trailed 2-1 going into stoppage time, Kwasniok had thrown attacking substitutes such as Ragnar Ache and the lively teenager Said El Mala into the mix to make something happen. Little did the coach know his team would have to equalise not just once, but twice in that period.
Dismay at Israel-Premier Tech’s refusal to withdraw
World Tour cycling teams may refuse to race against Israel-Premier Tech following the multiple protests during the Vuelta a España that exploded into street violence in central Madrid on Sunday.
Sources within rival teams have expressed their dismay to the Guardian at the refusal of the team to withdraw from the Vuelta and the lack of protection from the International Cycling Union (UCI) for their own commercial and sporting interests.
As the author’s future-set novel, What We Can Know, hits shelves, weassesses his top 10 works – from chilling short stories to Booker prize-winning satire
Two old friends, composer Clive Linley and newspaper editor Vernon Halliday, meet at the funeral of charismatic Molly Lane, a former lover of both men (along with many other successful men of the time). This sharp 90s satire – the Conservatives have been in power for 17 years – has the misfortune of being McEwan’s only novel to win the Booker prize in his 50-year career, despite being widely considered one of his slightest. But it fizzes along like the champagne that is part of the euthanasia pact hatched by the two men in a plot that even the author conceded was “rather improbable”. New York Times critic Michiko Kakutani was right when she concluded that it was testament to the author’s skill that he had managed “to toss off a minor entertainment with such authority and aplomb” to win the gong he had so long deserved.
Infants in Rx Kids in Flint, Michigan, saw lower rates of prematurity and other issues, saving millions in NICU visits
When Angela Sintery first learned about Rx Kids, a program for new mothers in her home town of Flint, Michigan, she thought someone must be trying to scam her.
“I had some teacher friends that kept sending me links saying: ‘You need to apply for this. It’s a brand-new program. We think you qualify,’” Sintery said. But it seemed too good to be true.
Created by photographer Jamie Morgan and stylist Ray Petri, the Buffalo look – tough, but also cinematic – was worn by Naomi Campbell, Neneh Cherry and Kate Moss. Morgan explains what it means, then and now
Fashion’s historic references come and go. Currently, they might include Harrison Ford in shorts in the 1970s and 90s Oasis. But there are also some that are canon – such as Buffalo, the look masterminded by stylist Ray Petri and photographer Jamie Morgan in the mid-80s.
Shaped largely through fashion shoots for the Face magazine, the duo created a look that reflected the culture and creativity of London at the time, but gave it the classy and cinematic feel of a Marlon Brando portrait or a shot by Henri Cartier-Bresson. This beautifully lit black-and-white photography of street-cast models and people – including a then-unknown Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell, Neneh Cherry and Nick Kamen, who later went on to star in Levi’s famous 1985 launderette advert – went on to shape both fashion photography and fashion.
The Tony award-winning actor will play the marshal in a London stage adaptation of the 1952 western that won Cooper an Oscar
Billy Crudup is to take on the role that won Gary Cooper an Oscar in a new stage adaptation of the 1952 western High Noon. Based on Carl Foreman’s screenplay, the production will receive its world premiere at the Harold Pinter theatre in London in December, providing a nail-biting alternative to Theatreland’s jollier festive fare.
High Noon, once voted the greatest western ever made, unfolds in real time counting down to the noon arrival of a train in the town of Hadleyville in New Mexico. In the film, Cooper plays Will Kane, a newly married marshal on the brink of retirement, who hears that an outlaw is heading to town seeking vengeance. The drama explores the divide between personal concerns and public duty, not just through the marshal’s dilemma but also through the characters of his wife, Amy, and the townspeople whose support he seeks.
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