The Guardian

Trafalgar Square’s St Martin-in-the-Fields gives up secrets of its stones

Church marks 300 years with exhibition and online archive telling of UK’s first Black voters, and history of compassion and protestFrom a family of chimney sweeps including one of Britain’s two earliest documented Black voters, to the mystery of a 19-year-old youth believed enslaved, St Martin-in-the-Fields church on Trafalgar Square still has secrets to share as it marks its 300th anniversary.Standing at the heart of London’s political and cultural life for three centuries, its ranks of engrave

general  6d ago

The Guardian Culture

UK’s museums and galleries left vulnerable to cyber-attack and theft, MPs warn

Report by Commons committee says government has failed to make concrete changes after recent security failuresBritain’s museums and galleries are being left vulnerable to thefts and cyber-attacks that could put priceless collections at risk, MPs have warned.A report by the public accounts committee (PAC) said big security failures in recent years, including the theft of thousands of artefacts from the British Museum and a devastating cyber-attack on the British Library, had exposed serious weakn

entertainment  6d ago

The Guardian Culture

‘I carry the pain of the world’: Oscar-winning singer Camille on her tumultuous triple album about motherhood

She has won acclaim and countless awards for her body-tapping, raspberry-blowing music. Now she has spent 15 years making her boldest work yet – an epic about birth, infancy and adolescenceIt took Camille 15 years to make her new album. The Sound of Milk is a triple record, each part documenting a distinct stage of the French musician’s experience raising two kids with composer Clément Ducol: Naissance is from 2015, Enfance 2020 and Adolescence 2025. She could have put each one out when it was c

entertainment  6d ago

The Guardian

Play puts spotlight on Kenya’s crisis of gender-based violence

Autobiographical work Free Me aims to encourage victims to speak out in country where violence against women is risingThere are audible gasps in the auditorium in Nairobi as a husband launches a volley of blows and slaps on his wife and pushes her to the floor. “I wish I could spare you this,” the wife tells the audience. “My husband beat me up as if we were in a bar fight. Except, in a bar someone fights back.”The scene comes from Free Me, an autobiographical play by Gathoni Kimuyu, a Kenyan th

general  6d ago

The Guardian Culture

From The West Wing to Blackadder: the best fictional prime ministers on TV

The UK sure loves speculation about prime ministers. So here’s some more! But who makes the finest – Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Jane Horrocks or Alan B’Stard?As the UK gets ready to have its seventh prime minister in 10 years, how long before a revolving door is installed at 10 Downing Street? As social media wags have pointed out, this is likely the first time in history that the UK has been looking for a new prime minister, James Bond and Time Lord at the same time.With the tribute film Rik M

entertainment  6d ago

Financial Times

Heatwave shows we are marinating in a crisis of our own making

Political inaction in the battle against climate change is costly and getting costlier

business  6d ago

Financial Times

Qatar says US-Iran hotline essential to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed says Gulf state will resume normal LNG production within weeks

business  6d ago

Financial Times

UK business rejects call to set maximum workplace temperature as heatwave deepens

Three unions say more than 1,000 people have signed up to stage a walkout on hottest day of year with a high of 39C forecast

business  6d ago

Financial Times

Venezuela to reveal $240bn debt pile in world’s largest restructuring

Caracas to disclose it has much more borrowing than expected after overthrow of Maduro

business  6d ago

Financial Times

The rise and fall of US hegemony

On the eve of its 250th birthday, America and the world order it created are in crisis

business  6d ago

Financial Times

The decade that made Andy Burnham

What 10 years covering the Manchester mayor’s many reinventions taught me about the man who wants to lead Britain

business  6d ago

Financial Times

To cool or not to cool: French politicians draw battle lines over aircon

As heatwave intensifies, far-right champions air conditioning while the left calls for renovations and green spaces

business  6d ago

Financial Times

How HSBC ended up at the centre of a $330mn embezzlement scandal

The lender’s Swiss unit is under formal investigation over whether it helped Lebanese central bank boss’s alleged scheme

business  6d ago

Bloomberg Markets

Double, Double Toil and Bubble Trouble

This probably isn’t when it bursts, but there’s room for plenty of over-leveraged damage.

business  6d ago

Financial Times

US defence groups to meet Trump as missile production struggles

The administration is seeking to rebuild conventional weapons stockpiles while regearing for modern warfare

business  6d ago

NY Times World

On the Front Lines of Myanmar’s Forgotten War

Our Times correspondent, Hannah Beech, travels to the center of the armed resistance movement in Myanmar and meets rebel fighters who are outgunned and undermanned after years of fighting in a civil war.

general  6d ago

Bloomberg Markets

New Hedge Funds Are Using AI Bots to Rival Industry Giants

Advances in artificial intelligence are leveling the field for fund managers, making it easier for boutique firms to compete with big macro and bond investors.

business  6d ago

BBC World

Congress passes war powers measure for first time, rebuking Trump's war with Iran

The resolution is largely symbolic, but it adds to pressure on the White House to end the conflict once and for all.

general  6d ago

Bloomberg Markets

China's Premier Li Says Beijing Remains Committed to Openness

Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a special address at the Summer Davos forum in Dalian on Wednesday. He said Beijing will continue to expand domestic demand and accelerate the large-scale application of new technologies. Bloomberg's Minmin Low reports. (Source: Bloomberg)

business  6d ago

The Guardian

Artist accused of winning prize with ‘imitation’ won Australian award with piece ‘influenced’ by Basquiat

Jane Allan’s winning Darling portrait prize painting has raised eyebrows after her Doyles art award piece was compared to artist Nicholas HardingAn Australian painter was “clearly influenced” by New York artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in a major prize-winning work, according to the National Portrait Gallery, after she was accused of winning a separate $20,000 prize with “an imitation” of a Nicholas Harding piece.The National Portrait Gallery has declined to comment further on the marked similaritie

general  6d ago