Author: The Guardian

Four people have been wounded, two of them seriously, after an axe was used during a fight on a suburban train outside Paris, a police source said.One of the victims had their hand severed and another had their skull split open, the source added, asking not to be named. Two others were less seriously injured.Several people, some of them minors, were involved in the fight that broke out at about 8am (0700 GMT) on Monday, the source added.The incident happened while the RER suburban express train was at Ozoir-la-Ferrière station, south-east of Paris.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Headlines EuropeA…

The European Union gave generous farming subsidies to the companies of more than a dozen billionaires between 2018 and 2021, the Guardian can reveal, including companies owned by the former Czech prime minister Andrej Babiš and the British businessman Sir James Dyson.Billionaires were “ultimate beneficiaries” linked to €3.3bn (£2.76bn) of EU farming handouts over the four-year period even as thousands of small farms were closed down, according to the analysis of official but opaque data from EU member states.The 17 “ultimate beneficiaries” who featured on the 2022 Forbes rich list include Babiš, the former Czech prime minister who was acquitted…

Three minutes after half-time, Twickenham were mired in their quietest moment since kicking off earlier in the day. The All Blacks came out strong when play resumed, launching waves of drives down the left before moving back to the middle of the pitch.England staggered under the blows and leaned against the ropes, their own try-line right corner closing fast behind them. Scott Barrett passed the ball to Jamie George and New Zealand half-back Cortez Ratima stooped to collect the ball. He glanced around and saw three attackers lined up outside, with only two defenders in front. The attempt begins.Across the…

The US presidential election campaign enters its final weekend with polls showing Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in seemingly permanent deadlock and few clues as to which of them will prevail on Tuesday.At the end of another unruly week that began with Trump’s racially charged rally in New York’s Madison Square Guardian and was punctuated by celebrity endorsements, misogynistic comments and insults about “garbage” being levelled left and right, the Guardian’s 10-day polling average tracker showed little change from seven days earlier, with voter loyalty to their chosen candidate appearing relatively impervious to campaign events, however seismic.Nationally, Harris, the Democratic…

But God is just confused

Halloween falling on a Thursday is absolute catnip to the quiz master, and so this week, alongside a smattering of topical questions, get ready for some spookalicious tests of your knowledge of horror pop culture, Halloween-themed science and maths and, of course, the ever-popular presence of Pokémon. Score well, otherwise the official dog of the quiz, Willow, will be round your house tonight throwing eggs at your windows for trick or treat. Enjoy!The Thursday quiz, No 184 👻 🎃1.Which chat show host (not pictured) is to come back and present programmes from beyond the grave, thanks to AI?Reveal2.The artisan cheese…

In a development that absolutely must not catch on, something interesting has happened on a TV chatshow. What a precedent: I’m desperately hoping the entertainment industry rallies around to prevent it ever happening again. We can probably count on it. The dance of all chatshows these days is almost entirely mechanised. You go on. You do your rehearsed anecdotes. The news that the late Michael Parkinson is being relaunched as an AI barely raises an eyebrow because it’s all so synthetic anyway.Therefore the moments when it isn’t take on outsize significance. As you may have guessed, we are talking about…

one It’s a potential scenario that may be necessary to maintain some of the lofty status already afforded to the 2025 Ryder Cup. The initial noise at the event was so chaotic that Coco the Clown felt like a fitting mascot for Bethpage when the United States hosted the European competition.Through this theoretical plan, Keegan Bradley continues his return to the top of professional golf. He is eligible to join the team for which he is temporarily captain. Because it was said to be impossible to combine playing on a modern Ryder Cup team with captaincy, Bradley had to relinquish…

Name: The naughty siesta.Age: The siesta dates back to at least Roman times, although the naughty version is largely a post-pandemic phenomenon.Appearance: A period of unconsciousness in the middle of a work day, generally after lunch.I call that a power nap. A power nap lasts 20 minutes or less. A naughty siesta could be much longer, depending on how naughty it is.Is this a siesta where you have sex? Because I call that a siesta royale. No – it’s just a nap your employer doesn’t know about, because you’re working from home.Why is that naughty? Just being unconscious doesn’t mean…

timeThirty-five years ago, I was sitting on the couch in my living room watching a tape of Jungle Fight with Muhammad Ali next to me. I was researching the book that would eventually become “Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times.” Over the course of a year, Ali and I watched tape of every one of his games.Time plays all kinds of interesting tricks. On that afternoon in 1989, Ali v George Foreman seemed like a long time ago.This Wednesday will mark the 50th anniversary of Ali Foreman’s birth. There are other sporting events that capture the world’s imagination. But no…