A melt-in-the-mouth dish of fried tenderised chicken in a mushroom and sweet wine sauce
The term escalope is borrowed from the old French escalope, meaning “shell or carapace”, which is likely to be borrowed from the old Norse skalpr (“sheath”) or Middle Dutch schelpe (“shell”). This explains the shape, and why the word evolved to describe a slice of meat that has been pounded until it’s the same slimness all over.
This week’s recipe is inspired by the restaurant Bocca Di Lupo in Soho, which a few months ago, after a night at the theatre with my parents, was one of the few places still open and more than welcoming to walk-ins at 10.30pm. Sitting on the high stools at the end of the long, marble bar, Dad chose ravioli filled with ricotta and spinach, while Mum and I had scaloppine di pollo al marsala e funghi (thin chicken escalope with mushrooms in a soft, slightly thickened marsala sauce). The meal and wine would have been superb in any circumstance, but the feeling of relief combined with the particular thick atmosphere that fills some restaurants at that point in the evening – charged with work and pleasure but starting to wind down – made this a particularly enjoyable meal.
The broadcaster behaves like Starmer’s government: suppress the left, cave to your critics, and undermine your own survival
It’s no longer even pretending. Last week, the BBC, already the UK’s most prolific censor, instructed the presenter Evan Davis to drop the podcast he hosted in his own time about heat pumps. It was a gentle, wry look at the machines, with no obvious political content. But the BBC, Davis says, saw it as “steering into areas of public controversy”. Itshould cease forthwith.
So are BBC presenters banned from saying anything controversial? Far from it. Take an article published earlier this year by Justin Webb in the Times. It praised the “political genius” of Donald Trump, suggested that Democrats are now seen as the extremists, and claimed that Trump is widely regarded as “making [America] normal again”. The BBC was fine with that, and complaints about it were rejected.
Cybersecurity expert says group are ‘unusual but potently threatening’ coalition of ransomware hackers
If there is one noticeable difference between some members of the Scattered Spider hacking community and their ransomware peers, it will be the accent.
New work says novelist, who was a censor during second world war, may been employed to look for coded messages
It is an irony that she herself would have revelled in: Barbara Pym, the author who punctured the social strictures of 20th-century Britain, worked as a censor during the second world war.
But research suggests that rather than just poring over the private letters that must have helped hone her talent, she may have also been working for MI5.
The narrative of ancient tribes around the world regularly using ayahuasca and magic mushrooms in healing practices is a popular one. Is it true?
Beginning in 2001, the Austrian anthropologist Bernd Brabec de Mori spent six years living in the western Amazon. He first arrived as a backpacker, returned to do a master’s thesis on ayahuasca songs, and eventually did a PhD on the music of eight Indigenous peoples in the region. Along the way, he married a woman of the local Shipibo tribe and settled down.
“I did not have a lot of money,” he told me, “so I had to make my living there.” He became a teacher. He built a house. He and his wife had children. That rare experience of joining the community, he said, forced him to realise that many of the assumptions he had picked up as an anthropologist were wrong.
Politicians say Yoweri Museveni is prosecuting opponents on politically motivated charges before 2026 election
Ugandan opposition politicians have accused the president, Yoweri Museveni, of attempting to quash dissent by prosecuting opponents on politically motivated charges in military courts in the run-up to presidential and legislative elections next year.
The government is pushing to introduce a law to allow military tribunals to try civilians despite a supreme court ban on the practice.
Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties says tortured inmates bypassed amid focus on territory and security guarantees
Ukrainian and Russian civil society leaders have called for the unconditional release of thousands of Ukrainian civilians being held in Russian captivity, pushing for world leaders to make it a central part of any peace deal.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Kyiv-based Centre for Civil Liberties, which won the 2022 Nobel peace prize, said most of the discussion on ending the conflict, led by Donald Trump’s administration, focused solely on territories and potential security guarantees.
Like The White Lotus without deaths, this brilliant tale of old college friends holidaying together is Fey’s finest work in years. Steve Carell and Colman Domingo are revelatory
In my next life I am definitely coming back as an affluent American. Whatever the risk of being murdered in a White Lotus hotel complex or a beachfront property by Nicole Kidman, the benefits far outweigh it.
The Four Seasons follows a year’s worth of the can-we-really-call-them-travails of three well off, beautifully clad couples in their 50s. They have been friends since their college days and now go for weekends away together four times a year, as we all would if we had the money, time and wardrobes. The eight-episode series is a remake and update of the 1981 Alan Alda film of the same name, by Tina Fey, Tracey Wigfield and Lang Fisher. It’s a creative triumvirate that promises much and – to the delight of Fey fans, who may feel it’s been a long wait since anything approaching the joy and genius of her Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt series – largely delivers.
Authorities are still trying to understand what triggered the massive power outage that left the majority of the Iberian Peninsula without electricity on Monday. To understand what might have been at play, and whether there’s any truth to claims that renewable energy sources were to blame, Ian Sample hears from Guardian energy correspondent Jillian Ambrose. And Guardian European community affairs correspondent Ashifa Kassam explains what it was like to experience the blackout and how people reacted
When the gallery opened in 2000, it transformed the artistic life of Britain – and the world. We look back at spiders, splinters, sexual dependency and sunsets
Outage occurred between Maibara and Gifu-Hashima stations after the snake appeared to have climbed an electricity pole
Japan’s busiest bullet train line was brought to a halt on Wednesday after a metre-long snake wrapped itself around a power line, shorting the electricity supply and stranding hundreds of passengers.
Shinkansen trains running between Tokyo and Osaka were brought to a standstill by the snake, with news reports showing footage of people inside trains waiting for services to resume. Power did not appear to have been cut inside trains, with lights and air conditioning still functioning, according to passengers.
Australian woman has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in South Gippsland in 2023. Follow live updates
Firefighters have rushed to control wildfires that have injured several people and prompted the military to deploy troops to help
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has warned that rapidly spreading wildfires near Jerusalem could reach the city, as he declared the situation a “national emergency”.
Thick smoke billowed above highways near Jerusalem on Wednesday as firefighters rushed to control wildfires that have injured several people and prompted the military to deploy troops to help.
Guardian journalist Kaamil Ahmed reports on the devastating assault by the Rapid Support Forces on the camp in Darfur and what it tells us about the group’s plans in Sudan’s civil war
Zamzam, in Darfur, has been a place of refuge for decades. A sprawling camp in western Sudan, some have estimated that it houses up to 700,000 people – a place of relative safety from the violence that has engulfed the region over the last 20 years.
It was also one of the last holdouts in Darfur, one of the few places in the region not yet under the control of the Rapid Support Forces. The paramilitary group has fought a devastating civil war with the Sudanese army since April 2023.
Judge says executive told ‘outright lies’ when he gave testimony in antitrust case from Fortnite maker Epic Games
Apple violated a United States court order that required the iPhone maker to allow greater competition for app downloads and payment methods in its lucrative App Store and will be referred to federal prosecutors, a federal judge in California ruled on Wednesday.
The US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland said in an 80-page ruling that Apple failed to comply with her prior injunction order, which was imposed in an antitrust lawsuit brought by Fortnite maker Epic Games.
Democratic presidential candidate speaks in San Francisco in first significant appearance since election defeat
Kamala Harris delivered a searing indictment of Donald Trump’s first 100 days in power, warning in her first major address since leaving office that the nation was experiencing a “wholesale abandonment of America’s highest ideals”.
Speaking to an audience of Democrats in San Francisco, the former vice-president struck a defiant posture as she praised the leaders and institutions pushing back against the president and his agenda – from the members of Congress acting boldly to the judges “who uphold the rule of law in the face of those who would jail them”, the universities defying the administration’s “unconstitutional demands”, and the everyday Americans rallying to protect social security.
Aldeas – A New Story documentary to examine work of organisation pontiff founded to connect young people around the world
Martin Scorsese has made a documentary with the late Pope Francis that will feature conversations between the pontiff and Scorsese, including what the film-makers say was the pope’s final in-depth on-camera interview.
Aldeas – A New Story will detail the work of Scholas Occurrentes, a non-profit, international organisation founded by the pope in 2013 to promote what it termed “Culture of Encounter” among youth.
Exclusive: Chris LaCivita, Trump’s presidential campaign co-manager, tells undercover reporters he advised on ‘structural issues’ related to Peter Dutton; the Coalition denies LaCivita was involved in campaign in any way
One of the architects of Donald Trump’s 2024 victory claims he made an unpublicised visit to Australia to advise the Liberal party about “structural issues” related to Peter Dutton ahead of the federal election.
The veteran Republican strategist Chris LaCivita told undercover reporters posing as prospective clients for political consulting work he was working as a private consultant on the visit to Australia, not in an official capacity or as an adviser to the US president.
Move seals a deal to create a fund the Trump administration says will begin to repay roughly $175bn provided to Ukraine
The US and Kyiv have signed an agreement to share profits and royalties from the future sale of Ukrainian minerals and rare earths, sealing a deal that Donald Trump has said will provide an economic incentive for the US to continue to invest in Ukraine’s defense and its reconstruction after he brokers a peace deal with Russia.
The minerals deal, which has been the subject of tense negotiations for months and nearly fell through hours before it was signed, will establish a US-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund that the Trump administration has said will begin to repay an estimated $175bn in aid provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Inter coach says such a talent only ‘born every 50 years’
Hansi Flick calls 17-year-old ‘a genius’ after 100th outing
The Inter head coach, Simone Inzaghi, called Lamine Yamal a phenomenon that only comes along every 50 years after the teenager led Barcelona’s comeback against his team at Montjuïc.
Inter led the Champions League semi-final first leg 2-0 after only 21 minutes but, on his 100th professional appearance for the club, the 17-year-old scored an outrageous goal to get Barcelona back in the game and produced a performance that suggests it is not that he will become the best player in the world – he already might be.
Likelihood of potentially devastating quake above 8.0 magnitude in next 50 years is 15%, study states
A massive earthquake in the Pacific north-west could rapidly transform areas of the coast from northern California to Washington, causing swaths of land to quickly sink, “dramatically” raising sea level and increasing the flood risk to communities.
That’s according to a new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, examining the potential impact of the “big one”, a powerful quake along the Cascadia fault that stretches from Canada to California.
Red and navy hats were strategically placed as Trump’s cabinet gushed over 100 presidential days like no other
There were navy blue and red baseball caps up and down the table, strategically placed in front of every cabinet member, and each bearing the message “Gulf of America”.
Yet the unorthodox collection of headwear, embroidered with Donald Trump’s forced new name for the centuries-old Gulf of Mexico, was far from the most bizarre aspect of an extraordinary White House gathering hosted by the president on Wednesday.
Belichick says girlfriend wasn’t out to control interview
Hudson, 24, interjected during question on relationship
North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick defended his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, for interjecting during a CBS interviewer’s questions about their relationship and said she was “simply doing her job”.
The six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and first-time college coach at UNC issued a statement through the school Wednesday, which followed an appearance on CBS News Sunday Morning to promote his upcoming book. In the interview, Hudson objected to a question about how the two had met while Tony Dokoupil referred to her during the segment as being a “constant presence” in the interview.
Chelsea clinched a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title with two games to spare and continued their relentless dominance of the major silverware in English women’s football as they dug deep to win away at Manchester United, whose own hopes of securing European qualifying suffered a dent as a result.
The 1-0 victory, secured by a 74th-minute Lucy Bronze header from a corner, was greeted by jubilant scenes of celebration in the away end and means Sonia Bompastor’s team remain on course to complete an entire league campaign unbeaten, a feat that has not been achieved by any team since the WSL expanded to be a 12-team division.
Lamine Yamal had said that he left fear behind in the park in Mataró when he was little and there was no sign of it here as Barcelona and Inter produced an astonishing night at Montjuïc. As the final whistle went at the end of a noisy and hugely enjoyable semi-final with the score at 3-3, there was a feeling of missed opportunity for Barcelona, of what might have been, yet having been a goal down after 30 seconds and trailed 2-0 and 3-2, it might also have been worse. And it was actually pretty special, an exhilarating occasion that resolved nothing but won’t be easily forgotten.
The same could be said of Denzel Dumfries, scorer of two goals and forever tearing into Barcelona, and of Lamine Yamal. They were the most outstanding of many outstanding players on a wild and wonderful occasion in which Barcelona twice came from behind to equalise but couldn’t turn it around entirely, left lamenting their vulnerability at the back. Inter, meanwhile, left satisfied and very much alive, their first task completed. This was a revival they needed, the greatest prize of all still within their reach.
Tech giant has committed to investing $80bn in artificial intelligence this fiscal year as it reveals revenue of $70.07bn
Microsoft released its quarterly earnings report on Wednesday after the New York stock market closed, beating Wall Street’s expectations for the fourth quarter in a row amid a financial boom for artificial intelligence businesses.
The company revealed revenue of $70.07bn and earnings of $3.46 per share. The result exceeded analyst predictions that revenue would grow to $68.42bn, or 10.6% year-over-year, and that earnings-per-share would come in at $3.22.
Cyril Ramaphosa sets up inquiry as victims’ families allege interference from ‘highest levels of government’
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is setting up an inquiry into whether past ANC governments interfered with the investigation and prosecution of apartheid-era crimes, amid criticism from the families of victims.
A group of 25 relatives and survivors of apartheid-era deaths and violence sued the government in January, claiming that interference from “the highest levels of government” blocked investigations into cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
Ukraine’s first deputy PM travels to Washington to sign deal as later reports claim US pushing Ukraine to sign extra documents Kyiv felt were not ready
Ukraine and the US said they were ready to sign a minerals deal, amid reports that a last-minute obstacle injected uncertainty into the timing. “Our side is ready to sign. The Ukrainians decided last night to make some last-minute changes,” US treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters. “We’re sure that they will reconsider that and we are ready, if they are.”
Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, is on her way to the US to sign the minerals deal, according to a senior source in the Ukrainian presidency. Ukraine’s prime minister, Denis Shmyhal, said on Wednesday that the reworked deal would be signed within the next 24 hours and would have to be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament.
But later reports claimed the US was pushing Ukraine to sign additional documents, but that Kyiv felt they were not ready yet. The Trump administration urged Ukraine to sign all three documents connected to the deal, Politico reported. A source told the outlet: “All three documents need to be signed today, but the Ukrainians are trying to reopen terms which have already been agreed upon as part of the package — this will be up to the Ukrainians, as the US is ready to sign. The US told Svyrydenko not to travel to Washington on Wednesday unless the agreements were finalised, according to the outlet.
Vladimir Putin said some small groups of Ukrainian soldiers were still holed up in basements and hideouts in Russia’s western Kursk region. Speaking at an event in Moscow on Wednesday, the Russian leader said radio intercepts suggested that the few Ukrainians left behind were asking commanders to urgently evacuate them to safety.
The EU is preparing a “plan B” on how to keep economic sanctions against Russia should the US abandon Ukraine peace talks and seek rapprochement with Moscow, according to the bloc’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas. “We see signs that they are contemplating whether they should leave Ukraine and not try to get a deal with the Russians because it’s hard,” Kallas told the Financial Times.
Russia and North Korea have begun construction of a road bridge between the two countries as part of an effort to strengthen their strategic partnership, Russia’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin, said. It comes after South Korean lawmakers said about 600 North Korean troops have been killed fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, held a call on Wednesday during which the Ukrainian leader congratulated Carney on his victory in the Canadian federal elections on Monday. Zelenskyy, in a post on X, said he and Carney discussed steps that could “bring us closer to a full, unconditional ceasefire and a dignified peace.”
The Kremlin claimed that president Vladimir Putin was open to peace despite its continuing aggression on Ukraine, but stressed that the conflict is so complicated that the rapid progress that Washington wants is difficult to achieve, Reuters reported. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov insisted that Putin “remains open to political and diplomatic methods of resolving this conflict” started by Russia. But news agency TASS quoted Peskov as saying that the root causes of the war were too complex to be resolved in one day. After the Kremlin’s remark, Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Kyiv was ready for peace talks in any format if Moscow signed up to an unconditional ceasefire, Reuters noted.
Surgical menopause occurs on average 19 months earlier, while natural menopause happens five months earlier, new global research shows
Women with endometriosis face a higher risk of premature and early menopause and are seven times more likely to experience surgical menopause, a study has found.
Surgical menopause occurs when a woman has both ovaries removed before reaching natural menopause, and may be done to treat endometriosis if other treatments fail.
Family club, known as a symbol of northern Norwegian self-esteem, prepare to face Tottenham in Europa League semis
No one is sure precisely when the “coffee table” tradition began, but consensus traces it back about 60 years. It would take a lot for one of the regulars not to show up. The time is almost 11am and cups are being laid out in the Aspmyra Stadion canteen for the Bodø/Glimt old boys’ daily catchup. In walks Ivar Bakke, who can count himself as the group’s elder statesman at 94. “One of the oldest people in Norway!” he laughs before sitting down. Tall tales are retold, memories sharpened in delighting over past and more recent glories; however far those stretch, everyone here knows what it has taken to bring their club to the barely fathomable territory of a Europa League semi-final.
The raconteur in chief is Jacob Klette, a sharp figure in his late 70s who made almost 400 appearances for a team that broke boundaries. “The northern part of Norway has always had to fight for its rights,” Klette says. “I played for Lyn, the best team in Oslo, in the late 1960s. You would open the newspaper and see adverts: ‘We have an apartment for rent, but not for people from the north.’ You felt disgusted to see it.”
In Long Beach, city with the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the US, people dance, eat and reflect on the 1975 killings
“Sousdey chnam thmey!” a rider shouted in Khmer into a megaphone while sitting atop a float swaddled in US and Cambodian flags. “Happy new year!” parade-goers yelled back from the street.
Thousands of Cambodian Americans gathered to celebrate the Khmer New Year in Long Beach’s Cambodia Town district – the heart of the largest diaspora of Cambodians in the United States.
Manager says addressing wider problems matters more
Amorim confident United ‘are prepared’ for Athletic tie
Ruben Amorim has said even winning the Europa League will not save Manchester United’s season, the head coach stating that only “good decisions” can transform his side in the long term.
United are at Athletic Bilbao for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg, conscious that claiming the competition will conclude a troubled campaign with silverware and Champions League qualification. With United in 14th and certain to finish in their lowest position in the Premier League, it would also give Amorim a trophy after taking over in late October. However, the Portuguese is clear it would not make the campaign a success.
Harry Redknapp says his description of England’s head coach, Thomas Tuchel, as a “German spy” was a “joke that badly backfired”.
The 78-year-old former manager, who had successful spells at Spurs, West Ham and Portsmouth but never landed the England job, also talked up Eddie Howe’s credentials as the best man to lead the Three Lions.
Charles reveals his experience has deepened his admiration for charities supporting the 390,000 cancer cases each year
King Charles has reflected on his experience with cancer, saying it brought into “sharp focus the very best of humanity”, while acknowledging that each new case is “a daunting and at times frightening experience” for those receiving a diagnosis and for their loved ones.
In a personal written message, released to coincide with a Buckingham Palace reception celebrating organisations that help people with the disease, he described himself as one of the “statistics” among the 390,000 who “sadly” receive a cancer diagnosis in the UK each year.
US homeland security secretary said Maryland man mistakenly deported to El Salvador ‘not under our control’
Kristi Noem, the US homeland security secretary, said that if Kilmar Ábrego García was sent back to the US, the Donald Trump administration “would immediately deport him again”.
Noem repeated White House assertions about Ábrego García, a Salvadorian man who the Trump administration has admitted was mistakenly deported from Maryland last month, in a new interview with CBS.
Before this week’s local elections, John Harris is on the road in Doncaster – which could prove to be a canary in the coalmine for the government. Labour has been in power here for decades but this time Nigel Farage’s Reform UK fancies its chances. So why are people turning away from Labour? Why are they so disillusioned with politics in general? And what would a Reform-run city actually be like?
Donald Trump promptly claimed this morning that the contraction in the US economy had nothing to do with his tariff wars, repeated his habitual claim that this is all somehow his predecessor Joe Biden’s fault, and predicted the economy would boom when tariffs kicked in. He wrote on his Truth Social platform:
This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th. Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden “Overhang.” This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!
How Inter got here. The Italian champions finished fourth in the group stage. Their campaign began with a goalless draw at Manchester City, before chalking up six wins – Red Star Belgrade (h) 4-0, Young Boys (a) 1-0, Arsenal (h) 1-0, RB Leipzig (h) 1-0, Sparta Prague (a) 1-0 and Monaco (h) 3-0 – plus a 1-0 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen. (Five 1-0s and a goalless draw! Helenio Herrera would have been delighted with that sequence of scorelines.) Anyway, Feyenoord were seen off 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, and then it was Bayern Munich in the quarters …
How Barcelona got here. The Catalans came second in the mega-group, despite losing their first fixture 2-1 away at Monaco. They went on to beat Young Boys (h) 5-0, Bayern Munich (h) 4-1, Red Star Belgrade (a) 5-2, Brest (h) 3-0, Borussia Dortmund (a) 3-2 and Benfica (a) 5-4, before finally drawing 2-2 at home with Atalanta. Benfica were dispatched 4-1 on aggregate in the round of 16, then Barca faced Dortmund in the quarters, whereupon …
We are tottering on the edge of dictatorship. Powerful voices across institutions, from politics to academia and religion, must speak out
We have witnessed the first 100 days of the odious Trump regime.
The US constitution is in peril. Civil and human rights are being trampled upon. The economy is in disarray.
If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home? And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies? The threat, even if not the actuality, would always be present, and the Executive’s obligation to ‘take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed’ would lose its meaning.
Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com
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