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The Guardian •

‘Oyster card for the north’ could save commuters £276 a year, thinktank says

A proposed travel card for northern England modelled on London’s Oyster system could save commuters up to £276 a year, data shows.Users would tap in and out across different transport networks and fares would be automatically capped at the cheapest available rate.Researchers estimate the scheme could generate up to £2.7bn for the economy over five years by making it easier for people to travel between towns and cities for work, training and leisure.The proposal would link together transport syst...
The Guardian •

UK Athletics fined £350,000 over ‘wholly avoidable’ death of Paralympian

UK Athletics has been fined £350,000 for the “wholly avoidable” death of a Paralympian who was killed during a training session in east London.Abdullah Hayayei, 36, a father of five, was preparing to represent the United Arab Emirates at the World Para Athletics Championships when a 440lb practice throwing cage toppled on to him at Newham Leisure Centre in July 2017.The 5ft-high structure fell because it had been set up incorrectly without its base plate, a court was told. Prosecutors described...
The Guardian •

Maga influencer Melissa Rein Lively pleads guilty to London assault

A Maga influencer has admitted assaulting a woman at a London tube station during an altercation.Melissa Rein Lively, 40, the founder of the “anti-woke” America First Public Relations firm in the US, allegedly pulled a woman’s hair in a “forceful manner” at Bond Street station last October.She accepted a conditional caution over the incident, Westminster magistrates court heard on Tuesday.As part of the caution, Rein Lively admitted the conduct amounted to a criminal offence and agreed to pay £9...
The Guardian •

Six people stabbed in London after Arsenal’s victory parade

Six people were stabbed after Arsenal’s Premier League victory parade in north London on Sunday, police have said.The Metropolitan police said the stabbings took place in the evening after most of the crowds had dispersed. Twenty-four people were arrested.One man in his 20s was taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition but has since been stabilised. The force said most of the victims did not suffer serious injuries.Hundreds of thousands of supporters lined streets around the Emirates Sta...
The Guardian •

‘Labour have lost their way’: voters in Makerfield say it’s time for a change

The roads that connect the collection of towns and villages that make up this constituency in England are studded with turquoise banners declaring: “Makerfield needs Reform.”Once at the heart of Wigan’s coal-mining industry, and represented by a Labour MP continuously since the 1900s, Farage’s party has gained a foothold here, and with any other Labour candidate installed, this parliamentary seat would almost certainly fall to Reform.The most pertinent issues here are largely environmental ones;...
The Guardian •

Calls for Barnsley Reform councillor to resign over apparent swastika tattoo

A newly elected Reform UK councillor in Barnsley has come under pressure to resign after photographs emerged appearing to show him with a swastika tattoo.Andy Arnold, who was elected to Barnsley council earlier this month to represent Wombwell, can be seen with what appears to be the symbol tattooed on his arm in a series of publicly accessible Facebook images dating back to 2018.The images were posted on an account linked to a tattoo studio in the area called Tattoo Wombwell, registered under T...
The Guardian •

Multimedia arts project wins Sycamore Gap tree commission after public vote

A new artwork will transform preserved wood from the felled Sycamore Gap tree into a “living archive” after a public vote.The community arts charity Helix Arts and George King Architects were named winners of the vote on Saturday, after being shortlisted for a National Trust commission in March.Their joint proposal, ‘The People’s Tree’, will celebrate the much-loved sycamore through participatory storytelling, sound and sculpture.The National Trust announced the commission to commemorate the Syc...
The Guardian •

Jury discharged at trial of men accused of murdering child abuser Ian Watkins

The jury in the trial of two prisoners accused of murdering the disgraced former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been discharged for legal reasons.The judge at Leeds crown court told jurors on Friday that there would be a retrial. “Very reluctantly, I’m going to discharge you and the case will have to be retried,” said Mr Justice Hilliard.“That’s disappointing for you and for everyone.”The defendants, Rico Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 44, both denied murdering Watkins and possessing a ma...
The Guardian •

Five arrested after police investigate alleged electoral fraud in Tameside

Five people have been arrested as part of a police investigation into allegations that fake independent candidates were used to influence the outcome of a local election in Tameside.Greater Manchester police said four men and a woman, aged between 23 and 47, were arrested on suspicion of fraud offences on Thursday morning in the Ashton-under-Lyne area.The force said the arrests related to the “process of how candidates were put forward and represented in the ward, and if this adhered to the rele...
The Guardian •

‘Messy, chaotic, funny’: inside the hilarious comedy about teen Muslim schoolgirls

It’s not every comedy that dares to feature a character trying to strangle herself with her own hijab. Yet the BBC’s Proper Ladies has caused a storm on social media thanks to its chaotic energy and sharply observed teenage dynamics, drawing comparisons to shows such as Derry Girls and Some Girls. “We saw our first fan edit and it had 100,000 likes,” says writer Sabrina Ali. “It feels like we made it.”Set in a faith school, Proper Ladies is a 10-minute short that follows four schoolgirls in dete...
The Guardian •

Aardvark calf born at Chester zoo is ‘doing brilliantly’ after bottle-feeding

Inside a heated incubator at Chester zoo, a wrinkled newborn aardvark nicknamed “Womble” spent its first weeks being bottle-fed milk through the night by keepers determined to keep the rare calf healthy.Named after the creatures in Elisabeth Beresford’s children’s books and the subsequent animated TV series, the nocturnal animal is only the second aardvark born at the zoo in its 94-year history. Keepers say births of the species are extremely rare in captivity, with the last aardvark calf born i...
The Guardian •

‘This keeps the dream alive’: the bands sleeping at venues to make touring work

Touring has become increasingly financially precarious for grassroots artists, pinched by issues including the cost of living crisis and increasing fuel costs. But a growing number of UK music venues are attempting a simple but potentially transformative fix: giving bands somewhere to sleep.This month, the Music Venue Trust charity announced a new wave of funding initiatives to rebuild infrastructure for touring musicians, including schemes focused on artist accommodation: unused spaces in venue...
The Guardian •

‘This place is totally dead’: life after the crackdown on Manchester’s counterfeit capital

At any time of day or night, Strangeways, the area in the shadow of the Victorian prison tower of HMP Manchester, used to be a hive of activity. This part of Cheetham Hill just north of Manchester city centre was a focus for counterfeit goods hunters.Even lockdown couldn’t put a stop to the roaring trade, with shops staying open illegally and customers crawling under the almost-closed shutters to bag a bargain.These days, many of those same shutters are permanently down. The shops along Bury New...
The Guardian •

‘It’s about recognising our role in history’: Bradford exhibition to revisit live Somali display

It was, the posters said, a rare chance to see a “little known but interesting people”: a live display of 57 Somali men, women and children who cooked, weaved and danced for the entertainment of hundreds of thousands of Edwardians who flocked to Yorkshire to see them.More than 120 years later, this controversial – and, in its time, incredibly popular – show will be revisited in a new exhibition in Bradford that will put Britain’s colonial legacy under the spotlight.The Somali village is thought...
The Guardian •

The Muslim Vote: Democratic threat or Islamophobic myth? | On the Ground

Politicians and pundits in the UK are fuelling a moral panic around “the Muslim vote." Once seen as a reliable base for the Labour Party, the Muslim community’s growing support for independent candidates and the Green Party is now being framed as a threat to democracy. As the country heads towards the local elections, Taj Ali investigates whether a singular “Muslim vote” exists, and examines how these divisive narratives around sectarian politics are shaping public debate and impacting communiti...
The Guardian •

‘People crave friendship’: thousands flock to resurgence of centuries-old south Asian board game

On a Monday evening in the upstairs room of Dishoom Permit Room in Notting Hill, the atmosphere is already crackling before the games night begins. Chai is poured and passed around, chalk is dusted across wooden boards, and the sharp click of counters striking the surface cuts through the noise of conversation.At one table, Uneeb Khalid, 39, and his friend Varun Solan, 43, are deep in conversation about artificial intelligence while flicking small counters across a wooden board. Later, they reac...
Amaliah •

In Conversation With Onjali Rauf: The Making of the Boy at the Back of the Class | Amaliah

At the start of the stage adaptation of The Boy at the Back of the Class, the sea is not a projection or a set piece, but a cobalt blue sheet – lifted, shaken, and stretched across the stage. It billows and crashes in the hands of the cast, evoking a journey that is abstract and immediate. Later, a football match unfolds without a ball, conjured entirely through movement and sound. It is this kind of theatrical shorthand that defines the production: moments that might take pages to build in the...
The Guardian •

Ifrah F Ahmed’s debut cookbook is a love letter to Somali cuisine, history and people

On a video call from Brooklyn, between stops on her book tour, Ifrah F Ahmed is drinking ginger-root tea. The smell transports her to her childhood kitchen, where her mother often baked aromatic cardamom cake.“That’s a core childhood memory for me,” she said.For Ahmed, food isn’t just about sustenance. It is memory, inheritance and, perhaps most importantly, a record: “Somali history on a plate,” as she puts it.That idea sits at the heart of Soomaaliya: Food, Memory and Migration, her debut cook...
The Guardian •

‘Muslim kids are really underrepresented’: the animated movie where medieval maths meets eager young minds

‘Some people said it doesn’t exist – that it’s a fantasy.” So says Flordeliza Dayrit of the silk road, the vast network of trade routes that once connected Asia, Africa and Europe – and the starting location for Time Hoppers: The Silk Road, the animated feature she co-created with her husband, Michael Milo.Speaking from their home in Edmonton, Canada, the couple describe a project that started with personal intrigue and grew into something far more ambitious. With its theatrical release in UK ci...
The Guardian •

The brilliant students the UK doesn’t want - podcast

In early March, with little warning, the UK announced a ban on student visas for four countries: Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Cameroon.It came as devastating news to Afra Elmahdi (pictured), an exceptional student from Sudan. Having survived civil war and been exiled to the United Arab Emirates, she hoped to further her medical career in the UK. But after being offered a place at the University of Oxford – and as she was waiting to find out whether she’d be offered a prestigious scholarship –...
The Guardian •

The brilliant students the UK doesn’t want - podcast

In early March, with little warning, the UK announced a ban on student visas for four countries: Sudan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and Cameroon.It came as devastating news to Afra Elmahdi (pictured), an exceptional student from Sudan. Having survived civil war and been exiled to the United Arab Emirates, she hoped to further her medical career in the UK. But after being offered a place at the University of Oxford – and as she was waiting to find out whether she’d be offered a prestigious scholarship –...
The Guardian •

The Maga divide over Iran – podcast

Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent based in Washington DC, says reporting on the US and Israeli war on Iran gives you “whiplash”.“We’re so used to going into these kinds of wars and conflicts where there’s a massive plan for what’s going to happen six weeks from now, six months from now,” he tells Michael Safi.“I think the Iran war is unique in American history, for the fact that so little planning, it seems, was put into specifically the political changes, what the goals a...
The Guardian •

Why Ireland is giving a basic income to artists – podcast

The Irish government’s Basic Income for the Arts initiative will provide €325 (£283) a week to 2,000 eligible artists, after a pilot found that the scheme recouped more than its net cost and improved the wellbeing of participants.“It’s effectively a subsidy to help them focus on their art because most of them are juggling other jobs, sometimes multiple jobs,” the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent, Rory Carroll, tells Helen Pidd. “The idea is that this will facilitate your art, make your life easi...
The Guardian •

‘El Guapo’: The Spanish PM standing up to Trump – podcast

When the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran two weeks ago, the response from European leaders was muted and ambiguous. Uneasy about the strikes but unwilling to condemn Donald Trump outright.There was one notable exception, however: Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain. As he would say in his public announcement – explaining to Spaniards why he had not allowed the US to use two military bases – the Spanish government’s position could be summarised in four words: ‘no a la guerra’,...
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