Author: The Guardian

FFor four months, Russian forces have been trying to seize the village of Sinkivka in eastern Ukraine. On the map, this looks easy. Their forward position was at the edge of the forest. It is only 500 meters away from the Ukrainian front line and is surrounded by shabby huts.Every few days, the Russians would attack. Their attempts on open ground all ended the same way: a complete disaster. Men sat in armored vehicles, speeding through moon-like craters and shattered trees. Things quickly went wrong. Some were caused by landmine explosions; Others panic and turn the tables. The Ukrainians used…

A woman has been cleared of poisoning colleagues with instant coffee spiked with ground-up Viagra tablets.Karen Beale, 62, described as someone who wanted to “help people, not harm”, was found not guilty by a jury of seven men and five women at Canterbury crown court.Beale, a former factory cleaner, claimed she had been “set up” when she was filmed checking a jar of instant coffee that police later found had been laced with sildenafil – an erectile dysfunction treatment sold under the brand name Viagra – and a medication for high cholesterol.Beale told the jury she had checked one Nescafé…

As a child, Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s mum entertained her with stories of her travels through Italy – she was particularly entranced by her mother’s descriptions of tall Cyprus trees, delicate Florentine leather gloves and pici (thick spaghetti). So while studying Italian at university in Melbourne, she took the opportunity to further her studies in Florence and eventually landed a job in southern Tuscany.“I lived in a huge Tuscan villa on a large property,” says the cook and food writer. “We grew a lot of our own produce and anything we couldn’t grow was sourced locally from the market or farms.…

Ferrari, the legendary winner of 243 Formula One Grands Prix and with a rich heritage of building the world’s finest road cars, is planning a sports hub for the famous prancing horse brand to set sail.The Italian automaker said on Wednesday it plans to compete in the world sailing competition and team up with ocean sailor Giovanni Soldini as team leader.Ferrari has been an icon of F1 since the world championship began in 1950, winning its last F1 Drivers’ Championship in 2007 and the Constructors’ Championship in 2008. Its chairman, John Elkann, said the new project would expand the company’s…

The South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham “threw Donald Trump under the bus” in testimony to a grand jury investigating election subversion in Georgia, a new book reportedly says, revealing that the former president would have believed “martians came and stole the election” he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.“After fighting a four-month legal battle all the way to the US supreme court to block his grand jury subpoena – and losing … Graham turned on a dime ‘and threw Trump under the bus’,” Michael Isikoff and Daniel Klaidman write in Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue…

In the early years of Carlos Alcaraz’s young career, he relished making the impossible commonplace. He consistently performs at such a high level, learns from his mistakes extremely quickly and often finds solutions even when faced with difficulties.This time, he couldn’t find a way. Despite a late comeback in the death, the second seed’s poor start left him with too much to do against the excellent Alexander Zverev, who maintained a high level throughout four sets to create had one of his best Grand Slam performances, winning 6-1. , 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-4, entering the Australian Open semifinals.As a result, sixth…

Imagine: you’re famous. Like, crowned head, pope or Hollywood megastar famous. Who can you trust? Everyone is out for what they can get and liable to betray you at any moment. Everyone except your pets, who, yes, are also out for what they can get, but can’t call the tabloids. Rather a bite in the face than a stab in the back, which is perhaps why, historically, so many big stars have preferred to derive emotional support from furry (or occasionally scaly) things.Where did it start? In the age of discovery, European royal courts started filling up with poor creatures…

Even before tennis’s best players complete their preparations for the year’s first Grand Slam, Dayana Yastremska is already fighting for her survival in the tournament. The 23-year-old battled through three tough three-set matches against weaker opponents in the Australian Open’s three qualifying rounds. When she entered the main draw, she was far from her best.But sometimes in tennis, survival is all that matters. After a stressful qualifier, Yastremska showed complete freedom against bigger opponents. On Wednesday, she continued her breakthrough with another display of fearless attacking tennis, defeating Linda Noskova 6-3, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal at…

Twenty-two people in a castle, Claudia Winkleman hamming it up like crazy, a number of silly challenges, a chunk of money sitting at the centre, almost glowing, and human nature laid bare. To try to pick apart exactly what makes The Traitors so compelling would be to miss the point, like trying to analyse the ingredients in a Krispy Kreme doughnut.As enjoyable as it is, though, the show gets more infuriating with each episode. I don’t want to point fingers, still less give spoilers, so let’s keep this broad: why are they (the Faithful) all so stupid? Why can’t they…

wattWhen it comes to England’s best Test results abroad this century, the first thing that comes to mind is Australia’s outliers. Sandwiched between two ugly whitewashes, the 3-1 away win 13 years ago remains a shock, with each victory coming by the end of the frame. Even if the opponents are not at their best, these are the names to look up to: Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Michael Clark and Mitchell Johnson. Outside of that tour, England’s record in Australia this century is 22 defeats, two draws and one win, which makes those weeks all the more remarkable.But even with…