1st over: England 8-0 (Duckett 0, Smith 8) Burger with the first over. Tall, broad, left arm, a shadow of a moustache, a doormat of a goatee, and Smith plays the first three balls watchfully away. Balls five and six however, go for four, one sent away at 27 minutes past the hour, one at 27 minutes to.
Our man on the ground, Simon Burnton, reports a ground half full and filling up quickly, as the players prepare to walk through a welcoming committee of flag-waving women over 40. Just add that to our skill set.
Vogue staffer Malle succeeds Anna Wintour with the title ‘head of editorial content’
The biggest job in fashion has finally been filled.
Following news that Anna Wintour was stepping back as editor of American Vogue in July, Condé Nast have appointed 39-year-old journalist and Vogue staffer Chloe Malle as head of editorial content at the American fashion magazine. Her role is effective immediately.
The PM has brought in Darren Jones, whose superpower is ‘relentless delivery’. If that won’t save the world, what will?
“If I hear one more of our people saying that deckchairs are being shuffled on the Titanic,” a government supporter of Keir Starmer confided to the Daily Mail, “I will scream.” No need for shrieks. The prime minister’s No 10 hokey cokey on Monday wasn’t so much shuffling the deckchairs as restructuring the deck crew and announcing that some fresh faces will enable the team to work with new focus towards their ultimate goal of reshuffling. Expect the first strategy whiteboard to be broken out 370 miles off the coast of Newfoundland.
For now, hold on to your aperitifs and continue to dress for dinner, because the erstwhile chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, becomes something called chief secretary to the prime minister. To Starmer, Darren is a Mr Fixit; to many of his cabinet colleagues, he is a Mr Fuxit. That’s not the official line Downing Steet is going with, preferring instead to claim that yet another reset means Starmer is focused on “relentless delivery”. Delivery of what? They’ve barely passed any legislation. Hand on heart, meanwhile, I’m not sure the word “relentless” means what Starmer reckons it does. All he ever does is relent, on both staff and policy. The role of his comms chief, for example, is now essentially a gig economy job, while doing a monthly U-turn is the only thing he hasn’t U-turned on. We are watching a movie in which it’s not clear what the main character wants. Unsurprisingly, it has turned out to be box-office poison.
Kraft Heinz, the US company behind kitchen staples such as Philadelphia cheese and Heinz tomato ketchup, has announced plans to split into two independent businesses a decade after it was created in a mega merger.
The Chicago-based packaged food group said it would separate into two publicly traded companies through a tax-free spin-off to try to reduce complexity and improve financial performance after years of falling sales.
Britain’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level in 27 years, intensifying the pressure on the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, before the autumn budget.
The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year UK government debt hit 5.721% on Tuesday. That is its highest level since 1998, indicating that it will cost the UK more to borrow from the markets, above the previous 27-year high of 5.649% set in April.
Former president in court along with seven others accused of failed power grab after losing 2022 election
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro and seven of his allies, including four senior members of the military, have gone on trial for allegedly attempting to stage a coup – the first time in Brazilian history such powerful figures have faced justice for seeking to topple the country’s democracy.
Bolsonaro, a paratrooper turned far-right populist who governed from 2019 until 2023, stands accused of masterminding a failed power grab after losing the 2022 election to the leftist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Star names have been missing but second half of campaign should bring renewed interest after ratings spike last year
Halfway through the NWSL’s 13th regular season, the league reported TV ratings were trending down. But August has already shown glimmers of recovery and context adds important caveats to that downward slope.
As first reported by Sports Business Journal, when the league took a month-long break midway through the year this July, ratings were down by 8% across their multi-platform media partnership. That partnership, which is now in its second year, was signed in November 2023 with CBS, ESPN, ION (Scripps Sports) and Prime Video for a deal worth $240m– a huge increase from their previous one-party partnership with CBS worth $4.5m. In its first year, the league saw a big uptick in viewing numbers as matches proliferated across a variety of outlets, reaching a wider audience.
A woman washes up on the Orkney island of Hoy, the only survivor of a transatlantic sortie in Matthew Losasso’s debut feature, a twisty if murky chiller
Water, like the human psyche, is unpredictable and full of beasts lurking in the depths, and so it says a lot about our primal fear of the ocean that boat movies often offer threats either under the surface, in the shape of sharks, or psychosis or both. With Row, a smattering of startling jump cuts showing blood splashed around a boat and flashbacks of the protagonist Megan (Bella Dayne, very impressive) screaming, but the viewer needs to wait out a somewhat unreasonably long running time to find out if the antagonists here are biting fish or knife-wielding killers.
All we know at first is that Megan is the only survivor of an attempt to break the record for rowing across the Atlantic from Newfoundland to the UK with four crew members, two men and two women. Having washed up on the Orkney island of Hoy, Megan spends most of the film’s present tense in bed recovering when she’s not telling DCI MacKelly (Tam Dean Burn) what happened after she, her best friend Lexi (a sparky Sophie Skelton), captain Daniel (Akshay Khanna) and mystery man Mike (Nick Skaugen), a last-minute replacement for Lexi’s boyfriend Adam (Mark Strepan), set off on their voyage. But how reliable is Megan as a narrator?
What to make with cress that isn’t an egg sandwich
Growing cress with my daughter is a fun activity, but she’s intolerant to eggs so can’t have the classic sandwich I grew up with. What else can we make with cress? Sophie, via email This is also a pressing matter for Rosie Birkett, author of the A Lot on her Plate Substack, because her daughter recently returned home from nursery with a yoghurt tub containing cress: “It might be tiny, but cress is mighty – peppery punchy, and full of character, almost like a mini rocket leaf.” And if eggs are off the menu, Birkett’s first port of call would be to harness the young seedlings’ ability to accessorise: “Do your usual mashed avocado with a little lemon and olive oil, spread that over bread or toast, then top with a scattering of cress. It will add brilliant bite, freshness and pepperiness.”
The same goes for bruschetta, or toasts with hummus, olive oil and gentle spices such as cumin, says Anna Jones, author of Easy Wins. She’s no stranger to growing cress, either: “I did it with my own kids, and it’s a really good lesson in seeing and feeling where food comes from.” She also recommends using the stuff where you might watercress, rocket, salad leaves or fresh, summery herbs (think chives). “I would love a cream cheese sandwich with a bit of salt, a bit of cucumber and lots of cress,” she says. “On a hot day, that would feel quite fun and afternoon tea-ish.” In a similar vein, Birkett might stir cress through cream cheese or ricotta for a “super-simple spread” to spoon on to sandwiches or jacket potatoes, or for spreading on crackers. Otherwise, simply stir cress into hummus or, if there’s yoghurt in the fridge, another slam-dunk dip would be “thick strained yoghurt, a squeeze of lemon, maybe some grated garlic and finely chopped cress”, which would be perfect for scooping up with cucumber sticks or pitta chips.
The greatest head coach in modern NFL history has started anew at UNC. His first game exposed flaws that will be very difficult to fix
Half a century of unprecedented success, six Super Bowl rings as a head coach, the NFL’s greatest defensive mind; all undone by 19-year-olds sprinting past missed tackles. Bill Belichick arrived at North Carolina promising to bend college football to his will, to build the “33rd NFL Program” in Chapel Hill, and prove he still had his fastball. College football laughed.
As debut flops go, North Carolina’s 48-14 beatdown at the hands of TCU is as bad as it gets. Belichick’s side didn’t just lose; they were humiliated. UNC looked unprepared, undisciplined and were overmatched against a veteran team.
Venice film festival Oscar Hudson’s feature debut, starring twins Elliott and Luke Tittensor as ritual-performing representatives of fictional warring nations, is an absurdist nightmare
British documentary and ad director Oscar Hudson makes his feature debut in the Venice critics week sidebar with this high-concept anti-war satire, a through-the-looking-glass absurdist nightmare about realising that the otherness of your enemy is an illusion. There are some bold and ambitious images here, and some interesting split-screen work. Maybe there’s an issue about the style and substance ratio and perhaps the running time is indulgent, but this is a strong piece of work.
Twins Elliott and Luke Tittensor play two soldiers of equal rank in opposing armies, called Pte Warne and Pte Arthur. They represent two nations of fictional Ruritanian weirdness, formerly at war but who have evidently concluded a tensely unstable peace treaty. Warne has a resplendent white uniform and, like the rest of his country, shaves his head, while Arthur has shaggy hair and a looser uniform. These two men have been chosen by their respective countries to be the sole guards at the border in the middle of a vast and featureless desert. They face off every day, notionally co-operating and sharing a station straddling the border, but suspicious, carrying out their various patriotic rituals to reassert their identity.
Tzeporah Berman’s campaign group believes Cop30 will help its initiative to phase out oil, coal and gas take shape
The fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty initiative aims to sidestep slow-moving UN climate talks by gathering together nations, cities and companies that want to rapidly phase out oil, coal and gas. At the coming Cop30 summit in Belém, it hopes to gather support so it can launch negotiations for a new treaty next year. The group’s founder, Tzeporah Berman, explains why the Amazon rainforest and the global south are an ideal springboard for the movement.
Why will you be campaigning for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty?
Research reveals huge disparity between perceived and actual willingness of public to contribute to fixing climate
Politicians and policymakers significantly underestimate the public’s willingness to contribute to climate action, limiting the ambition and scope of green policies, according to research.
Delegates at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) were asked to estimate what percentage of the global population would say they were willing to give 1% of their income to help fix climate change. The average estimate was 37%, but recent research found the true figure is 69%.
Candidate defeats Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns to lead Greens in England and Wales with vision for ‘eco-populism’ movement
Zack Polanski has won the election to lead the Green party in England and Wales, with an overwhelming mandate for the party to adopt his vision to become a mass membership “eco-populism” movement directly taking on Reform UK.
Polanski, who was the party’s deputy leader and is a Green member of the London assembly, defeated Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns by 20,411 to 3,705 votes in a ballot of party members. Ramsay and Chowns, who were standing as a co-leadership team, are two of the Greens’ four MPs.
The unprecedented find has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas
Archaeologists in Peru have discovered a multicoloured three-dimensional mural that could date back 4,000 years, in an unprecedented find that has shifted archaeological understanding about the first civilisations in the Americas.
The centrepiece of the three-by-six metre mural is a stylistic depiction of a large bird of prey with outstretched wings, its head adorned with three-dimensional diamond motifs that visually align the south and north faces of the mural. It is covered with high-relief friezes and features designs painted in blue, yellow, red and black.
A festival atmosphere in Sunderland, Salford and York may succeed in inspiring the next generation of England stars
The streets of Eccles have given little away on the face of it over the past two Saturdays. Local residents are going about their business, the nearby canal path is full of walkers and runners, and there is a slumberous Saturday morning feel: until you turn into the Salford Community Stadium.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup has made a strong start with decent crowds and good viewing figures. But there was a concerted effort to go beyond familiar territory in this tournament and lay down some roots in the north of England, too. The early signs suggest that may well have been achieved.
Allen, who directed Trump in 1998 film Celebrity, adds that he disagrees with his politics but ‘if he would let me direct him now that he’s president, I could do wonders’
Woody Allen has said he was impressed by the acting abilities of Donald Trump when he directed the now-president in the 1998 film Celebrity.
Speaking on Bill Maher’s Club Random, Allen said Trump was “a pleasure to work with and a very good actor”.
Italy goalkeeper joins for €35m and signs five-year deal
Ederson helped City win 18 major honours in eight years
Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Gianluigi Donnarumma from Paris Saint-Germain as Ederson ends his eight-year stint at the club with a move to Fenerbahce.
Donnarumma has signed for an undisclosed fee, understood to be in the region of €35m (£30.4m), committing himself to a five-year contract. The Italy international will wear the No 99 shirt at City.
Sighting by James Webb space telescope of black hole with sparse halo of material could upend theories of the universe
An ancient and “nearly naked” black hole that astronomers believe may have been created in the first fraction of a second after the big bang has been spotted by the James Webb space telescope.
If confirmed as a so-called primordial black hole, a theoretical class of object predicted to exist by Stephen Hawking but never before seen, the discovery would upend prevailing theories of the universe.
Andrea Berta’s first transfer window since taking over as sporting director has been busy. Headline moves for Viktor Gyökeres and Eberechi Eze have given Mikel Arteta the firepower and creativity he asked for, while Martín Zubimendi has added class to midfield. The arrival of Cristhian Mosquera, Christian Nørgaard, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga has also added depth to Arsenal’s squad that is already being called on after a series of early season injuries, while the late signing of the exciting Ecuador defender, Piero Hincapié, should prove to be a shrewd addition. Ed Aarons
Festivals are increasingly seen as a family holiday and many have kids’ areas – even nannies. We brave the hot tents and random ravers to see what they’re like
As a DJ plays MJ Cole’s UK garage classic Crazy Love, adults across London’s Cross the Tracks festival lift up little children in brightly coloured ear-defenders to dance. A smile spreads across my baby son’s face as he bounces his body, finding something that looks like rhythm. Later that day, my daughter snuggles into my chest in her carrier as I dance to songs by Ezra Collective that she has heard in the car many times.
My mum took me to Reading festival when I was 16 and as I’ve grown up there have been new ones to match the seasons of my life. Then came motherhood: last year I became a single parent to a pair of delicious, curious, boisterous twin babies. But I don’t want to stop indulging my inner child alongside my actual children, and I’m determined to keep music festivals in my life.
Connexion
