How a rogue letting agency destroyed homes and caused hundreds of pounds in damage. Sirin Kale reports
Hajaj Hajaj was 79 when he rented out his house in south London, so his daughter, Kinda Jackson, urged him to use a reputable lettings agent for peace of mind. He hired a company called Imperial after being impressed by the professionalism of the agent, Shan Miah.
But, Kinda tells Helen Pidd, her father became seriously ill with Covid and almost died, and when he came out of hospital it was to find his wife had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, meaning he suddenly needed to pay for her care. He then discovered that during this time the rent for his property had suddenly stopped.
NFL MVP Josh Allen was rewarded Sunday with a contract extension worth $330m, with $250m of it guaranteed, which makes him among the league’s highest-paid players.
The Buffalo Bills announced the agreement, while two people with knowledge of the deal revealed the contract’s value to the Associated Press. The new deal adds two years to Allen’s contract and locks the 28-year-old in through the 2030 season.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ‘realistic proposals on the table’ in talks; Donald Trump hints US may be close to lifting intelligence pause. What we know on day 1,111
Top Ukrainian officials are due in Saudi Arabia to meet the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and other Trump aides who were departing for Jeddah on Sunday. Andriy Yermak, the head of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian presidential office, is expected to lead Kyiv’s delegation. Zelenskyy has also said he will be in Saudi Arabia this week. Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “fully committed” to a constructive dialogue in Saudi Arabia. “Realistic proposals are on the table. The key is to move quickly and effectively.” In February, US officials met about the war with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia without Ukrainian representatives present.
Donald Trump said on Sunday that he expected good results from the talks. He told reporters that his administration had “just about” lifted an intelligence pause on Ukraine, and was looking at a lot of things with respect to tariffs on Russia. Trump said he thought Ukraine would sign a minerals agreement with the US. “I want them to want peace,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy said Russia had carried out “hundreds of attacks” against Ukrainians last week. About 1,200 guided aerial bombs, nearly 870 attack drones and more than 80 missiles of different types had been used.
There were mixed reports about the outcome after Russian special forces sneaked through a disused gas pipeline to attack Ukrainian units holding territory in Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine’s military general staff confirmed on Saturday evening that Russian “sabotage and assault groups” used the pipeline in a bid to gain a foothold outside Sudzha. They were attacked with rockets and artillery after being “detected in a timely manner … The enemy’s losses in Sudzha are very high”. Russian Telegram channels showed photos of what they said were special forces wearing gas masks and moving along what looked like the inside of a large pipe. Other videos showed what were said to be the Russians being observed from the air and attacked. The footage could not be verified.
Russia on Sunday announced it had captured territory in Ukraine’s Sumy region, across the border from Kursk, for the first time since 2022 in a cross-border offensive. Russia’s defence ministry also said on Sunday that its troops had taken four villages north and north-west of Sudzha, the closest 12km (7.5 miles) from its centre. The claim came a day after the reported the Russiancapture of three other villages near Sudzha.
Ukrainian drones targeted oil infrastructure in southern and central Russia overnight into early Sunday, Russian officials and Telegram channels said. A drone struck an oil depot in Cheboksary, a Russian city on the Volga River about 1,000km (620 miles) from the border, the local governor said. Footage online showed what appeared to be a fire at or near one ofRussia’s largest oil refineries, in the southern city of Ryazan. Shot, a news channel on Telegram, said residents heard explosions near the refinery. The local governor, Pavel Malkov, confirmed a Ukrainian drone attack in the area.
France said on Sunday that it would use profits from frozen Russian assets to finance an additional €195m ($212m) in arms for Ukraine, the latest in a series of military aid deliveries funded through the assets. In an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper, the French foreign minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said Paris would send more 155mm artillery shells and glide bombs for the Mirage 2000 fighter jets it gave to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy made a quip on Sunday as he gave a speech at an awards ceremony: “Sorry I’m not in a suit.” It brought smiles and applause. The president was dressed in a black outfit with Ukraine’s trident symbol similar to what he wore during his acrimonious exchange with the US president at the White House in February.
US tariff policy has dominated headlines in recent weeks. In many respects, this shouldn’t come as a surprise – President Trump has been clear in his belief in tariffs as an effective policy tool. Indeed, the new US administration views tariffs as not only a means of raising tax revenue but also as a negotiating tool and a lever to ameliorate so-called trade imbalances. So far, we have seen both the threat of tariffs and the use of tariffs to achieve all these objectives.
Despite all the headlines, Australia hasn’t really been subject to large changes in tariffs on its exports to the US. The US has, however, announced a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports. If Australia is not successful in obtaining an exemption, Australian steel and aluminium exports to the US will be subject to new tariffs from 12 March. At an aggregate level, this won’t make much difference to Australia’s trade balance because the value of our exports of steel and aluminium to the US is only a very small proportion of our total exports. This is not to ignore the fact that, at a firm or industry level, a 25% tariff is significant.
KPMG/REC report shows decline in people being placed in roles continues, while unemployment is rising, says BDO
Companies are putting the brakes on hiring new staff amid a “subdued” economic outlook and rising wage bills, according to the latest business surveys.
In signs of a weakening UK labour market, the consultancy KPMG and the trade body the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) said a marked decline in the number of people being placed in permanent and temporary roles continued in February, although hiring declined at a slower pace than in January.
Exclusive: Compulsory purchase orders will no longer need Whitehall permission under shake-up of planning rules
Councils and mayors will be granted greater powers to seize land to build affordable housing under the Labour government’s shake-up of planning rules this week.
Local authorities in England and Wales will no longer need permission from central government to make compulsory purchase orders (CPOs), in a change that ministers hope will unlock vacant and derelict land.
Civicus, an international non-profit, puts country alongside Democratic Republic of Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia
The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor Watchlist, which identifies countries that the global civil rights watchdog believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms.
Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to “strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world”, announced the inclusion of the US on the non-profit’s first watchlist of 2025 on Monday, alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.
Michelle Keegan is the only nurse in this 50s-set drama about Brits emigrating to Australia, but its slight take on social issues that are relevant today recalls the BBC birthing drama
Sunday nights on BBC One should offer an escape from the disappointments of the working week. But what’s this? We’re thousands of miles away and in the distant past, but we’re uncomfortable and frustrated, mopping our troubled brows and wondering if we’ve all made a horrible mistake? That’s right: Ten Pound Poms is back for a second season.
Based on a real scheme that saw hundreds of thousands of Britons flee postwar austerity and move to Australia, paying a tenner for their passage on the understanding that a utopian existence awaited them in Oz, Ten Pound Poms concerns a gang of unfortunate Englanders who sail from Southampton to Sydney in 1956. Their plucky optimism is instantly squished when they find that, as was often the case with the real ten-pounders, the suburban idyll they’ve been promised is more like two-star glamping. Dumped in bug-infested huts built in a ring around a scrubby field, the would-be new Australians are derided and exploited at every turn, which makes their preexisting problems – teen pregnancy, addiction, loveless marriages – even more taxing.
There is a rescue under way in Newmarket Road, Windsor, where cars have tried to drive through flood waters.
The Queensland government has stressed to use common sense, adjust speeds and not drive through flood waters. There has been some heavy rainfall overnight and the roads are dangerous.
We’ve been working on a budget now, in the normal course, and budget submissions have been presented to the expenditure review committee. I sit on that.
And so we’ve been very busy in over the last few months, really, and particularly over the last few weeks, in the lead-up to the budget.
Former central banker will be only second prime minister in Canadian history without a seat in parliament
Mark Carney, the former central banker who oversaw the response to financial crises in North America and the UK, will become the next prime minister of Canada after winning the race to lead the country’s federal Liberal party.
Carney, 59, takes on the role as Canada is locked in a potentially catastrophic trade war with the US, long its closest ally and largest trading partner. Last week Donald Trump announced a 25% tax on all Canadian goods, with a carveout for the automotive and energy sectors. The tariffs have the power to push Canada’s fragile economy in a recession.
Henley’s chip-in at 16th took him past fellow American
Rory McIlroy to go to Augusta for Masters recce
The slowest of burners preceded such a dramatic conclusion. The biggest victory of Russell Henley’s career arrived as Collin Morikawa was left to ponder how on earth he failed to close out the Arnold Palmer Invitational. For much of Sunday, Morikawa had looked untouchable.
Henley took to the 71st tee of the event holding the lead for the first time. He had claimed that with an astonishing chip in for an eagle on the 16th. This completed a four-shot swing in only three holes. Henley birdied the 14th as Morikawa bogeyed. After Henley’s exploits two holes later, Morikawa had no scope for recovery. Henley’s 11 under par took the Bay Hill tournament by a single stroke. He had trailed Morikawa by three after 10 fourth-round holes.
Five people onboard survived small plane crash near Lancaster but officials say no details of their condition
A small airplane with five people onboard crashed in a parking lot near Lancaster airport in Manheim Township, Pennsylvania, on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the single-engine plane was a Beechcraft Bonanza, and the incident happened around 3pm in Lancaster county.
Exclusive: Justice minister James Timpson says more cell capacity means emergency early release schemes won’t be needed
Prisons are being prepared to cope with a sudden influx of offenders in case there is a repeat of last summer’s riots, the justice minister, James Timpson, has told the Guardian.
Hundreds of extra makeshift cells and newly refurbished cells will be in use by the end of this year, officials have disclosed, as the prisons minister said there will be “no more emergency measures” such as early release schemes.
Arsenal 15 points behind Liverpool with game in hand
‘Today the frustration is that we haven’t won’
Mikel Arteta has refused to concede the title race is over, despite Arsenal languishing 15 points behind Liverpool after a 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Sunday.
Arteta’s side have played 28 games, one fewer than Liverpool, but Arne Slot’s team need a maximum of only 16 points from their final nine matches to become champions. Arteta was asked if deep down he believes the Premier League title will again elude Arsenal.
Norrie loses 6-3, 7-5 to American 10th seed in third round
Former British No 1 hits double fault on match point
It has been three and a half years since Cameron Norrie departed the Indian Wells Tennis Garden having shocked his sport by winning one of its most important trophies. A rise into the top 10 of the ATP rankings and a Wimbledon semi-final followed soon after.
Despite two extremely positive earlier performances during the past week in the desert, Norrie remains a considerable distance from reproducing his success of old. The 29-year-old was outclassed in the third round of Indian Wells by the No 10 seed Tommy Paul, whose greater weapons and confidence in the decisive moments earned him a 6-3, 7-5 win.
Maureen Koster ‘conscious and responsive’ after incident
British silvers also for George Mills and 4x400m women
Melissa Courtney-Bryant held her nerve – and her footing – amid one of the more disturbing scenes on an athletics track in recent memory to win a gutsy 3,000m European Indoor Championships silver medal.
Early in the race, the Briton heard a scream and knew that the Dutch athlete Maureen Koster, her close friend, had crashed to the ground. What she didn’t know was that Koster had also smashed her head and was unconscious.
President downplays recent stock market volatility that followed his ducking and weaving over tariff policy
Donald Trump on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that the US economy will head into recession this year and that inflation will rise, as his chaotic trade tariffs policy cause uncertainty and market turbulence.
The US president predicted that his economic goals would take time and a period of transition to bear fruit. But when asked in an interview with the Fox News show Sunday Morning Futures “are you expecting a recession this year?” he demurred.
Far-right supporters of the candidate claim decision is undemocratic and Elon Musk describes his ban as ‘crazy’
Romania’s central election authority has barred far-right pro-Russia candidate Călin Georgescu from running in May’s presidential election re-run.
The rejection of his candidacy, which was announced on Sunday evening and was condemned by far-right party leaders as undemocratic, can be challenged at the constitutional court.
Ruben Amorim had set the bar low, as he so often has sought to do during his tumultuous four months in charge at Manchester United. “We just need to survive,” the manager said as he assessed what used to be the must-see fixture of the English calendar, wary of a selection crisis that would deprive him of 11 players.
United did more than that and they were so close to cutting through the gloom at Old Trafford, all of the multi-layered problems, with an overdue victory. “Well, at least we’ve got Bruno,” read the cover of the United We Stand fanzine which was on sale outside the stadium. Never a truer sentence.
Vinícius Júnior also scores in 2-1 win over Rayo Vallecano
Getafe’s late double stuns Atlético; Napoli beat Fiorentina
Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior scored in the first half to give Real Madrid an easy 2-1 win over neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Sunday that helped them draw level at the top of the table in the battle to retain their La Liga crown.
Only one point separates Spain’s three biggest clubs in one of the closest title races in recent years with Barcelona leading the pack on 57 points, ahead of second-placed Real on goal difference with Atlético Madrid in third on 56 points after a 2-1 loss at Getafe earlier on Sunday. Barça, who will face Atlético next Sunday, have a game in hand after their match against Osasuna on Saturday was postponed due to the sudden death of their team doctor.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said the “worrying” trend showed that criminals behind extortion attempts were casting their nets wider in an attempt to trap victims.
Humanitarian officials say move could hit already meagre water supply, as ceasefire talks grow increasingly chaotic
Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory.
The potential consequences of the Israeli decision for the 2.3 million residents of the devastated Palestinian territory are unclear, as most rely on diesel-fuelled generators for power.
The Hindu nationalist prime minister’s push could shift power northward to his political advantage but risks escalating political tensions
When Narendra Modi’s alliance won a narrow majority in last year’s Indian election, it signalled his waning popularity after a decade in power. A victory in 2029 may seem unlikely. Yet his government’s push to redraw parliamentary constituencies using post-2026 census data could tilt the electoral field in his favour.
The process, known as delimitation, ensures each member of parliament represents an equal number of voters – a principle of democratic fairness. Since 1976, however, it has been frozen to avoid penalising Indian states that curbed population growth. If delimitation proceeds, Mr Modi’s populous northern strongholds will gain seats, weakening the political clout of India’s economically dynamic and culturally distinct southern cone. Its five states are governed by different parties but, critically, none belong to Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Southern states have long accused Mr Modi’s government of bias in federal funding and project approvals. Last week’s gathering of the south’s political leadership in Delhi to protest against his move underscores the risk of backlash.
Mahmoud Khalil’s arrest comes as Trump vows to deport foreign students involved in protests against Israel’s war
A prominent Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University’s student encampment movement was arrested on Saturday night by federal immigration authorities who claimed they were acting on a state department order to revoke his green card, according to his attorney.
Mahmoud Khalil was at his university-owned apartment, blocks from the private Ivy League university’s main campus in New York when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents entered the building and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told the Associated Press.
Human rights commissioner calls for investigation into ‘extremely disturbing’ attacks in Latakia province
The UN has condemned what it called “extremely disturbing” reports of entire families being killed in north-west Syria as clashes between security forces and Assad regime loyalists resulted in the country’s highest death toll since the start of its revolution in 2011.
The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, called on Sunday for investigations into the killings and for perpetrators to be held accountable. “We are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children and hors de combat [surrendered] fighters, being killed,” he said in a statement. “The killing of civilians in coastal areas in north-west Syria must cease, immediately.”
Myles Garrett is set to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history after reportedly signing a four-year contract extension with the Cleveland Browns.
The deal is understood to include $122.8m in guaranteed money, an average annual salary of $40m and a total value of $204.8m.
But Friedrich Merz cautions such a move could not replace the US’s existing protective shield over Europe
Germany’s chancellor-to-be, Friedrich Merz, has said he will reach out to France and Britain to discuss the sharing of nuclear weapons, but cautioned that such a move could not be a replacement for the US’s existing protective shield over Europe.
“The sharing of nuclear weapons is an issue we need to talk about,” Merz said in a wide-ranging interview on Sunday with the broadcaster Deutschlandfunk (DLF). “We have to be stronger together in nuclear deterrence.”
Six weeks ago England would definitely have settled for their current position, still mathematically in the hunt for the Six Nations title this season. France may now be strong favourites to lift the trophy on Saturday night but three consecutive home wins with a total of 12 tries scored have finally offered tangible evidence of red rose improvement after an often frustrating winter.
In isolation there was nothing particularly special about this seven-try victory against an outgunned Italy team on a beautiful Sunday afternoon but inside the camp it will be seized upon as further proof that England are genuinely on track for the sunlit uplands. Another bonus‑point victory against Wales in Cardiff will be needed to put pressure on Les Bleus when they face Scotland in Paris later the same day but this was the first time in 32 Tests under Steve Borthwick that England have registered more than 40 points against tier-one opponents.
Leak reportedly confirms next Bond will be a man, as actor says it was ‘right decision’ to pass franchise to Amazon
The next James Bond should be British, Pierce Brosnan has said, as a leaked memo reportedly confirmed the character will remain a man.
The Irish actor, who played Bond from 1995 to 2002, said it was a “given” that the spy should be British, after rumours an American could be tipped for the role.
Jean-Michel Aphatie stands by comments he made on broadcaster RTL
A prominent French journalist has said he is stepping down from his role as an expert analyst for broadcaster RTL after provoking an uproar by comparing French actions during colonial rule in Algeria to a second world war massacre committed by Nazi forces in France.
Jean-Michel Aphatie, a veteran reporter and broadcaster, insisted that while he would not be returning to RTL, he wholly stood by his comments made on the radio station in February equating atrocities committed by France in Algeria with those of Nazi Germany in occupied France.
Rohit smashes 76 after Kiwis unable to set big target
And so ends an impressively fatuous experiment: what happens when the best side in the world get the dice loaded in their favour? On a sultry night at the Dubai International Stadium, we got the entirely foreseeable answer. Pakistan’s tournament is India’s glory, by four wickets with six balls to spare: a triumph that felt as immaculately controlled as the months of sabre-rattling and politicking that preceded it.
None of which is to diminish the acclaim due to India’s players: men of skill and men of character, men who step up and deliver under pressure. They did not devise the format in which everyone else travelled, toiled and adapted while they stayed put. They did not construct the apparatus of a global game run in the interests of one country.
The US singer makes a terrific screen debut opposite Palmer in this tale of two roommates working out how to not get evicted
A race against time to stave off imminent eviction, with added peril due to a misunderstanding over a rare pair of Nike Air Jordan trainers, One of Them Days walks a relatively familiar buddy movie path. Dreux (Keke Palmer) and Alyssa (SZA) are best friends and roommates in a cheap and cheerful apartment in LA’s Baldwin Village. But then Alyssa’s feckless boyfriend spends the rent money and the women have until the end of the day to raise the cash.
With its zingy colour palette and effervescent, unapologetically uneven storytelling, the film has a buoyant, almost cartoonish quality (albeit one laced with lip-smacking, sexually explicit dialogue). What elevates this raucous romp by music video director Lawrence Lamont is the crackling energy between Palmer (Nope) and singer SZA, making her acting debut here. Dreux also gets a love interest, in the shape of a mysterious hunk named Maniac (Patrick Cage). But Dreux and Alyssa, with their sparky chemistry and crisp comic sparring, is the only relationship we care about.
St George’s, Hanover Square, London Jonathan Cohen and his crack baroque ensemble Arcangelo seized upon the colourful pastoral with relish, lighting up Handel’s own parish church
This year’s London Handel festival got off to a rousing start with new artistic adviser Jonathan Cohen at the helm of Arcangelo, the crack baroque ensemble he founded back in 2010. On the bill was the colourful pastoral L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, in which wit and jollity look set to gain the upper hand before Handel decides to put a dampener on things by insisting on moderation in everything.
Faced with a shortage of Italian singers in 1740, the composer went full English, laying aside ideas for Messiah “to please the Town with something of a gayer Turn.” His librettist, James Harris, interwove Milton’s poem L’Allegro (The Happy Man) with the contrasting Il Penseroso (The Melancholy Man), before adding a codicil at the composer’s request in the form of Il Moderato (The Moderate Man). The result, which ends with a paraphrase on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, may feel a bit of a mashup, but it provided Handel with irresistible opportunities for turning vivid imagery into equally vivid music. Remarkably, he knocked the whole thing out in just 14 days.
One Arsenal change to the starting line-up from Eindhoven in midweekiss Riccardo Calafriori preferred to tough tackling’s Myles Lewis-Skelly at left-back. Mikel Merino plays the Tim Cahill role of converted midfielder.
For United, Rasmus Hojlund has been dropped after 19 games without a goal. Joshua Zirkzee will lead the line and, with Bruno Fernandes moving into the frontline, Christian Eriksen comes in to partner Casemiro in what may not be the most mobile midfield. Victor Lindelof replaces Patrick Dorgu and will play as one of the three-man defence. Manuel Ugarte and Harry Maguire are out with injury and likely to be missed.
They’ve gone 60 metres in a flash! After Varney was isolated and spilled in contact, England were up the field in no time. First Daly with a strong counter down the left. Then Freeman down the right wing after another break. Then it was about continuity and Willis steamed onto a short pass. He was short of the line but reached out a meaty arm to dot down. Smith with the extras and England are up and running.
2 min: England go short with the kick-off but Italy are wise to it. A bit of kick tennis ends with an English line-out back in their own half. A decent strike off the back of it makes yards with Lawrence busting over the gainline, but the Italians swarm and win a penalty on the ground. They’ll have the line-out in English territory.
Most musicians can only make money on the platform by writing songs inoffensive enough to get on to one of its vapid playlists
In the hands of some of its most gifted practitioners, songwriting is a kind of emotional alchemy. For the past week, I have been returning to a perfect example: Every Time the Sun Comes Up by the US singer Sharon Van Etten, which was released in 2014. Its lyrics might be fractured and fragmented, but it is an almost perfect portrait of self-doubt and downward spirals: one of those songs that captures feelings so deep that they go way beyond words.
I went back to that song as I read a superb new book that has both educated and profoundly depressed me. Mood Machine, by the New York-based journalist Liz Pelly, is about the music-streaming giant Spotify, and how it attracted its current 615 million subscribers, making a billionaire of its Swedish co-founder and CEO, Daniel Ek. But its most compelling story centres on what Spotify has done to people’s appreciation of songs and the people who make them – much of which is down to the platform’s ubiquitous playlists.
John Harris is a Guardian columnist. His memoir Maybe I’m Amazed, about his autistic son James and how music became their shared language, is published on 27 March. For more information, visit maybeimamazed.substack.com
SXSW film festival: Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd and Richard E Grant lead a wasted cast in this silly and exasperating mishmash of comedy and gore
The unicorn has been a staple of folk mythology for thousands of years, dating back to at least ancient Persia, with consistent characteristics: a horse-like figure with a single majestic horn, fundamentally elusive and untamable, possessing magical healing properties. But such a creature, recognizable from medieval art to My Little Pony, is one of the less familiar elements of Death of a Unicorn, the debut feature from writer-director Alex Scharfman that premiered at the SXSW film festival on Saturday. The film, produced by clout powerhouse A24, traffics in well-trod territory: the prestige eat-the-rich satire with a stacked cast and a beautiful backdrop. So well-trod, in fact, that it’s a relief when the mythical beasts do arrive – if only to reveal dubious CGI and a questionable commitment to the bit.
Silly as it may sound, Scharfman treats this unicorn bit with sincere seriousness, aiming for relevance on the rapacious state of late-stage capitalism satirized in such recent hits as The Menu, Triangle of Sadness, Knives Out: Glass Onion, Parasite and Succession, among others. I know this road, you know this road, even disaffected college student Ridley (Jenna Ortega) knows this road as she and her credulous father Elliot (Paul Rudd), a corporate lawyer, drive into the Canadian Rockies for a retreat with Elliot’s billionaire boss and his family. “Philanthropy is just reputation laundering for the oligarchy,” she retorts when her father tries to extol the largesse of the Leopolds, a clan of pharmaceutical executives loosely based on America’s Sackler family.
Some Chelsea supporters remain standoffish with Enzo Maresca, even after seeing their side creep back into top four. The sense remains that Stamford Bridge regulars will take some convincing on the merits of the careful, possession-heavy nature of Marescaball. It is not exactly setting pulses racing at the moment and it was telling that the mood was far from harmonious during this win against Leicester City.
Maresca seemed to be letting out a lot of frustration when he reacted to Marc Cucurella breaking the deadlock after an hour of stodginess by gesturing angrily for fans to make more noise. The grumbling about his team’s backwards and sideways passing had struck a nerve. Then again Maresca could hardly complain if there was dissatisfaction about Chelsea labouring against opponents who look certain to return to the Championship after losing 12 of their past 13 games.
A giant of political drama, Fugard captured the injustices of apartheid in works such as Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and The Island
The South African playwright and director Athol Fugard, whose works included the play Sizwe Banzi Is Dead and the novel Tsotsi, has died at the age of 92. The actor John Kani paid tribute on X on Sunday, saying “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my dear friend”. The mayor’s office in Cape Town said: “Athol Fugard was not just a luminary in the world of theatre; he was a teller of profound stories of hope and resilience about South Africa.”
A major political dissident playwright of the 20th century, Fugard wrote more than 30 dramas including Statements After an Arrest Under the Immorality Act (in 1972) and “Master Harold” … and the Boys (1982). Both of those drew upon the time in the 1950s when he could only find employment as a clerk in one of the courts where black South Africans were charged (and inevitably convicted) of breaches of the “pass laws”, designed to control the movements of a racially segregated population under the apartheid system. There, he witnessed hourly the dehumanisation of those who had chosen the “wrong” streets or people.
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