Author: The Guardian

ITo suggest that anyone who plays in the Ryder Cup should be paid is tantamount to golf blasphemy. The theory circulated around the U.S. camp during last year’s loss to Europe in Rome, and there were boos and snickers.The biennial conflict has long become a joke among the corporate class. It generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the European Tour and the PGA of America. but pay Participants? Mere discussion would be considered offensive. It’s about the pride, passion and novelty of team golf at an elite level. Most of these guys will never know what happens…

Today’s puzzles are about deducing the mechanisms behind two extremely puzzling objects: a practical joke cup supposedly invented by Pythagoras and a vehicle that seemingly travels the wrong way.1. Pythagoras’s CupPythagoras, the Greek mathematician and mystic, is credited with devising a cup with the following properties:1) If you pour it up to a certain level it behaves like a normal cup.2) If you pour it beyond that level all of the liquid in the cup empties through a hole at the bottom of the cup.Can you draw the mechanism inside the cup?The solution is very simple and has no moving…

IOn the eve of each Olympics, a handful of athletes become the center of attention. Stand out from these few or be chosen as the “face” of the Olympics. In London in 2012, Jessica Ennis demonstrated the all-round excellence of an Olympian as a heptathlete. This visibility is not just a matter of athleticism; Ennis fulfilled his host country’s hopes by winning gold and being incredibly friendly throughout. Usain Bolt’s face and long limbs dominate multiple championships as he is one of the world’s fastest and most likeable track and field athletes, and therefore the world’s most sponsored track and…

I find it hard to look at my son and imagine what it’s like to be his age. This is primarily due to the insoluble problem of memory. I hold a vaporous grasp on my early childhood, little more than a vague timeline of birthday parties, summer holidays and random interactions in primary school, mostly from eras so indeterminate they could be from any year before I turned 10.His life is also so different from mine I’m not sure if transposing my own childhood on to his would be much use. At his age, my entire life had been lived with…

The two women spoke at length at Vladimir Putin’s annual major economic forum known as “Russian Davos” in the president’s hometown of St. Petersburg. Their identities were an open secret that no one dared say out loud: they were Putin’s adult daughters.The eldest daughter Maria Vorontsova, 39, is a scientist specializing in genetic research. She moderated a discussion on “bioeconomics” at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).On the same day, Katerina Tikhonova, a 37-year-old tech executive and acrobatic rock dancer, spoke proudly of the defense industry’s role in ensuring Russia’s technological sovereignty.The identity of Putin’s daughter with Lyudmila Putina,…

The question I’m at my wit’s end. I’m a 50-year-old gay man and I’m in a happy, long-term relationship. But I’ve fallen in love with a married straight guy 10 years my junior. He’s a new colleague at work. We get on well and have struck up a companionable working relationship, but my feelings for him have become deeper – and it’s agony.I’m not an idiot. He’s married with young children and I know nothing is going to happen. I don’t think I’d even want it to, but I just can’t stop the intensity of my feelings for him. He’s a…

Some athletes spent a night on the town celebrating their first major medal. Others have a drink or two. But after George Mills claimed the European Championships with a 5000m silver medal, just behind talented Norwegian Jakob Ingebrigtsen, he committed to a fresh start on Sunday Before training, his only indulgence was some fermented kombucha (if he could find it in Rome).But what a performance Mills made on his third long run. After a slow race, reigning Olympic 1500m champion and double 5,000m world champion Ingebritsson fought her way home at the bell. But Mills, 25, refused to give in…

Theodore, Hudson and Luca are among the top 10 most popular names for boys in Australia for the first time as naming diversity continues to rise, according to data compiled by Guardian Australia.Oliver remains the country’s most popular male name after a decade on top, and longer in the top 10, but there are now fewer than babies named Peter or John a few decades ago.Isla is now the most common name for girls in Australia, while the popularity of Charlotte has fallen six places in recent years, from third in 2020 to ninth in 2023.And it’s not just us…

It was supposed to be a relatively low-impact match, with the Ashes competition being for the benefit of broadcasters and the expectation being that England and Australia would sweep the Group B teams. Entering the Super Eight stage.But following Tuesday’s humiliating 36-run defeat to Scotland at a sweltering Bridgetown, Jos Buttler’s defending champions are mired in net run rate calculations and weather as they face Oman and Namibia in Antigua The world of forecasting. Even giving up both significantly might not be enough.Australia have already beaten Oman before this game, but they will be amused by the predicament England find…

We met through Sydney share houses in the early 80s when I was in my mid-20s and Tanner, a clever and sweet country boy, was a couple of years older. I first laid eyes on him as he was reaching into a hot oven; he looked up and his gaze met mine. I thought: “Wow, he is gorgeous!”Typical of that time, there were many complicated relationships between housemates and friends. Tanner was in a long-term relationship and it was three years before our feelings for each other spilled over. At a house party we danced to Cold Chisel’s My Baby…