[On returning to Lisbon] They’re great memories – we’re staying at the same hotel – but we start from scratch and we’re very focussed on the here and now.
[On her team selection] We’ve played a lot of games in this block. There are always a lot of things that go into the decisions but the the main one is the quality we have in the squad.
Killing of Lola Daviet three years ago led to outcry after far right was accused of exploiting her death for political gain
A woman who allegedly abused and tortured a 12-year-old girl before leaving her to suffocate will go on trial for murder on Friday in a case that has shocked France and caused political waves.
Lola Daviet’s body was found stuffed into a plastic trunk that had been dumped on the street near her home.
Hawks want regime change. Democrats and others are right to warn against illegal and unauthorised use of force
The drumbeat is growing louder. Covert operations are supposed to remain just that, but on Wednesday Donald Trump confirmed that he had approved secret CIA actions in Venezuela and suggested that he was considering strikes on its territory. These comments follow the administration’s extrajudicial killings at sea: attacks on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean that have left at least 27 dead – a frightening new precedent denounced by UN experts as illegal. The US has already built up forces in the region, with about 6,500 troops now stationed there. “No to war in the Caribbean … No to regime change … No to coups d’état orchestrated by the CIA,” railed Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s dictator, after Mr Trump’s remarks.
The US president’s repeated claim that each boat strike saves 25,000 American lives is even more preposterous than it first sounds. The fentanyl that killed 48,000 people in the US last year did not come from Venezuela; most of it is from Mexico. But Mr Maduro’s regime looks increasingly isolated. The US has designated Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang as a terrorist organisation that has “invaded” the US, claiming that Mr Maduro is personally responsible. It has used that posturing to justify deportations and to boast – against the evidence – that Mr Trump has cut violent crime in cities.
This week’s partisan blame game is the wrong response to the collapse of the alleged Chinese spying case. The failure of governance runs deeper
The China spying row has revealed disturbing weaknesses in the processes of the UK state. It cannot be in the national interest for a case involving national security to get so close to the courts and then for it to be abandoned in what remain mysterious circumstances. Public confidence, as well as security itself, are inevitably placed at risk. But this genuinely important issue now risks being blanketed by the fog of the party-political battle at Westminster.
For the third time this week, MPs spent Thursday trading accusations about whether the Conservatives or Labour are more to blame for the fiasco of last month’s collapsed prosecution. To be fair, the latest exchanges did not descend to the abject “did-didn’t” level that was reached at prime minister’s questions on Wednesday. Politicians from Sir Keir Starmer down are fond of saying that the national interest comes before the party interest. But there has been too little evidence of that principle in the current dispute.
With supreme entitlement, Sian Clifford’s Lady Isabella shines as ‘aristocracy’s answer to the Kardashians’ in this barnstorming comedy
Those of us pining for Sian Clifford since the end of Fleabag, in which she played Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s fierce sister, have been rewarded with an outrageous barnstormer in this bizarre mockumentary comedy, a feature debut for director Samuel Abrahams. Clifford plays haughty but troubled aristocrat Lady Isabella who welcomes a young film-maker into her gorgeous country estate (filmed at Somerleyton Hall in Suffolk) with calamitous results, and the film plays like a scuzzier, shroomier B-side to Saltburn. Maybe it’s a bit reliant on Clifford’s overwhelming firepower of performance, and we have to indulge the way it cheats strict mockumentary rules about how exactly the camera comes to be where it is at every moment. But there are laughs and unexpected tenderness in this very peculiar sentimental education.
Laurie Kynaston plays Sam, a pushy, insecure young director who shows up at the stately home with his crew, excited at the prospect of shooting a candid documentary study, but disconcerted by the distrait behaviour and patrician mannerisms of the chatelaine, Lady Isabella. Describing herself as “aristocracy’s answer to the Kardashians”, she hosts and judges the annual talent show Stately Stars for local children. Yearning for her own artistic vocation to be respected, Lady Isabella now wishes to compete against the youngsters herself, with a vast, complex multimedia performance-installation piece which includes poetry, action painting and photographs of her apparently dead body around the grounds. Juliet Cowan is a put-upon housekeeper who is unsure whether to address her employer as “milady”.
Presiding bishop Olav Fykse Tveit says discrimination and harassment should ‘never have happened’
Against a backdrop of red stage curtains at one of Oslo’s most prominent LGBTQ+ spaces, the Church of Norway apologised for the discrimination and harm it had inflicted.
“The church in Norway has caused LGBTQ+ people shame, great harm and pain,” the presiding bishop, Olav Fykse Tveit, said on Thursday. “This should never have happened and that is why I apologise today.”
In an interview, Salvador Illa tells of ‘pragmatic approach’ as he seeks to persuade voters about benefits of coexistence with Madrid
Catalonia’s Socialist president has said his party’s focus on tackling inequality can win over voters who are tempted by pro-independence and far-right voices as he seeks to persuade Catalans of the benefits of coexistence with the central government in Madrid after years of turmoil.
Salvador Illa, a close ally of Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has been in the post since August 2024 and leads the first Catalan parliament in 44 years without a pro-independence majority.
Thousands gather in Nairobi to pay respects to veteran opposition leader, prompting chaotic scenes at stadium
Four people have been killed in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, after security forces fired shots and teargas to disperse huge crowds at a stadium where the body of the opposition leader Raila Odinga was lying in state.
Odinga, a major figure in Kenyan politics for decades who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment.
Thousands of people are taking legal action against the US pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, claiming it knowingly sold baby powder containing asbestos-contaminated talc in the UK.
About 3,000 people have alleged that they or a family member developed forms of ovarian cancer or mesothelioma from using Johnson’s Baby Powder, and are seeking damages at the high court in London.
Decision follows safety advisory group instruction
Local police said they had ‘public safety concerns’
Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns.
West Midlands police said they had classified the fixture as “high risk”, based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.
‘The Firm’ as a modernising strategy was already falling apart, but with the shocking allegations so fully in the public domain, it has now collapsed
The royal family was always a disaster waiting to happen. Its creation as a marketable entity in the 1960s by the late Queen Elizabeth II was meant to “modernise” the monarchy for the 20th century. It worked, but only up to a point. Her son Prince Andrew has long been its biggest liability, this week in trouble yet again due to his alleged behaviour within that ghoulish circle, the friends of Jeffrey Epstein.
King Charles now has a decision to make as to how far he can allow his brother’s past behaviour to tarnish the family’s image. That image is the essence of royalty. Monarchy has no other authentication. The constitutional position of head of state in a democracy is subject to the will of parliament, but also to the “will” of the people. It was the latter will that forced the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936 over marrying a divorcee. A royal personage cannot stand for re-election. He or she is acceptable to the generality of public opinion or they are nothing.
Depiction of Shakespeare character by Friedrich Heyser believed to have inspired pop superstar’s new music video
A 200-year-old museum in Germany has found itself in the eye of a storm of delighted Taylor Swift fans when it emerged that one of the probable inspirations for the music video of her new song The Fate of Ophelia was hanging on its wall.
In the opening scene of the clip for the first song on Swift’s blockbuster new album The Life of a Showgirl, one of the world’s biggest pop stars assumes the role of the tragic Shakespearean character. The video, released earlier this month, was watched more than 27m times on YouTube in the first three days.
Spa-like health centres scour every inch of our bodies in an attempt to extend life. But is this just another way of delaying the inevitable?
A few months ago, I was invited to get a full-body scan in east London. Neko Health is one of several diagnostic clinics that, for a price, uses electrocardiograms, blood tests and a talking skin-scanner to examine you. The company claims it can detect various underlying cardiovascular and metabolic issues, assess your risk of developing pre-diabetes and identify suspect moles.
From the outside, the centre looks like a vast glass mausoleum. Inside, it’s more of a curve-walled spa with pleasant changing areas, private examination rooms and pot plants. Sadly, there’s no swimming pool. The whole process takes less than an hour, and includes (among other things) a mostly nude scan, various blood draws, a test for grip strength and, at the end, through some swift data-crunching, a GP consultation. Most patients (me included) leave with a relatively clean bill of health but an eye on future issues. In its first year of operation, Neko says that 1% of its patients received potentially life-saving intel, which is not nothing. The idea is that this data can then be used to inform the NHS (or other healthcare providers), point people towards necessary treatment and, ultimately, extend life. Welcome to the age of preventive healthcare?
Preventive beauty is rooted in the ambient terror that one day we will look as old as we actually are.
And is it actually possible for your body clock to change? Am I really turning into an early bird or have I just been forced into a child-dictated schedule?
We all know that early birds get the worm. But who wants a worm? Not me.For most of my life I have identified as a night owl, clambering out of bed as late as possible and not so much seizing but reluctantly easing into the day.
US work culture is not really optimal for night owls. Rather, it favours CEOs who get up at 4am and run a marathon while the rest of us hit the snooze button. Still, I always consoled myself withthe idea that night owls are actually more intelligent and creative than their early bird counterparts. Franz Kafka and Thomas Wolfe wrote at bedtime; Bob Dylan recorded at night. Even scientific studies indicated it was true.
Amid rising, confusing prices and a cost of living crisis, we would like to hear your experiences of paying to see gigs
Seeing live music is becoming increasingly expensive, thanks to the rise of dynamic ticket pricing and resale websites in addition to an ongoing cost of living crisis.
With this in mind, we would like to hear about your experiences of paying to see live music. Have your gig-going habits changed due to rising prices? What’s the most you’ve spent on going to see an artist live? And was it worth it?
Chelsea were in WCL action last night, cruising to a 4-0 win against Paris FC. Sophie Downey was at the Bridge to watch it unfold.
Their pressure eventually told, however, when Nüsken went down in the box with half an hour played. The offence from Le Moguédec was not initially spotted by the referee, Michalina Diakow, but after a brief trip to the VAR monitor, she duly pointed to the spot. Baltimore stepped up to convert for the second week in a row.
Chelsea consolidated their advantage just before the break when Thompson broke forward at pace. A clever turn gave her space to stand up a cross for Rytting Kaneryd to loop a header home. The winger looked slightly bemused that it had ended up in the back of the net, celebrating with an expression that said she is not accustomed to scoring with her head.
Critics say referendum on rewriting country’s eco-friendly constitution is president’s latest pro-extractivist move
Indigenous and environmental leaders in Ecuador say they are facing a wave of state intimidation ahead of a national referendum next month on whether to rewrite the world’s only constitution that recognises the rights of nature.
The pressure is being applied by the rightwing president, Daniel Noboa, who has begun his second term with a Trumpian agenda of consolidating power and sweeping away legal and social barriers to extractivist businesses, such as mining.
Challenger expected to announce withdrawal on Friday
Ben Sulayem has been accused of concentrating power
Mohammed Ben Sulayem will stand unopposed for another term as the president of the FIA, motor sport’s governing body. The last remaining candidate is due to pull out on Friday because of an arcane election rule.
Tim Mayer, a former FIA senior steward with 15 years in the role until he was sacked last November, was one of three candidates who had announced they would oppose Ben Sulayem, alongside the former racing driver Laura Villars and the Belgian journalist Virginie Philpott.
Cultish indie studio behind hits such as Moonlight, Uncut Gems and Materialists has taken over a New York theatre for $10m
On a recent Saturday night in downtown Manhattan, a sold-out crowd at the Cherry Lane Theatre delighted in one of the most bizarre sights in recent New Yorkstage memory: comedian Natalie Palamides, dressed as if in split screen – her left side bedecked in Y2K girl signifiers (butterfly clips, low-rise jeans), her right in bro clothes (cargo pants, flannel) – barreling across the stage and tangling with … herself. In her one-woman show Weer, the Los Angeles-based clown plays two halves of a toxic relationship over three late-90s years, flipping between perspectives with the velocity of a spinning top.
The show is difficult to describe and perhaps more difficult to market, as well as gloriously unhinged and riotously funny – a bold gambit for a performer, as well as for the new Cherry Lane, the West Village staple recently renovated and reopened by A24. The film distribution company turned production studio turned cultural lodestarpurchased the historic theater, billed as the “birthplace of Off-Broadway”, for $10m in 2023, as part of its expansion beyond the cultish, acclaimed arthouse films – Moonlight, Hereditary, Everything Everywhere All at Once, to name a few – that built their hip reputation for the cool and cutting edge. (Or, as some would argue, a certain loose but identifiable aesthetic – neon-drenched palette, buzzy cast, faces that have seen an iPhone – and provocative bent.) Following an interior overhaul – including new lighting and sound systems, redone upholstery, a screen and curtains for “cinema mode” and a restaurant (Wild Cherry) from hot Manhattan restaurant group Frenchette – Cherry Lane is reopened for business and aiming to attract high-minded, zeitgeist-oriented New Yorkers, whether or not they own an A24 hat.
Federal prosecutors are expected to ask a grand jury on Thursday afternoon to indict John Bolton, the former national security adviser in Donald Trump’s first term, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Details of what prosecutors in the US attorney’s office in Maryland will seek remains unknown, but previous case activity, including the search warrant for Bolton’s home, has pointed at charges related to mishandling classified information.
European court of justice asked to intervene after dog was lost on journey from Buenos Aires to Barcelona
Pets on flights can be classified as baggage, the European court of justice has ruled, meaning airlines are not required to pay higher compensation if the animal is lost.
The ECJ, Europe’s highest court, was asked to intervene after a dog was lost during a journey from Buenos Aires to Barcelona, triggering a claim for losses from the owner.
Still Life with Guitar, worth €600,000, noticed missing after van arrives in Granada from Madrid
Police in Spain are investigating the disappearance of a tiny Picasso painting, worth €600,000 (£520,000), which vanished en route from Madrid to an exhibition in the southern city of Granada.
The gouache and pencil work, Naturaleza muerta con guitarra (Still Life with Guitar), was due to go on show at a new exhibition at the CajaGranada foundation, which opened last week.
At the South Louisiana Ice Processing Center in Basile, detainees say they were forced into hard labor – and sexually assaulted and stalked by an assistant warden
Queer and trans immigrants at a detention facility in south Louisiana have alleged that they faced sexual harassment and abuse, medical neglect and coerced labor by staff at the facility, and that they were repeatedly ignored or faced retaliation for speaking out.
In multiple legal complaints, immigrants detained at the South Louisiana Ice Processing Center (SLIPC) in Basile, Louisiana, said they were recruited into an unsanctioned work program that forced them to perform hard manual labor for as little as $1 per day. Detainees also alleged that queer people were targeted by an assistant warden who stalked, harassed and sexually assaulted them.
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