From ludicrously fun 80s love affairs to outrageously scandalous drama, this has already been a year of great television. Here are our favourite shows of the year
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Continue reading...If you’re in a rut, kids can show you the way out. That’s the latest message from the author of the bestselling Steal Like an Artist. I asked him to help me rediscover my playful, creative side …
As a child, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. I’d spend hours daydreaming about the future, my exciting life and what I’d do with all that autonomy, such as own exotic pets, paint my walls bright pink and stay up all night.
Now that I’m in my mid-30s, it’s fair to say that adulthood has somewhat lost its lustre. Nothing is wrong, exactly – I’ve even achieved some of my dreams, with a bright pink bathroom and two weird cats – but there’s still a sense of going through the motions, and my days being dully predictable: gym, work, cook, clean, collapse on to the sofa.
Continue reading...Like many couples, my husband and I bickered over who would do what and who did more. We came up with a radical solution
It was when my second child was born in 2021 that I realised I needed a new system for parenting. We were coming out of lockdown, and I was tired and overwhelmed. During the pandemic, my husband and I had built our own mini unit in the UK, as our families lived in the US. I had decided to start my own literary agency as soon as my daughter was old enough to start nursery at six months. It wasn’t ideal timing, but I wanted to start as soon as possible.
I approached finding a parenting system the way I think many women of my generation do, with the same intensity that we would have approached a school dissertation. I decided to crowdsource my research: I watched videos of home-schooling mums in the US demonstrating their morning routines, I read every parenting book I could, I listened to podcasters interviewing mothers who seemingly “had it all”, and listened to others who argued that “having it all” was impossible.
Continue reading...As a former NBA player, I know that criticism is part of the game. But in an age when players are under attack constantly, the Knick star is an example to us all
The entire basketball world is singing the praises of Jalen Brunson and rightfully so. He has led the Knicks to the NBA finals for the first time since 1999 and has united the entire city of New York in a unique way.
On every New York street you can see people of every race, color, creed, nationality, religion, economic status and political affiliation unified in excitement as the team seek their first NBA title since 1973. While older Knicks fans break out their Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks jerseys, younger fans have the names of Brunson, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns on their backs. Chants of “MVP!” fill the air in every New York borough every time Jalen Brunson steps up to the free-throw line. Knicks fans have staged watch parties on the sidewalks, in the parks, and on the corners. All of New York is, in the words of JadaKiss, “outside”.
Etan Thomas played in the NBA from 2000 through 2011. He is a published author, podcaster, poet, activist and motivational speaker.
Continue reading...Even the finest miss out on a place at the finals and for those who do get there, decisions can make or break a dream
Ismail Elfath was taking his children to the park near his home in Texas when a message arrived. “Congratulations,” it read. Elfath hugged his wife. Fifa had selected him for his second World Cup. Relief and pride swept over him. “Going to a World Cup is the dream of every referee, but going to a second one means you have stayed consistent for eight years plus,” he said.
For referees, the World Cup is the pinnacle. The tournament comes around only every four years, and only a tiny number make the cut. “First you have to be the best in your own country, and even then you might not be selected,” the former Swiss referee Urs Meier said.
Continue reading...Marine biologist Issah Seidu has found a way for Ghana’s fishing communities to earn a living – and help protect the ancient and critically endangered fish species
Guitarfish are an odd-looking and ancient species, with the tail of a shark and the flattened body of a ray, but their coveted fins have driven populations to the brink of extinction. In west Africa, where their meat is also a local delicacy, many guitarfish species are among the most critically endangered fish in the ocean.
Conservationists at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) describe the slow-maturing ray, which produce young annually, as an “indicator species”, which reflect the overall health of an ecosystem and pose challenges in the way coastal fishing of them is managed. The IUCN red list categorises more than half of guitarfish species as critically endangered.
Continue reading...The latest in our series of writers highlighting their most rewatched comfort films is a dread-filled journey into the woods
I’m not sure I could blame anyone for choosing, as their feelgood film, a film in which the characters feel good. Cinema is supposed to manipulate us emotionally - that’s the whole point. Nemo feels good when he’s found, and we feel good for him. By this logic, horror films should make us feel bad. So, when it was released in 1999, why did The Blair Witch Project – a film in which three film students are hunted, terrorised and presumably killed by an unseen entity – make nearly $250m at the box office? That’s the same as Love Actually. Of all the millions of people who paid to sit and watch Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s claustrophobic found-footage nightmare, I’m sure that not a single one of them entered the cinema hoping for their day to be ruined.
I was technically too young to see The Blair Witch Project when it came out, but like so many other children of laissez-faire 90s parents, I found a way. And that way was a friend’s sleepover. Fingers slick with Pizza Hut grease, we slid the 15 certificate VHS cassette into the player and gleefully waited to have the shit scared out of us. And it did. But not in the way we were used to. Up until this point, I’d seen the likes of Hellraiser, Candyman and Nightmare on Elm Street – horror meant guts strewn across the screen like party streamers. But what Blair Witch lacked in viscera is made up for in pure, uncut dread. The fact that you never even see the titular witch somehow made it even more terrifying. Believe me, in the imagination of a child who’d been fed horror films like multipack breakfast cereals, that witch was scarier than Pinhead and Freddy Krueger’s bastard baby. And I … loved her?
Continue reading...African migrants say legal status offers little protection as rallies against illegal immigration gain momentum
African migrants in South Africa say they are living in fear after a series of marches calling for illegal immigrants to leave reignited long-held xenophobic sentiment in the country.
March & March, a campaign group at the forefront of recent protests, has given people living illegally in the country until 30 June to leave, without specifying what will happen to those who do not.
Continue reading...Companies such as Apple and Google have until September to install software or face legislation, says PM
Apple and Google have been given until September to install software that blocks explicit images on children’s mobile phones or face legislation enforcing its requirement, Keir Starmer said on Monday.
The prime minister said tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults.
Continue reading...Let’s go inside the England camp. David Hytner is one of our men in Tampa and here’s his latest report ahead of the Three Lions’ friendly with Costa Rica on Wednesday night. That game takes place exactly one week before England’s Group L opener against Croatia (17 June, 9pm BST).
“The nailed-on picks appear to be Jordan Pickford, Reece James, Marc Guéhi, Declan Rice, Elliot Anderson, Bukayo Saka and Harry Kane. Which leaves some fighting to be done.”
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Vissen doe je met twee handen. Autorijden zonder, als het aan Vincent Karremans ligt.
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Na veertien jaar directeur te zijn geweest van Het Nationale Theater gaat Cees Debets met pensioen. Met zijn gedrevenheid en grote hart voor theater was hij de gedroomde theaterdirecteur. „Ik geloof oprecht dat theater een verandering teweeg kan brengen en dat je mensen op andere gedachten kunt brengen.”
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De selectie van Iran is zondag onder zware beveiliging in Mexico aangekomen ter voorbereiding op het WK voetbal. Door de oorlog tussen het land en gastland hebben de Verenigde Staten een aantal aangepaste regels opgesteld, zo moeten de spelers tijdens de rust van hun wedstrijden in de VS even het land verlaten.
“Dit is nou eenmaal zo bepaald door de huidige situatie tussen onze landen”, zegt de Amerikaanse minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Marco Rubio. “Daarnaast is het ook gewoon een kleine moeite om je kopje thee even in Mexico op te drinken. En dan zijn ze voor de tweede helft gewoon weer welkom bij ons. Tot het fluitsignaal.”
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ARNHEM (ANP) - President-directeur Frans Everts van Shell Nederland wordt de nieuwe topman van hoogspanningsnetbeheerder TenneT. Hij wordt op 1 november de opvolger van Manon van Beek bij TenneT voor een periode van vier jaar.
Vorige week werd bekend dat Everts per 1 september aftreedt bij Shell Nederland. Hij geeft sinds 1 april 2023 leiding aan Shell Nederland en neemt na een dienstverband van 37 jaar afscheid van het bedrijf.
Everts is voorgedragen door de raad van commissarissen van TenneT. Het ministerie van Financiën heeft als aandeelhouder deze voordracht goedgekeurd.
Vereerd
"Wij zijn ervan overtuigd dat Frans Everts, met zijn ruime ervaring in de energiesector en bewezen vermogen om grote organisaties te leiden in complexe en snel veranderende omgevingen, de juiste persoon is om TenneT in de volgende fase te leiden", zegt voorzitter Anja Mutsaers van de raad van commissarissen van TenneT in een verklaring.
"TenneT staat voor de uitdaging om niet alleen de infrastructuur snel uit te breiden om netcongestie zo snel mogelijk op te lossen, maar ook beter gebruik te maken van het net, terwijl het systeem veilig, betaalbaar en betrouwbaar blijft", zegt Van Beek. "Frans is een ervaren en verbindende leider met diepgaande sectorkennis. Ik draag het stokje dan ook met vertrouwen aan hem over en wens hem veel succes bij het vasthouden van koers in deze belangrijke maatschappelijke opgave van TenneT."
Everts zegt vereerd te zijn met de benoeming. "TenneT speelt een cruciale rol in de energietransitie in Nederland en Duitsland. Ik kijk ernaar uit om samen met collega's en stakeholders te werken aan een toekomstbestendig en betaalbaar energiesysteem." Hij wordt bij Shell Nederland opgevolgd door Thomas de Boer.
AMERSFOORT (ANP) - Werkgeversorganisatie AWVN vindt dat er bij cao-onderhandelingen meer aandacht moet zijn voor groei van productiviteit. Dat stelt directeur Lisette van Breugel. Volgens haar staat het Nederlandse verdienmodel onder druk en is productiviteitsgroei nodig voor economische groei.
Bij het verhogen van de productiviteit op de werkvloer wordt er volgens Van Breugel te vaak enkel gedacht aan digitalisering of optimalisatie. "Maar het is ook aan HR. HR-beleid kan productiviteitsgroei versnellen of juist ondermijnen. Denk aan arbeidstijden, opleiden, slimme roosters. Veel daarvan raakt aan arbeidsvoorwaarden en kan dus besproken worden in het arbeidsvoorwaardenoverleg", aldus Van Breugel.
"Economische groei kwam de afgelopen decennia voor een belangrijk deel uit groei van de beroepsbevolking. Dat is afgelopen. Vrijwel iedereen die kan werken werkt al en door de vergrijzing treden er meer mensen uit dan er toetreden. Het antwoord is vergroting van de arbeidsproductiviteit", stelt de directeur van AWVN.
Authorities said a Ukrainian drone struck a train traveling from Moscow to Simferopol, the peninsula’s second-largest city.
Authorities said a Ukrainian drone killed the assistant driver of a train traveling from Moscow to Simferopol, the peninsula’s second-largest city.