Péter Nádas obituary - "Nádas had lived, as he reflected, under a succession of Hungarian regimes—fascist, communist, oligarchical and populist—'that strove against knowledge'. As these grand designs succeeded one another, always undermined by human weakness and delusion, he embarked instead on an inner history of his times rooted in the entangled desires and dreams of people who seek, but never find, escape from their besetting isolation."[1,2,3] (previously)

Since Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024, there has been a 63% rise in Americans renting properties in Scotland. Politics is one reason – but there are many other surprising motivations …

Four years ago, when Tammi Gaw, a 50-year-old property adviser, moved from Washington DC to Glasgow with her Scottish partner, friends and family laughed at her. “People back home kept asking me: ‘Ha ha, why would you want to move to Scotland, where it rains all the time?’ Now those same people are asking me: ‘Hey, how do I move there?’”

They are not alone. According to data from Rightmove, 28% of inquiries from Americans about buying a home in the UK are about Scotland, a larger number than for London. And a recent survey from lettings platform Goodlord reported a 63% rise in the number of Americans renting properties in Scotland since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024.

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Play is one of eight world premieres in programme with global conflict and political upheaval at its heart

A new play about John Major’s rise to power, written by James Graham, will premiere at the National Theatre in London next year, as part of a season that puts political upheaval and global conflict at the heart of its programme.

Major reunites Graham with Jeremy Herrin, the director behind the acclaimed parliamentary drama This House. It will chart Major’s emergence from relatively obscure whip to prime minister, taking over from Margaret Thatcher at a pivotal moment in Britain’s relationship with Europe.

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Every decade, the BBC’s continued existence must be secured through an elaborate multi-year negotiation with the government. But what does charter renewal actually involve – and will it secure the BBC’s long-term future?

In a temperature-controlled room in a suburb of Reading, the basis of the BBC’s existence is kept in a flat, square, faded navy case, the size of a large pizza box. Inside is a stack of vellum – calfskin, pounded until it forms a milky and translucent paper that is supposed to last for thousands of years. The queen’s red wax seal is secured to its base with red and gold cord. The pages are strapped down with two strips of white elastic, more PE kit than Buckingham Palace.

The document is unique. Like hundreds of other British organisations, the BBC was founded via a Royal Charter, granted by the monarch of the day. But unlike Oxford colleges, the British Film Institute, or the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards, the BBC was given an expiry date. When the British Broadcasting Corporation was founded, in the 1920s, radio was seen as such an uncertain, risky technology that the government only gave it a 10-year guarantee, after which it would have to seek a new charter.

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Aardman’s hero is back in The Beast of Mossy Bottom – a terrifying tale of frankenfood, pitchfork-wielding villagers and a monster with suspiciously stiff orange hair. Our writer meets its makers and moulds her very own Shaun

The Aztec West industrial estate in Bristol was opened by Margaret Thatcher in December 1989. One hundred and sixty acres of breeze block and mirrored glass, it is home to about 7,000 employees and 100 companies, including EDF, EE, HSBC, Co-op Legal and Spandex. It has its own gym, spa, church and morgue. Step inside Unit 1410, though, and bucolic England is magically restored. A farm complete with sheep. Rolling fields in autumn colours. A small parish town boasting post office, war memorial, chippy. It looks lush. But before you hit up Rightmove, I should say: Mossingham is only two feet tall. And plasticine.

It’s January 2026 and Aardman animations are about halfway through production on Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. The 300-odd staff in this shed are full speed ahead – which means each of the 30 animators is rattling out almost two seconds of footage a day.

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Experts say failure to immediately review cases involving corrupt police officers risks ‘ruining’ more lives

Convictions that imprisoned police officers were involved in obtaining should be automatically reviewed to correct miscarriages of justice such as those perpetrated by the corrupt and racist officer DS Derek Ridgewell, a report says.

The proposed Trew’s law, named after Winston Trew – who was framed by Ridgewell and spent decades fighting to clear his name – would trigger an immediate, independent review of past cases linked to any jailed officer in England and Wales.

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Ask-a-Muslim campaign takes to streets as country faces prospect of extremists entering highest levels of government

Not far from one of Scandinavia’s biggest shopping malls, Kashif Virk stood on the pavement, handing out flyers and smiling at those who passed by. On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon, the Swedish-born imam had taken to the street to invite people to ask him anything they had ever wanted to know about Islam.

For years, Sweden’s far right has peddled its own, distorted view of Islam, portraying it as being at odds with Swedish values. The Ask-a-Muslim – or Fråga en Muslim – campaign, conceived by Virk in 2017, was his way of fighting back.

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In two-hour address, president asked voters to ‘pretend that I’m on the ballot’ despite being deeply unpopular among electorate

Donald Trump said every adult citizen in the US will receive a dividend of $5,000 if Republicans retain the House and Senate in the midterm elections, while delivering a historically long convention speech in Dallas in which the president assailed Democrats as radical communists and defended his unpopular war in Iran.

“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump told the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, claiming the payment was possible “because of our tremendous strength and success economically”.

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De Amerikaanse president Donald Trump wil alle Amerikaanse volwassenen 5.000 dollar (een kleine 4.300 euro) geven als de Republikeinen de meerderheid in het Congres behouden bij…

In het reguliere medische circuit vond Anouk Kragtwijk geen oplossing voor de buikklachten waarmee ze al jaren rondliep. Haar positieve ervaringen met orthomoleculaire therapie veranderden haar blik op het nut van alternatieve geneeswijzen.

Het Nederlandse landschap heeft ruimte voor véél meer inheemse bloemen. Maar hoe kom je aan planten die precies geschikt zijn? „Hier word je toch gewoon vrolijk van?”

Energieproducent RWE verbrandt in Nederlandse energiecentrales hout waarvan de kap Maleisische bossen aantast. De toezichthouder stelde dit zelf vast, maar gaf het hout toch het stempel ‘duurzaam’. De politie en de Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit doen onderzoek.

AMSTERDAM (ANP) - De klimaatzaak van Milieudefensie tegen ING kan definitief doorgaan. De rechtbank in Amsterdam heeft de milieuorganisatie ontvankelijk verklaard en alle argumenten die de bank daartegen had ingebracht afgewezen.

ING had onder meer betoogd dat Milieudefensie haar achterban niet goed zou vertegenwoordigen, omdat ze die "op het verkeerde been" zou zetten over de uitstoot van broeikasgassen waar de bank aan bijdraagt. Volgens de advocaten van ING wekt Milieudefensie de indruk dat de bank zelf CO2 uitstoot, terwijl het gaat om de uitstoot door klanten van ING.

De rechtbank ziet niets in dit argument en oordeelt dat op de website van Milieudefensie "voldoende duidelijk" staat dat het gaat om de uitstoot van activiteiten die ING financiert. Bovendien is bij het publiek bekend dat ING een bank is. Daarmee is het "niet aannemelijk dat het publiek veronderstelt dat ING zelf direct al de emissies uitstoot", zo staat in het vonnis.

"Adequate spreekbuis"

Volgens de rechter kan Milieudefensie ook voldoende aantonen dat het opkomt voor klimaatbelangen en duurzame ontwikkeling en daarmee "een adequate spreekbuis" is voor de achterban die dit belangrijk vindt. "Verder heeft Milieudefensie tot maart 2025 bijna 30.000 steunbetuigingen ontvangen voor deze procedure tegen ING", voegt de rechtbank eraan toe.

Milieudefensie eist in de rechtszaak dat ING, de grootste bank van Nederland, geheel in lijn gaat handelen met het Klimaatakkoord van Parijs. Dat betekent volgens de eisers dat de uitstoot waar ING indirect aan bijdraagt door voor financiering te zorgen in 2030 moet halveren ten opzichte van 2019. In 2050 moet die uitstoot met 99 procent zijn verlaagd. Ook zou de bank afscheid moeten nemen van olie- en gasbedrijven die nog nieuwe velden aanboren. Volgens Milieudefensie beweegt ING juist de andere kant op.

"Niet realistisch of redelijk"

ING vindt de eisen "niet realistisch of redelijk". De advocaten van de bank hadden in hun verzoek om de milieuorganisatie niet-ontvankelijk te verklaren verder betoogd dat het klimaat niets zou opschieten met een toewijzing, omdat de werkelijke uitstoot er niet door zou dalen. De rechters vinden dit argumenten die juist om een inhoudelijke beoordeling vragen.

Milieudefensie is niet verrast over de uitkomst, maar noemt die wel "een belangrijke eerste overwinning" in de zaak. Die gaat nu eerst schriftelijk verder. Zittingen zijn waarschijnlijk volgend voorjaar.

Vandaag blijft het op de meeste plaatsen droog in de regio en wisselen bewolking en zon elkaar af. De temperatuur komt vanmiddag uit op ongeveer 20 graden en er staat slechts een zwakke tot matige zuidwestenwind. Al met al best een aangenaam weertype.