Author: The Guardian

A leading federal scientist in Canada has alleged he was barred from investigating a mystery brain illness in the province of New Brunswick and said he fears more than 200 people affected by the condition are experiencing unexplained neurological decline.The allegations, made in leaked emails to a colleague seen by the Guardian, have emerged two years after the eastern province closed its investigation into a possible “cluster” of cases.“All I will say is that my scientific opinion is that there is something real going on in [New Brunswick] that absolutely cannot be explained by the bias or personal agenda of…

A new appointee to the Georgia State Election Commission has raised questions about whether she might be involved in preparations to subvert the election on behalf of Donald Trump and others who want to challenge election results that don’t go his way.She said those fears were unfounded.The speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives in May appointed Republican Janelle King, a Black conservative podcast host, to the key fifth seat on the Board of Selectmen. The state Republican Party welcomed King’s replacement of more moderate Republicans as a vote on “election integrity” ahead of the crucial presidential election.But King flatly…

Elon Musk and the entrepreneur and investor David Sacks reportedly held a secret dinner party of billionaires and millionaires in Hollywood last month. Its purpose: to defeat Joe Biden and re-install Donald Trump in the White House.The guest list included Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Michael Milken, Travis Kalanick, and Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s treasury secretary.Meanwhile, Musk is turning up the volume and frequency of his anti-Biden harangues on Twitter/X, the platform he owns.According to an analysis by the New York Times, Musk has posted about the president at least seven times a month, on average, this year. He has criticized Biden…

The world has lost “a great man and a good friend”, Kevin Sinfield said as he paid tribute to Rob Burrow following his death aged 41.Sinfield described his former Leeds Rhinos team-mate as a “beacon of hope and inspiration” since being diagnosed with motor neurone disease in December 2019. He died four and a half years later from motor neurone disease.Together, Sinfield and Burrow raised millions of dollars for charity in a campaign aimed at raising awareness and funding research. “Today is a day I wish would never come,” Sinfield wrote on social media. The world has lost a great…

When I was planning my wedding, I was absolutely determined not to get caught up in the “perfect day” of it all, and to have a relaxed, informal celebration. I more or less managed, and my husband and I ended up having a lovely time. But I can’t say the same for our honeymoon.Perfectionism has a weird reputation; the only confessable “weakness” in a job interview, an eccentric character trait and the secret of Steve Jobs’ success.But I think it’s much darker than that. It’s a kind of psychological fascism that can take over the sufferer’s mind, draining their world…

He was never supposed to be a boxer. In a different timeline, Deontay Wilder might have scored a touchdown or thrown a tomahawk dunk for Alabama. It was his dream growing up in poverty in the shadow of Bryant-Denny Stadium on the sports-loving streets of Tuscaloosa, where he excelled on Central High School’s football and basketball teams. That remains a goal for the 6-foot-7 junior as he attends nearby Shelton State Community College, where he hopes to improve his grades so he can transfer and play for his hometown Crimson Tide.That all changed after a routine visit to the doctor…

Chris Packham, 63, naturalist and Charlotte Corney, 47, zookeeperChris: I can’t love Charlotte 99.9%. That doesn’t exist in my world. I can only offer Charlotte 100% of myself – or 0%. The 100% commitment, which has previously been suffocating in relationships, is something which I hope gives Charlotte a degree of security.I have had a number of stable, monogamous relationships, all lasting five to seven years. They all reached their full term because, as much as I was dealing socially with my neurodiversity, I wasn’t dealing with it at home. I couldn’t let my guard down and that was always very…

SecondEighty years ago this month, a young man from south London named Wally Parr floated thousands of feet above the English Channel in a flimsy wooden glider. He is not alone. Sitting alongside him in one of six such aircraft were fellow soldiers from the British Army’s 6th Airborne Division. The night before D-Day, they headed behind enemy lines to seize a bridge from the Germans. Some people cannot see the dawn.If the 181 people aboard these gliders were scared, adrenaline and paranoia might help soothe their nerves. One person reflected: “What keeps most people fighting is that, despite seeing…

Aid shipments into southern Gaza are being squeezed out by commercial convoys, humanitarian organisations say, at a time when Israel’s military push into Rafah has choked off supply routes critical to feeding hundreds of thousands of people.Deliveries of food, medicine and other aid into Gaza fell by two-thirds after Israel began its ground operation on 7 May, UN figures show. But overall the number of trucks entering Gaza rose in May compared with April, according to Israeli officials.Part of the reason for the stark difference in accounts of what supplies reached the strip is a rise in commercial shipments.In May,…

Rishi Sunak must face questions about the fortune he made in a hedge fund that brokered a deal at the heart of the financial crisis, Labor says as it prepares to launch its first major attack on the prime minister ahead of an election debate .The party aims to turn attention to Sunak’s experience before entering politics days ahead of the first televised debate between the two leaders, following a week of debate surrounding Diane Abbott’s candidacy. On Sunday she confirmed she would run as the Labor candidate.Key to Labour’s attempts to regain the lead will be an examination of…