Author: The Guardian

The US and UK have been accused by university researchers of obstructing a United Nations inquiry into the 1961 plane crash that killed the UN secretary general Dag Hammarskjöld.A conference in London heard an update from the UN assistant secretary general for legal affairs, Stephen Mathias, on progress in the inquiry, which is seeking archive documentation from member states.The participants said the US and UK had been dragging their feet in handing over potentially vital information.Hammarskjöld, a Swede, died on 18 September 1961 on the way to negotiate a ceasefire between UN peacekeepers in the Congo and separatists from the…

World No. 5 Andrey Rublev has been significantly sidelined after being accused of insulting the line referee in the deciding set of the Dubai Open semi-finals.The fiery Russian took out his frustrations on the linesman in the third game against Alexander Bublik after trailing 6-5.ATP director Roland Hoefer came to the court accompanied by a Russian-speaker who claimed Rublev had taken the oath in his native language. Rublev protested, insisting he was speaking English, and Bublik backed his opponent.”I didn’t say ‘asshole.’ I swear to God. This is huge. I swear to God,” Rublev said.It’s an infringement that would normally…

Sunak says extremist groups are a growing threat to British democracyRishi Sunak is speaking outside No 10. He says there’s a growing threat to British democracy – and refers explicitly to the election of George Galloway in the Rochdale byelection last night.The prime minister talks up the tolerance of the “pluralist, modern” country he says the UK is, but says this is under threat from people looking to capitalise on Hamas’ attacks on Israel, and the resulting assault on Gaza, to undermine British values.He names Islamist extremists and the far-right, calling them “two sides of the same extremist coin”.ShareUpdated at 18.51…

medium sizeAx Verstappen officially takes pole position for the first race of the new Formula One season at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but the focus of attention under the floodlights and palm trees remains, as it has been all week, on Verstappen’s team principal Christie Ann Horner and his Red Bull team.Despite all the chaos and drama surrounding Red Bull, it’s a salutary reminder that as a sporting entity they’re still surprisingly honed by dealing with all the chaos currently surrounding their core purpose of racing.In the first round of the season, when the gloves really came off, Red Bull…

A man who fatally shot a 20-year-old woman after the SUV she was riding in mistakenly was driven into his rural driveway in upstate New York was sentenced on Friday to 25 years to life in prison.Kevin Monahan, 66, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death last April of Kaylin Gillis. She was riding in a group of two cars and a motorcycle that was trying to leave the property after the drivers became lost on their way to a party and pulled into Monahan’s long, winding driveway in the dark.The group was looking for a party at another…

Japanese audiences could have been forgiven for bracing themselves when Disney announced Shōgun, a 10-part adaptation of James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel.With few exceptions, Hollywood depictions of Japan and the Japanese have relied on one-dimensional characters whose purpose is to confirm cultural stereotypes, set against the backdrop of an inscrutable archipelago whose people have much to learn from the western hero.But Shōgun, whose first two episodes aired this week, appears to have broken the mould, with FX’s high-budget series winning plaudits in Japan not only for its lavish production values and illustrious Japanese cast, but also its respect for the…

SWhatever you think of King Charles’s much-vaunted vision of a “lite monarchy”, its injury problems suggest it could be addressed by buying another striker. If that’s not the case, then it’s clear that many die-hard loyalists, despite believing themselves to be the world’s greatest football fans, are simply unhappy with what they see on the pitch and are voicing their increasingly hysterical displeasure . . As the King’s cancer treatment coincides with the Princess of Wales’ recovery from abdominal surgery, social media is abuzz with bizarre and cruel conspiracy theories, with many in the #BeKind ranks specializing in them. Traditional…

My sister-in-law of nearly 15 years isn’t someone I’d seek as a friend but she’s mostly enjoyable to be around. However, a couple of years ago she started making harsh claims about her parents – my in-laws, whom I adore. I didn’t agree with what she was saying but chalked it up to some sort of personal crisis and tried to be supportive, but without agreeing with her. However, not long after that she made a harsh claim against my young child and was unkind to my husband (her brother) in the process. She also decided she needed time out…

A Fulton County judge will hear closing arguments Friday afternoon during a three-day evidentiary hearing to determine whether District Attorney Fannie Willis should be prosecuted for her romantic relationship with a deputy handling the case. Disqualified from handling election interference against Donald Trump.The hearing was a far cry from the racketeering case against the former U.S. president and 14 remaining co-defendants in their attempt to overturn Georgia’s election.The matter began in January, when Michael Roman, one of the defendants in the case and a Republican operative, filed a motion claiming that Willis was charged because of his romantic relationship with…

Don Gorske did not have many people betting on him to live into his 70s with his half-century-old habit of eating Big Mac hamburgers daily.But cutting down his intake of the famous McDonald’s burgers to two a day (rather than his previous high of nine), skipping fries with his meals and walking six miles daily for exercise has not only helped him become a septuagenarian – it has also allowed him to extend his Guinness world record for most Big Macs eaten in a lifetime to more than 34,000.“Many people thought I’d be dead by now,” the 70-year-old Gorske said…