Jonathan Larson’s much-loved show about New York artists has been revived for its 30th anniversary with a cast including the Stranger Things star

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• Updates on Manchester City and Nations League news

• Fixtures | Get Football Daily | And you can email Billy

Women’s Champions League: “Of course there is a lot of noise but the players are very calm – I haven’t seen or noticed anything that will take any percentage out of the players’ performance” – the words of Andrée Jeglertz last night after his Manchester City team were held to a 1-1 draw by Real Madrid. Linda Caicedo’s opener was cancelled out by Khadija Shaw in City’s first game since the Premier League’s guilty verdict.

Tom Garry was at Joie Stadium to gauge the mood …

Speaking to supporters on the bridge that connects this venue with the neighbouring Etihad Stadium, some appeared relaxed about the situation and unsure what it had to do with the women’s team, while others were clearly troubled and looking forward to watching some football as a form of escapism.

An elderly City fan, who did not wish to be named, said pre-match: “We’ve been through rough times before, we’ll come through rough times again,” in a matter-of-fact manner. Another simply demonstrated what appears to be a growing dislike for reporters asking about the 115 charges when they said angrily “you’re from the media?” before using an expletive and promptly walking away.

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Dozens of schools have been damaged and nearly 3,000 teenagers have been detained since the start of the tensions

Some 100 schools have been severely damaged during French high school protests that escalated this week into “urban violence,” with 40 headteachers injured, according to the latest figures from the French education ministry.

The pupils’ grievances range from overloaded timetables and overcrowded classes to insufficient teachers and unbearable temperatures during heatwaves earlier this year. Riot police have been deployed to confront the increasingly violent protests.

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(World of Echo)
With musical ideas spanning mariachi and motorik beats, and lyrics with Kneecap-grade rage, this brilliant collective evolve tradition with stinging, joyful songs

Quicksilver and giddy in its exploration of Irish music, language and identity, Trá Pháidín’s second album bursts open the idea of a 21st-century traditional folk record. It woos you with the reverb-smothered guitars and birdsong-like flutes of Tí Mhichael Phaddy (Michael Paddy’s House, an opener suggesting a psychedelically perfect rurality) before an Irish woman cuts in, bigging up her countryside Airbnb on the phone. A shouty local then comically interrupts her.

Trá Pháidín (Paddy’s Beach) are a six-strong collective of brilliant musicians from Galway, Ireland’s largest Irish-speaking county, and their album’s title, Cloch’s Claí (Stone and Dry Stone Wall), suggests that each track plays its own scabrous, weight-bearing part in the whole. The 45 minutes unfold as an interrupted sequence, full of improvisation, texture and ornament, the band freely roaming other genres, revealing them as connected neighbourhoods.

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People describe their return to physical media – whether to protect data, support artists, or retain control of one’s choices

For some, it is the security of knowing they have a physical copy of their favourite films and music, free from algorithms, interruptions and the vagaries of streaming. For others, it is the sound of needle on vinyl, the click of a cassette player and the ability to interact with a physical format.

We asked people if they were moving back to CDs, DVDs, vinyl and older formats to escape algorithmically curated content. Here are some of their responses.

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In a region of Nigeria blighted by decades of pollution, Martha Agbani and her team are not just replanting trees but regaining ownership of their lost lands and livelihoods

A toxic landscape was familiar to Martha Agbani when she was growing up – the smell of crude oil in the air, rivers running black and trees dying on the banks. In Ogoniland, in Nigeria’s oil-exploited Niger delta, Agbani saw the spills rot away the mangrove forests and destroy the livelihoods of communities around her.

Now, she is training women to plant them back – one fragile green shoot at a time.

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Naar schatting 50.000 Russische militairen zijn sinds het begin van de oorlog in Oekraïne gedeserteerd. Vier deserteurs vertellen over hun ervaringen. „Ze hebben hem laten inslapen als een hond. Sindsdien slaap ik niet goed meer.”

Wat vinden we acceptabel AI-gebruik? Dat is „de grote vraag voor de opinieredactie”, stond boven een lange verantwoording in de vorige zaterdagkrant.

De man die vastzit voor het neersteken van meester Recep in juli 2025 in Alblasserdam heeft niet meegewerkt aan gedragskundig onderzoek in het Pieter Baan Centrum (PBC). De deskundigen hebben daarom geen conclusies kunnen trekken over eventuele stoornissen.

De man die vastzit voor het neersteken van meester Recep in juli 2025 in Alblasserdam heeft niet meegewerkt aan gedragskundig onderzoek in het Pieter Baan Centrum (PBC). De deskundigen hebben daarom geen conclusies kunnen trekken over eventuele stoornissen.

DEN HAAG (ANP) - Dilan Yeşilgöz klaagt over "ruis", "beeldvorming" en "commotie" over het Belastingplan. Om die reden was het volgens de VVD-leider "geen makkelijke week".

In de VVD-achterban is weliswaar "angst voor een linkse agenda", die volgens haar bestaat uit het verhogen van allerlei belastingen. "Dat lag niet eens voor. Dat is niet eens aan de orde."

Ondanks concessies aan zowel de linkse als rechtse oppositie is een meerderheid voor het Belastingplan nog steeds niet in zicht. Yeşilgöz: "Ik zie absoluut een meerderheid voor het Belastingplan. En ik zou het mooi vinden als die nog steeds zo breed mogelijk is."

'Terecht kritiek'

Yeşilgöz somde een paar stappen op die het kabinet wil zetten met het Belastingplan. "Er zit een oplossing voor box 3 in. Er zit lagere vliegbelasting in. Er zit verlaging van de accijns in."

Waar dat geld vandaan moet komen, is nog deels onbekend. "Partijen hadden wel echt terecht kritiek op een aantal punten. En daar gaan we ook serieus mee aan de slag."

MAASTRICHT (ANP) - Er komt geen verder strafrechtelijk onderzoek naar de Gazaanse student van de Universiteit Maastricht die in een video suggereerde betrokken te zijn geweest bij de aanval op Israël op 7 oktober. Het Openbaar Ministerie en de politie zien geen aanleiding daartoe. Na beoordeling is de conclusie dat er geen sprake is van strafbare feiten, zoals betrokkenheid bij een aanslag, verheerlijking van terrorisme of opruiing.

Volgens mediaberichten plaatste de student op 26 september een video op Instagram waarbij hij op televisie naar beelden van de aanslag kijkt en "This is me" zegt wanneer gemaskerde Hamas-strijders in beeld komen. De video is inmiddels verwijderd.

De Universiteit Maastricht, die de student heeft geschorst, is om een reactie gevraagd.

GÖTEBORG (ANP) - Volvo Cars heeft last van een zwakke automarkt in China en de Verenigde Staten. De Zweedse autofabrikant kampte in het derde kwartaal met een daling van de verkopen en trekt nu zijn verwachtingen voor het hele jaar in.

Volvo spreekt van verslechterende marktomstandigheden in China. In de Verenigde Staten herstellen de verkopen zich minder snel dan verwacht. De Europese markt "blijft veerkrachtig", stelt het bedrijf.

Eerder dit jaar rekende Volvo er nog op dat de autoverkopen in de tweede jaarhelft aanzienlijk zouden stijgen. Ook verwachtte het bedrijf een veel betere vrije kasstroom, die aangeeft hoeveel geld er daadwerkelijk in- en uitstroomt. Volvo trekt die verwachtingen nu in en vindt de marktomstandigheden te onzeker om met nieuwe voorspellingen te komen.

Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma spreekt zich duidelijk uit over het leed van de mensen in Gaza. “Gewonde en zieke Palestijnse kinderen opvangen in ons land, daar ligt de rode lijn.”

“Ik weet dat het eerder is gegaan over een rode lijn, maar déze rode lijn mag echt niet overschreden worden”, zegt Sjoerdsma. De Wereldgezondheidsorganisatie, het internationale Rode Kruis en Nederlandse artsen roepen allemaal op om de kinderen in Nederland te helpen, maar daar heeft de D66-minister geen boodschap aan. “Hulp bieden in Nederland zou een gamechanger zijn voor ons kabinet. Met de situatie in Gaza moet je gewoon een harde grens trekken en zeggen: tot hier en niet verder. Laat dit een voorbeeld zijn voor de rest van Nederland: sta ergens voor, spreek je uit.”

​

&

Welcome to another installment of On Call, The Register's Friday column that shares your tech support stories. This week we're taking a detour into tech sales, courtesy of a reader we'll Regomize as "Carson," whose employer sent him to China without first securing a visa. The adventure began when a colleague called with a fateful question: "Can you travel to China tomorrow to attend a sales meeting about our short messaging and notification products?" UK-based Carson was available, but doubted his employer could obtain the necessary visa in time. "I was told not to worry; the company would arrange it," he told On Call. So he agreed to go. "I was up bright and early the next morning when I felt a sharp pain," he wrote. "There was a wasp in the leg of my jeans which had stung me three times. That did not bode well." Nor did the prospect of spending the 12-hour flight to Hong Kong in economy. "Normally I would have been in business class for a flight of that length but there were no seats left at such short notice," he wrote. "It was not pleasant with a swollen and throbbing thigh." At the transfer desk in Hong Kong, Carson explained that he still lacked a visa for mainland China, but that his employer was trying to secure one. After making a flurry of calls, airline staff issued him a boarding pass and told him to hurry or he would miss the flight. And then his employer called with instructions not to board until told to do so. Carson became that passenger holding up the flight until his phone rang again and a colleague assured him that someone would meet him in Shanghai. "I was, indeed, met at Shanghai Airport, airside," Carson told On Call. "My colleague informed me that I was to be denied entry to China because I lacked a visa. A couple of large policemen took possession of my passport and escorted me through baggage claim and into a smoke-filled room." The local police told Carson he would have to pay a fine, but that they would not accept a credit card. "I had no Chinese money because it was illegal to import or export it. So I was marched to a bureau de change that exchanged every banknote I had on me – $250 – for Chinese banknotes." Carson's fine was the equivalent of $247. "I was told I would be placed in a hotel overnight, under guard, and deported in the morning," Carson wrote. His employer intervened and arranged a better hotel, sparing Carson a night sharing a room with Chinese police. Carson might reasonably have expected to sleep after that ordeal. Instead, colleagues piled into his hotel room to work on the sales presentation they still hoped to deliver. His police guards stayed to watch as the preparations stretched through the evening and finally ended at 3am. Carson finally caught three hours of shuteye before the police woke him, escorted him to breakfast, and then to the airport. "I had to buy a ticket back to Hong Kong and oddly, only first class was available. The police took me to the first-class lounge then to my comfortable seat. Only when sitting down with my seatbelt fastened did I get my passport back." While Carson was being expelled, his visa finally came through. He was therefore soon aboard another flight to Shanghai, where he arrived at night and met a waiting taxi driver... who delivered the news that the bid team was now 300 km away in another city. Carson got in the cab and arrived at midnight. "The meeting was with a team representing a state organization. It started at 9am and ended at about 10pm," he told On Call. "I gave a 15-minute presentation but most of the meeting was conducted in Mandarin" – a language Carson does not speak. "After helping to tidy the meeting room and grabbing a quick beer with a Hong Kong-based colleague, I went to bed at about midnight before getting up at 6am for my taxi to the airport." Carson eventually made it home and, in his email to On Call, rated the adventure: "Not my best trip." What's the worst business trip technology has inflicted on you? The first step of your journey to an appearance in On Call involves clicking here to email us your story! ®

SergioQ79 - Osanpo Photographer - has added a photo to the pool:

A Matsuyama, una scuola di flower design espone sulla strada tutto ciò che serve al proprio lavoro.

Piante, vasi, scatole, sacchetti, fili, oggetti decorativi e materiali ancora da sistemare. A prima vista sembra esserci troppo. Eppure niente appare davvero fuori posto. Ogni cosa sembra occupare esattamente lo spazio che le è stato assegnato.

Non è il disordine a colpire, ma il modo in cui il disordine viene tenuto insieme. Una forma di ordine senza simmetria, costruita attraverso l’uso quotidiano.

Anche il mio riflesso nella vetrina trova il suo posto. Non entra nella scena. Era già lì, insieme a tutto il resto.

松山の街角にある、フラワーデザインの店。
店先には、仕事に使うものがそのまま並んでいる。

植物。鉢。箱。袋。線。飾り。まだ片づけられていない材料。少し多すぎるようにも見える。けれど、どれも置き場所を間違えてはいない。

整っているというより、使われながら形を保っている。
左右対称ではない。きれいに隠されてもいない。
それでも、全体にはひとつの秩序がある。

ガラスに映った自分の姿も、そこに収まっている。
邪魔をしているのではない。
最初から、すべての中にいた。

In Matsuyama, a flower design school displays everything it needs for its work directly onto the street.

Plants, vases, boxes, bags, wires, decorative objects, and materials still waiting to be arranged. At first, there seems to be too much. And yet nothing feels truly out of place. Every object appears to occupy exactly the space it has been given.

What stands out is not the disorder, but the way the disorder is held together. An order without symmetry, shaped by everyday use.

Even my reflection in the window finds its place. It does not enter the scene. It was already there, among everything else.

SergioQ79 - Osanpo Photographer - posted a photo:

A Matsuyama, una scuola di flower design espone sulla strada tutto ciò che serve al proprio lavoro.

Piante, vasi, scatole, sacchetti, fili, oggetti decorativi e materiali ancora da sistemare. A prima vista sembra esserci troppo. Eppure niente appare davvero fuori posto. Ogni cosa sembra occupare esattamente lo spazio che le è stato assegnato.

Non è il disordine a colpire, ma il modo in cui il disordine viene tenuto insieme. Una forma di ordine senza simmetria, costruita attraverso l’uso quotidiano.

Anche il mio riflesso nella vetrina trova il suo posto. Non entra nella scena. Era già lì, insieme a tutto il resto.

松山の街角にある、フラワーデザインの店。
店先には、仕事に使うものがそのまま並んでいる。

植物。鉢。箱。袋。線。飾り。まだ片づけられていない材料。少し多すぎるようにも見える。けれど、どれも置き場所を間違えてはいない。

整っているというより、使われながら形を保っている。
左右対称ではない。きれいに隠されてもいない。
それでも、全体にはひとつの秩序がある。

ガラスに映った自分の姿も、そこに収まっている。
邪魔をしているのではない。
最初から、すべての中にいた。

In Matsuyama, a flower design school displays everything it needs for its work directly onto the street.

Plants, vases, boxes, bags, wires, decorative objects, and materials still waiting to be arranged. At first, there seems to be too much. And yet nothing feels truly out of place. Every object appears to occupy exactly the space it has been given.

What stands out is not the disorder, but the way the disorder is held together. An order without symmetry, shaped by everyday use.

Even my reflection in the window finds its place. It does not enter the scene. It was already there, among everything else.