Author: The Guardian

Liz Truss, the former British prime minister, spoke at a far-right conference in America on Wednesday, styling herself as a populist who took on America’s equivalent of the “deep state” in her own country.Truss was among the headline speakers at this week’s Conservative Political Action Conference at the National Harbor in Maryland. CPAC is billed as the biggest annual gathering of conservatives in the US but has in recent years embraced Donald Trump’s brand of nativist-populism.In Wednesday’s opening session, an “international summit”, the ex-PM sat side by side with Nigel Farage, former leader of the Brexit party, both with small…

Manchester United defender Luke Shaw is expected to be sidelined for “several months” with a muscle injury.Shaw had to come off before half-time in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Luton Town and is doubtful for the match. The 28-year-old left-back was substituted at half-time in the 2-1 win over Aston Villa a week ago, with manager Erik ten Hag saying it was a precautionary move measures.Manchester United said in a statement on Wednesday night: “Luke Shaw has suffered a muscle injury and will be out for an extended period of time. Further assessment is still needed to determine the severity, but…

Shrill? Screechy? This is not the recorder Hannah Coleman knows. The very first time the Melbourne musician blew into the instrument, she knew she could make “beautiful sounds”.“Even within that beginner repertoire … I felt like I could express something of who I was,” says Coleman, a professional recorder player and teacher. During school lunchtimes, she would sit under a tree with a friend and their recorders, and together they would play tunes from a dog-eared music book.But for some parents, the instrument’s sonic beauty may prove elusive. “We do not like the recorders,” says Elena Duggan, a cook, former…

Wales will prepare for the tour of Australia when they face world champions South Africa at Twickenham in June. Cardiff’s Principality Stadium is unavailable because Taylor Swift will perform there on June 18 and the Foo Fighters will play there next week.The Springboks’ first game since winning the World Cup in France will be played on June 22. After this game, the Barbarians will face Fiji. The last time Wales played against South Africa at Twickenham was during the 2015 World Cup, when the Springboks won a tense quarter-final 23-19.After the Springbok game, Wales will play two Test matches against…

The Covid death toll in the US is likely at least 16% higher than the official tally, according to a new study, and researchers believe the cause of the undercounting goes beyond overloaded health systems to a lack of awareness of Covid and low levels of testing.The second year of the pandemic also had nearly as many uncounted excess deaths as the first, the study found.More than 1.1 million Americans have died from Covid, according to official records. But the actual number is assuredly higher, given the high rates of excess deaths. Demographers wanted to know how many could be…

LSeptember 24, 2022, was a day about Jhulan Goswami – until it wasn’t anymore. A final tribute to her 20-year international career; England players escorted by a guard of honor as she batted for the final time; taking two wickets to complete 355 matches in her career. Then, as England were on the verge of a seemingly impossible win, Deepti Sharma caught up to Charlie Dean’s replacement and all hell broke loose.A year and a half later, Goswami is enjoying retirement: she’s spending time with her family, working for West Bengal’s state association, helping develop the next generation of female…

Sunak resists Starmer’s call for investigation into row between Badenoch and Staunton over Horizon compensation payment instructionsStarmer says new evidence today appears to endorse Staunton’s claim. He asks if Sunak will order an investigation into what happened.Sunak focuses on the victims, saying they are being paid compensation, and that an inquiry is under way.He says he will make sure “the truth comes to light”. But he seems to be referring to the inquiry process, not to the truth about the Badenoch/Staunton row.UPDATE: Starmer said: On Monday the business secretary also confirmed categorically that the Post Office was, and I’ll quote…

Ben Stokes will play as an all-rounder in the fourth Test against India after a lengthy training session with the Nets two days after a must-win game.The England captain, who has not played since the second Ashes Test at Lord’s last summer, suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and underwent surgery after the World Cup in November.The 32-year-old, who is three wickets short of 200 in Test cricket and had planned to bowl only in training on this tour, has made the decision to England team doctor Ben Davies With the “pinky promise”, he will not get into…

‘You know he’s going home to die?” I was at St Mary’s hospital in Paddington, London, in 2004, collecting my boyfriend, Miguel. The words were spoken gently by his lovely Scottish ex-boyfriend, Gordon, as if he was checking to make sure I understood.Did I know that Miguel was going home to die? Not really. He had been deteriorating for more than a year from HIV, but until now had remained independent. Surely he would get back to normal? Gordon’s question pierced my denial, but weirdly I still felt hopeful that Miguel would make it.We met in a London nightclub in…

Stan’s new documentary series about the Wallabies’ miserable 2023 season and disastrous World Cup in France is cursed in so many ways that it’s almost a black comedy.A team that failed due to poor coding, a polarizing protagonist who ultimately betrayed his own camp, a sad group of sacked interviewees who were injured or fell, and an ugly history – the first team in a World Cup group The Australian team was eliminated at the stage – making the Wallabies a scarred watch.But great storytelling doesn’t need good news, amazing characters, and a happy ending to be enjoyable. Australians, more…