Move reflects wider regional doubts about terms of US-drafted plan to disarm Hamas
Plans for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force charged with disarming Hamas inside Gaza face growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates said it would not participate because it did not yet see a clear legal framework for the force.
Israel has already ruled out Turkey joining the force, and King Abdullah of Jordan has said Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey last week and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.
Modern courtship entails a complex set of escalations, from texts to voice notes to photos, before everything fizzles out. Give me gen X messiness any day
It’s well known that dating apps are a nightmare, that hell is empty and all the demons are on Hinge, to the extent people aren’t really allowed to complain about it any more. It would sound like whining about getting run over after you couldn’t be bothered to use an underpass, so you just ran across a motorway and hoped for the best.
And yet, as it was my great privilege listening to some millennials to discover, young people are still going on dates, and a lot still goes wrong, without the involvement of any tech whatsoever. It’s all in that bit of the Venn diagram where “I couldn’t work out what he/she was thinking” meets “I didn’t know whether I was that into it”, which is to say, the grey lacuna marked “nothing happened”. It could be a super-efficient, young-professional walk-through-a-park date, and then nothing happened, or a five-hour pub crawl, and then nothing happened. One young friend went to Spainto see a guy, and still nothing happened. One new acquaintance was on a date with a woman who passed him her knickers under the table halfway through dinner – and yet nothing happened.
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The streamer’s new historical drama looks back on the often forgotten story of US president James Garfield whose progressive political career was cut horribly short
The descendants of James Garfield, the 20th US president, were proud of his life but rarely spoke of his death. “We knew what had happened, that he was shot in a train station,” says James Garfield III, his great-great-great grandson. “We read about the story in books but, in one way or another, we just glanced over it.”
That changed in 2011 with the publication of Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, a book by Candice Millard that revived interest in Garfield’s unfinished life. Her work has now inspired a Netflix drama, Death by Lightning, starring Michael Shannon as the president and Matthew Macfadyen as the drifter who gunned him down.
IOC president wants to protect the female category
The International Olympic Committee is edging closer towards implementing a ban on transgender women competing in the female category in time for the Los Angeles Olympics.
Multiple sources expect such a ban to come into effect over the next six to 12 months with the new IOC president, Kirsty Coventry, making clear she wants to drive through her campaign pledge to protect the female category.
Deprived of their top scorer from last season and unable to sign a replacement, Angers did not have a choice but to turn to two 18-year-old strikers from their academy. Sidiki Chérif and Prosper Peter have shown that it should have been the only choice.
The season started with a win for Angers, but it was a win that brought more fear than hope. Esteban Lepaul scored the only goal of the game as theybeat Paris FC. The Frenchman had been a revelation in the second half of last season, as his nine goals ensured safety for Ligue 1’s second lowest scorers. But Rennes were circling and he was gone by the end of August.
In the borderline reverential buildup to his landmark 1,000th match as an excitable man gesticulating wildly on the touchlines of various football pitches like a traffic policeman with a ferret down his trousers, Pep Guardiola mused that “the universe deciding” to mark the occasion by having his Manchester City side play Liverpool “couldn’t be better”. On Sunday we found out why, as City made fairly short work of Arne Slot’s side on a damp afternoon at the Etihad to ensure Pep’s managerial millennium was unsullied by anything so demeaning as the scoreless draw between Barcelona B and Premià in the Spanish fourth tier that marked his first match as a head coach. Having joshed with reporters last week that the undoubted highlights of his career as a “Mister” were the combined 2,000 pre- and post-match press conferences he’d been contractually obliged to conduct with them, the great and the good on the Manchester media beat missed a trick by failing to ask Pep to rank each of his 1,000 matches in ascending order of philosophical enlightenment.
“I just want to say thank you to the players and the backroom staff to give me that present,” he trilled after beating the reigning champions, who have already lost one game more in the current campaign than they did in the entirety of last season. “I’m proud to do it here in Manchester with my City. I think my period at Barcelona B is the foundation for many things. To realise myself that I was able to do it and learn a lot. I will never forget the guys in that first season. For me, it has been so special to make 1,000 games in front of my family and especially against Liverpool. I have a huge respect for that club.” In beating Liverpool, City go into the international break having pulled back two points on Arsenal, who had been held by Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday. While Mikel Arteta’s side remain firmly in the box seat, they could now find themselves in a chase soundtracked by the foreboding, dark, churning two-note pulse of the Jaws music evoked by City in hot pursuit. If we are to have more of a title race than a procession, it will prove a real test of Arsenal’s collective mental and intestinal fortitude.
Just as the dorsal fin of the shark sliced terrifyingly through the water, Jérémy Doku was the visual embodiment of City’s most direct and lethal attacking threat against Liverpool. Delivering arguably his best performance under Guardiola, the Belgium winger was dazzling as he scored a beauty, won a penalty that went unscored and was a constant, whirring threat. “Listen, I know I’m good, but don’t overestimate me,” parped Guardiola, modestly. “The players do it for themselves. We have to try give them good momentum, and a good connection. Do you think I teach him how to dribble openings? This is natural talent.” The kind Jack Grealish used to have until Guardiola began teaching it out of him in the 2021 Community Shield, AKA match No 826.
I’ve no idea why, but I find football clubs inviting celebrities along for a social media disgrace photo opportunity that benefits both parties, strangely fascinating. The most recent example is Dua Lipa alongside Juan Román Riquelme at the weekend’s Superclásico (Boca Juniors v River Plate). As odd couples go, though, it’s still no match for the peak of Torino inviting Kevin Spacey over to watch a game as recently as 2023” – Noble Francis.
If Football Daily decided to award its own Geopolitics World Cup Draw Old Boys Network Trump Medal for Services to Peace (Thursday’s Football Daily), should the lucky recipient be chosen by the Noble Prize Committee?” – Peter Storch.
The photograph of a young Alan Carr with his parents at Northampton Town (Friday’s Memory Lane, full email edition) reinforces my view that The Celebrity Traitors is indeed a load of Cobblers” – Alan Giles.
Independent commission says definition of terrorism relied on by ministers is too broad and more parliamentary oversight is needed
Legal experts, former government ministers and an ex-MI6 director have criticised the process used to ban Palestine Action.
The members of an independent commission set up by the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law said the definition of terrorism was too broad and better parliamentary oversight and judicial scrutiny was needed.
Several fire engines rushed to the scene after blast reported near the historic Red Fort, fire services said
A car explosion outside the historic Red Fort monument in Delhi has killed at least eight people and triggered a fire in the surrounding area, according to police.
The cause of the explosion, which took place just before 7pm on Monday night, was unknown.
What was it supposed to look like? Amid all the talk around Liverpool and their disappointing form at the start of this season, that is perhaps the hardest question of all to answer. What were they trying to do? If it had worked, how would this team have played?
The champions spent £424m (about $550m) on new signings in the summer, but if all had gone well, they would have spent an additional £40m ($53m) to land Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guéhi. The England international would, at the very least, have given an extra option at the back (the injury to Giovanni Leoni has diminished their defensive options further), allowing Arne Slot to rest Ibrahima Konaté, whose poor form continued in the 3-0 defeat to Manchester City on Sunday. An early City penalty was a direct result of Konaté getting in Conor Bradley’s way as Jérémy Doku cut in from the left.
This is an extract from Soccer with Jonathan Wilson, a weekly look from the Guardian US at the game in Europe and beyond. Subscribe for free here. Have a question for Jonathan? Email soccerwithjw@theguardian.com, and he’ll answer the best in a future edition.
Replacing the TV licence with a means-tested alternative may help disarm the right of one of its most effective weapons
Gotcha! The BBC’s enemies have taken two scalps and inflicted maximum damage. The shock resignation of the director general, Tim Davie, and the head of news, Deborah Turness, make it look as if the BBC accepts that it does indeed suffer from “serious and systemic” bias in its coverage of issues including Donald Trump, Gaza and trans rights. But in this political coup, only the BBC’s sworn ideological foes think a cherrypicked sample of journalistic errors amounts to “systemic” bias.
It was indeed a bad mistake to splice together two bits of Trump’s speech; but it needed a quick apology, not a decapitation. The BBC’s chair, Samir Shah, I’m told, tried to persuade Davieto stay to avoid this apparent capitulation to critics: Davie should indeed have stood his ground, not weakened the BBC by walking away.
Fighting between Boko Haram and rival militants from Islamic State West Africa Province broke out on shores of Lake Chad
As many as 200 terrorists were killed in a turf war on Sunday between rival jihadists in north-east Nigeria.
The fighting between Boko Haram and rival militants from Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap) broke out over the weekend in the village of Dogon Chiku, which lies on the shores of Lake Chad, a restive area located at the junction of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
‘Prince’s Purple Rain guitar was in the corner of the studio and his lava lamps were everywhere. You couldn’t help but be inspired’
I was in a band in Hull called Akrylykz. When the Beat came to play at the Welly club we gave them a demo tape. Then they invited us to tour with them. Later, after they split up, Andy Cox and David Steele were looking for a singer for a new band and they remembered me. Fine Young Cannibals felt right straight away. After The Tube filmed us doing Johnny Come Home, we just took off. Then somebody must have noticed me on telly because suddenly I was getting film offers, and I appeared in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid and Scandal.
As the Jazz Cafe and Ronnie Scott’s expand, and Blue Note eyes its arrival, proprietors say there’s an energy in the scene – but financial pressures remain
As small gig venues around the country nervously eye their futures amid rising utility prices and a cost of living crisis, one corner of the live music scene seems to be thriving: London’s jazz clubs.
The Jazz Cafe is extending its Camden venue and opening an east London location, Ronnie Scott’s is being refurbished, and New York’s iconic Blue Note club, which has already spread to Japan, Brazil, Italy and China, will open its first London venue next year. And while financial pressures remain, a host of other, smaller venues are bringing in vibrant new audiences.
Blue Origin says it is aiming for another attempt as soon as Wednesday as competition with Musk’s SpaceX intensifies
Blue Origin, the space company owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos, was forced on Sunday to postpone the anticipated launch of its New Glenn rocket due to unfavorable weather conditions in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Rain and a ground system issue caused delays that were followed by cumulus cloud cover as the 88-minute launch window closed, leaving managers with the only option of pushing back the rocket’s planned second mission. Competition between Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has been intensifying in recent months.
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla is accused of inciting terrorism and public violence after her father was jailed in 2021
Duduzile Zuma-Sambudla, a politician and daughter of the former South African president Jacob Zuma, has pleaded not guilty to incitement to commit terrorism and public violence over deadly riots in 2021.
The trial, which began on Monday in the coastal city of Durban, is the first prosecution in South Africa in which terrorism‑related charges are being brought based on social media posts.
Taleb al-Abdulmohsen accused of murdering six and attempting to kill hundreds in Magdeburg last December
A man has gone on trial in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on charges of murdering six people and attempting to murder hundreds more by deliberately ploughing his SUV into a packed Christmas market last December.
Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 51, a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia, appeared in court on Monday wearing handcuffs and with his feet shackled, accompanied by armed police. He will be held in a bullet-proof glass case throughout the trial.
Faltering governments will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, and face stagnation and inflation at home, says climate chief at start of Cop30
Governments failing to shift to a low-carbon economy will be blamed for famine and conflict abroad, and will face stagnation and rising inflation at home, the UN’s climate chief warned on Monday at the start of the Cop30 climate talks.
Atlético Ottawa secured a Canadian Premier League final victory unlike any other, a snow-globe spectacle amid a swirling blizzard featuring what online media outlets dubbed an “icicle kick” from Mexican midfielder David Rodríguez.
Hosts Ottawa beat Cavalry FC 2-1 in extra-time win in Sunday’s title decider in temperatures of minus 8 degrees Celsius (46.4F) with snow so heavy that play was halted every 15 minutes to clear the lines, and goalkeepers used shovels to carve out their boxes.
Federal clemency towards president’s close allies largely symbolic as some still face legal exposure at state level
Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, both close former political allies of Donald Trump, are among scores of people pardoned by the president over the weekend for their roles in a plot to steal the 2020 election.
The maneuver is in effect symbolic, given it only applies in the federal justice system and not in state courts where Giuliani, Meadows and the others continue facing legal peril. The acts of clemency were announced in a post late on Sunday to X by US pardon attorney Ed Martin, covers 77 people said to have been the architects and agents of the scheme to install fake Republican electors in several battleground states, which would have falsely declared Trump their winner instead of the actual victor: Joe Biden.
In just one month the Albanese government’s under-16s social media ban will come into effect. But popular gaming platform Roblox, where children are exposed to inappropriate or violent content and grooming, is not covered under the ban.
Senior correspondent Sarah Martin joins Nour Haydar to talk about her chilling experience posing as an eight-year-old girl on the popular online platform.
I’ve spent a lot of this year trying to perfect the art of leaving the house.
This might sound like an odd mission until you’ve seen me spend 25 minutes getting distracted while looking for my wallet and sunnies, doubling back to grab my laptop, tripling back for my work pass, missing my train, arriving at my destination with 1% battery and only then realising the medication I was meant to take that morning is still sitting on the counter.
As investor jitters grow, the loss-making ChatGPT firm’s vast spending commitments test the limits of Silicon Valley optimism
It is the $1.4tn (£1.1tn) question. How can a loss-making startup such as OpenAI afford such a staggering spending commitment?
Answer that positively and it will go a long way to easing investor concerns over bubble warnings in the artificial intelligence boom, from lofty tech company valuations to a mooted $3tn global spend on datacentres.
Connexion
