Author: The Guardian

Australian Olympic hockey player Tom Craig has been banned for 12 months, with six months suspended, after he was arrested in Paris for buying cocaine during the Olympics.Hockey Australia (HA) said Craig’s ban began on Monday as its integrity unit investigated Craig, who was arrested last month.”The six-month suspension will be fully operational and the remaining six months will be fully suspended, subject to compliance with conduct and conduct requirements,” the HA said in a statement.In addition, the governing body said Craig must complete a mandatory training and education program.Despite being banned from playing, HA said Craig will still be…

Apple has lost a high-profile, €13bn (£11bn) Irish tax battle with Brussels in a decision that will bolster the European Commission’s efforts to clamp down on favourable “sweetheart” tax deals for multinationals.The European court of justice (ECJ) ruling, which had been eagerly awaited, comes after years of legal wrangling over whether the European Commission was right to demand in 2016 that €13bn in “illegal” tax breaks for Apple should be repaid because it gave the iPhone maker an unfair advantage.The ECJ ruled that a lower court win for Apple should be overturned and backed the commission’s 2016 decision that Ireland…

The ex-partner of Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegei died from burns sustained in an attack in which he is accused of killing her by dousing her with petrol and setting himself on fire, the Kenyan hospital where she was treated said on Tuesday.Cheptegei, 33, who competed in the Paris Olympic marathon, suffered burns to more than 75 percent of his body in the September 1 attack and died four days later.Daniel Lang’at, spokesman for the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, western Kenya, said her ex-boyfriend, Dickson Ndiema Marangach, died in He died at 7:50 pm local time on Monday.…

My life was mostly happy – I had a job I enjoyed and a husband I loved. But as the Covid-19 pandemic took over I felt something was missing: having an animal to nurture. I had grown up with cats and found them affectionate but aloof. Meanwhile, everyone said that dogs showered you with unconditional love. In a time as isolating as lockdown, that sounded just what I needed.In 2020, we left London for Essex so we could adopt Anya, a seven-year-old boxer-staffordshire terrier cross whose grin enchanted us from the moment we saw her photo on the Danaher rescue…

timeThe New England Patriots are off to a sunny start in the post-Bill Belichick era. The Patriots defeated the highly anticipated playoff team the Cincinnati Bengals 16-10 on the road on Sunday. New coach Jerrod Mayo, a Belichick disciple turned backup, took a soothing Gatorade bath in his first game. The Patriots trailed by eight points, and their win was the most surprising result of Week 1.In some ways, life for the Patriots after Belichick was bleak. The coach who brought the team to six Super Bowl championships has spent this year on broadcasts, and the magic that Belichick and…

Musk is expected to become the world’s first trillionaire in 2027, according to a new report from Wealth Tracker.The Informa Connect Academy survey of the bosses of electric car maker Tesla, private rocket company SpaceX and social media platform X (formerly Twitter) stems from Musk’s wealth growing at an average annual rate of 110%. He is also the world’s richest person, with a fortune of $251 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, as the academy’s 2024 Trillion Dollar Club report began circulating on Friday.Gautam Adani, founder of Indian business group, will become the second person to achieve trillionaire status,…

Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain in 2000 and 2024.Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain in 2000 and 2024. Later photograph: Simon Webb/the Guardian. Styling: Andie Redman. Hair/makeup/grooming: Bethany Rich. Archive image: Mary McCartneyTim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain are the former hosts of irreverent football and pop culture show Soccer AM. Chamberlain – a Pontins Bluecoat turned Nickelodeon presenter – began on the show in 1995. A year later, she was joined by Lovejoy, a former producer for The Big Breakfast who has fronted Sunday Brunch since 2012. Tim and Helen’s podcast, Soccer A-Z, is available from 4 September.TimThis was a full-on…

Residents have reacted with bemusement at plans by authorities in Amsterdam to crack down on what it sees as a plague of messy plant pots.In an approach named “Operation plant pot” by the local media, the Dutch capital’s central district is limiting residents to two pots with footprints no larger than 50cm by 50cm, made of “sustainable” material and placed against their front wall. Rogue gardens of pots in parking spots and under trees will be confiscated, according to the policy memo.At a council meeting on Tuesday, the central city chief, Amélie Strens, said neglected pots were unattractive, bad for…

Nine-year-old London schoolboy Ethan Pang once again entered the history books when he set a new world record in June, becoming the youngest person ever to achieve a Masters rating of 2200 points.At the Vezerkepto IM tournament in Budapest, Pang defeated three grandmasters in a row from the second to the fifth rounds. Granted, the defeated trio were well past their best, with ratings below 2400 compared to the normal GM level of 2500, but they all had decades of high-level experience.The first player to play in the second round was Slovakia’s 33-year-old Milan Pacher. He performed poorly in the…

Richard, 37, LondonOccupation Chartered accountant, working in real estateVoting record Labour, and describes himself as centre leftAmuse bouche As a boy, Richard sang in Southwark Cathedral for Nelson Mandela, and met him afterwardsThea, 35, LondonOccupation Freelance content writerVoting record Usually Labour, but Lib Dem most recently. Agrees with the basic theory of communismAmuse bouche Thea once smoked a joint with Clown from the band Slipknot in a caravan in MexicoFor startersThea I did think his salmon trousers were pointing to him being a venture capitalist yacht enthusiast. But he’s just a man who likes salmon chinos.Richard She mentioned she used…