Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days
Continue reading...A blue micromoon is a rare spectacle, though it’s not as blue or as micro as you might imagine
This weekend the night skies will feature a rare spectacle – a blue micromoon. We take a look at what the phrase means and how to catch a glimpse of the event.
Continue reading...The Canadian entrepreneur has always pushed the boundaries of gene editing, once attempting to turn horses into unicorns. Now she is set on modifying human embryos – something her controversial ex-husband was jailed for doing
On a Friday evening in late April, Cathy Tie, the Canadian serial entrepreneur and self-styled “Biotech Barbie”, is centre stage at New York City’s famous Carnegie Hall, performing Saint-Saens’ Piano Concerto No 2 on a gleaming Steinway grand piano, accompanied by an orchestra. Her floor-length pink tulle gown shimmers with gold sequins; her dark hair cascades in waves over her caped shoulders. The music is passionate, but Tie’s expression is impassive. Her eyes dart between the piano keys and the sheet music in a flurry of concentration, but the rest of her face is totally still. She isn’t lost in the music; she’s focused on the job.
After the last notes ring out, Tie stands up and breaks into a tight smile and a brief bow before walking off stage, only to immediately return to receive the slightly awkward Happy Birthday sung by everyone in the orchestra and auditorium. This is Tie’s 30th birthday party. She has hired Carnegie Hall to mark the occasion. And, as I discover at the cocktail afterparty, most of the people invited to this performance – including me – have either only just met Tie or don’t know her at all.
Continue reading...As a boy in the apartheid era I saw footage of the Gunners beaten in the 1969 League Cup final – on Saturday I will attend the Champions League showpiece with my son
I fell for Arsenal in the white‑and-black world of apartheid, where television was banned as a tool of communist propaganda and the club of my dreams was 6,000 miles away and mostly invisible to me. So it feels fitting that a surreal love story that began for a small boy in South Africa in 1969 will reach a new peak on Saturday night in eastern Europe. This 65-year-old Arsenal fan and his 25-year-old son, who is just as besotted by the Gunners, will be at the Champions League final in Budapest as we face the dazzling powerhouse of Paris Saint-Germain.
It’s the final game of Arsenal’s tumultuous grind of a season and we are as exhausted as we are still euphoric. We will remember that my last game of this campaign could have been Swindon’s 2-1 home defeat by Chesterfield in League Two. I have had my share of pain with Arsenal; but it would have been a far deeper burden to have spent 57 years supporting Swindon.
Continue reading...Some Iranians hoped foreign intervention would unseat the regime but instead the US-Israel war has damaged livelihoods and strengthened those in power
As Donald Trump swung this week between threats of new military action against Iran and predictions that a lasting ceasefire deal was imminent, many Iranians were left exhausted and gripped by uncertainty.
Despite the partial lifting of an internet shutdown that began when the war started on 28 February, fears of worsening repression at home have also fuelled pessimism about the future among some of those to whom the Guardian spoke.
Continue reading...As flights and hotels sell out and prices soar, supporters go to great lengths to see Gunners face Paris Saint-Germain
Since Arsenal’s euphoric Premier League win last week, it has been a never-ending party in much of north London (apart from in Tottenham, although they had their own cause for celebration). And with Arsenal poised to play in the Uefa Champions League final on Saturday, Gooner fever is about to spread to the continent. So it was not surprising that in Stansted’s departure lounge, about 30 miles north-east of central London, the team’s iconic red-and-white shirts were an unmissable sight on Friday morning.
Most Gunners – or Gooners, as they are colloquially known – were preparing to embark on (mostly indirect) journeys to Budapest, where Arsenal will face Paris Saint-Germain. “We’ll get there by train, plane and automobiles,” said Darren Cornish. The 53-year-old IT manager from Hemel Hampstead was not exaggerating. Arsenal fans the Guardian spoke to plan on trekking to the Hungarian capital via overnight buses and trains from surrounding countries after flights to Budapest spiked following their Premier League victory.
Continue reading...Pentagon chief also tells Singapore defence summit of ‘alarm’ at China’s military buildup but says US does not seek ‘needless confrontation’
The US has more than sufficient stockpiles of weapons and is “more than capable” of resuming the war with Iran, Pete Hegseth told a defence summit hours after a meeting in Washington failed to produce a deal to end the conflict.
“Our ability to recommence if necessary is we are more than capable,” the US defence secretary told the Shangri-La Dialogue, a defence summit held in Singapore on Saturday. “Our stockpiles are more than suited for that, both there and around the globe because of how we balance exquisite and more plentiful munitions.”
Continue reading...Suggestion the Luce EV should be stripped of prancing horse logo shows strength of feeling from Ferrari fans
For passionate enthusiasts, Ferraris are not merely cars but works of art. The emotion stirred by their classic red curves is, they say, akin to standing before a Michelangelo sculpture, while the sound of the engine revving evokes a sensation comparable to listening to the music of Giuseppe Verdi or Giacomo Puccini.
Which is why the sight of the Italian carmaker’s first fully electric car, the Luce EV, unveiled this week, left many fans aghast.
Continue reading...
SC-Wang(TY) has added a photo to the pool:
Monzen-Nakamachi - Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine
Tomioka Hachiman Shrine is a Hachiman shrine located in Tomioka, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Commonly known as Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine, it is the largest Hachiman shrine in Tokyo. The Fukagawa Hachiman Festival, held in August, is one of the three major festivals of the Edo period. It is classified as a Beppu Shrine. As the shrine that inspired sumo wrestling in the Edo period, it contains stone monuments related to sumo, such as the "Yokozuna Rikishi Monument."
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump verkeert nog altijd in uitstekende gezondheid. Dat zegt althans zijn arts in een verklaring die het Witte Huis heeft vrijgegeven.
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Alle bezuinigingen op sociale zekerheid moeten van tafel, anders wordt er gestaakt. Dat was in het kort de boodschap van de vakbonden aan het kabinet, dat 6,5 miljard euro wil…
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I am once again seeking a contact inside the Yahoo DNS team. Early this morning the "home" record vanished from the "mcom.com" domain. I need it put back. Oddly, the "mosaic" record is still there.
My last contact there was Paul Frieden, in 2023, but the only email address I have bounces. Ideally I would ask Paul, "Hey, can you introduce me to your replacement?" Failing that, I'd like to find anyone currently on the team responsible for Yahoo's DNS records.
Brand identity for Gestaliz ? a learning ecosystem built on a simple principle: learning is not about accumulating information, it's about transforming behavior. The project is rooted in the idea of structural perception ? just as tools expand our ability to see what was once invisible, Gestaliz reveals hidden patterns in how people learn, decide, and evolve. The brand operates in the space between awareness and action. A system designed to organize the chaos of knowledge and give form to learning that is applicable, tangible, and alive. Visually, this translates into a language that balances rationality and sensitivity: a typographic approach with clarity and presence, modular elements that connect as a system in constant motion, and a palette that conveys depth without losing lightness. More than teaching, Gestaliz structures. More than informing, it guides. A system designed to transform intention into direction ? and direction into continuous evolution. Studio: Vilarejo.
De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump is nog steeds in uitstekende gezondheid. Dat zegt zijn arts in een verklaring die vrijdag door het Witte Huis is uitgegeven.
"President Trump verkeert nog steeds in uitstekende gezondheid met een sterke hart-, long-, neurologische en algemene fysieke conditie", aldus Trumps arts, kapitein Sean Barbabella. De arts voegde eraan toe dat Trump "volledig geschikt is om alle taken van opperbevelhebber en staatshoofd uit te voeren." Wel adviseert de arts Trump om af te vallen. De 1,91 meter lange president weegt met nu 108 kilo ruim 6 kilo meer dan vorig jaar.
De 79-jarige Trump onderging afgelopen dinsdag zijn jaarlijkse medische routinecontrole. "De president is helemaal bij wat betreft alle nodige preventieve controles en vaccinaties", aldus de verklaring. Trump schreef zelf dinsdag al op Truth Social dat "alles PERFECT in orde is".
Toch wordt er in Amerikaanse media geregeld gespeculeerd over Trumps gezondheid. Zo zou op recente foto's een vlekkerige uitslag in de nek te zien zijn. En vorig jaar doken beelden op van gezwollen enkels en een gekneusde hand die met make-up zou zijn gemaskeerd.
Over de blauwe plekken op zijn gekneusde hand meldt de verklaring dat dit komt door "veelvuldig handen schudden in combinatie met het gebruik van aspirine ter preventie van hart- en vaatziekten".
Nederland vergrijst, dat is een feit. Het aantal AOW’ers stijgt, het aantal werkenden per gepensioneerde daalt, en de uitgaven aan de AOW liepen op van grofweg 19 miljard rond de eeuwwisseling naar ruim 50 miljard euro nu. Tegelijk wordt de AOW voor het eerst meer dan de helft betaald uit belastinginkomsten in plaats van premies. Dat klinkt als een waarschuwingslicht op het dashboard van de schatkist – en precies zo wordt het ook politiek gepresenteerd.
Maar wie inzoomt op de cijfers, ziet een veel minder apocalyptisch beeld. Economen kijken niet alleen naar miljarden, maar naar de AOW als percentage van de totale economie. Dan blijkt dat de kosten al decennia bewegen in een bandbreedte van grofweg 4 tot 6 procent van het bbp. De jongste ramingen gaan uit van een stijging tot circa 5 à 5,5 procent in de jaren rond 2040 – een forse hap, maar geen ontsporing. Eerdere prognoses, die nóg hogere percentages voorspelden, zijn bovendien stelselmatig te somber gebleken.
Toch blijft in Den Haag het woord “onbetaalbaar” rondzingen. Dat is handig: wie iets wil veranderen aan de AOW-leeftijd, aan de hoogte van de uitkering of aan de manier van financieren, begint niet met de boodschap “het kán prima, maar we willen het anders verdelen”. In plaats daarvan wordt de indruk gewekt dat er geen keuze ís – dat de demografie ons dwingt.
Die dwang valt bij nader inzien tegen. Natuurlijk, de AOW blijft een enorme kostenpost en concurreert op de begroting met zorg, defensie en klimaatbeleid. Maar of we ouderen laten meebetalen via hogere belastingen, werkenden zwaarder belasten met premies, of bijvoorbeeld vermogens sterker aanspreken, is uiteindelijk een politieke keuze. Wie “onbetaalbaar” zegt, probeert een verdelingsvraagstuk te verkopen als natuurwet.
Daarmee wordt het echte debat handig omzeild: wat vinden we een fatsoenlijke oudedagsvoorziening, en hoe eerlijk verdelen we de rekening tussen jong en oud? Pas als die vragen open op tafel liggen, blijkt hoe rekbaar het begrip “onbetaalbaar” eigenlijk is.
