Author: The Guardian

timeSo far, it’s not entirely clear why Coldplay are coming to Craven Park. Last month one of the world’s biggest and most brazenly commercial bands announced they would take up residence at the 20,000-capacity Sewell Group Craven Park stadium (home of Hull Kingston Wanderers) next summer. Two nights to complement their residency in London, which caused a certain amount of confusion. These plus six nights at Wembley are Coldplay’s only dates in Europe next summer. Even the city council described the news as “absolutely crazy”.Why Hull? On the one hand, the city itself has a rich musical heritage, from the…

If genealogy is destiny, as Donald Trump believes, then “poison in the blood” – a phrase Trump repeatedly uses – determines the fate of nations. By Trump’s logic, “blood” is the true and final measure. Trump, like Hitler, appears to classify people and countries by “blood” on a scale of their innate racial characteristics. Those features define the essence of nations, which are themselves delineated on a racial pyramid, with the purest and whitest, the most Aryan, at the pinnacle. True to his doctrine, the Nazis on his family tree must explain his penchant for Hitlerian rhetoric.“Poison in the blood”…

IIt’s official: Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals is one of the unluckiest quarterbacks we’ve ever seen. Cincinnati fell to 1-4 on the season after the Tigers lost 41-38 in overtime to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. It’s certainly not Burrow’s fault – through the first five games of the season, Burrow has completed 125 of 173 passes (72.3% completion rate) for 1,370 yards (7.9 yards per attempt), 12 touchdowns, 2 interceptions and 1 pass.But it wasn’t enough to keep the Bengals from the playoffs — “We’re not a championship-caliber team right now,” was Burrow’s brutal conclusion after Sunday’s loss.…

More than 1.4 million people have now voted in the presidential election, as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump continue to crisscross the country in the final stretch of a neck-and-neck campaign.Their vice-presidential picks, JD Vance and Tim Walz, also faced off this week in the only vice-presidential debate of this cycle. But initial polls suggested voters saw the debate as a draw, without clear impact on the race.Harris earned her highest national polling average since July, though the presidential race remains extremely close in battleground states, according to the Guardian’s poll tracker. Harris is leading in five of seven swing…

FYes, Gaskin is the man behind St. Helens. The season comes to an end on Sunday when Saints face Jockey Valkyrie in the Women’s Super League grand final and she has been magical in midfield with her playmaking ability in the scrum half to feature in Tuesday’s Rugby League Awards Earned a nomination for “Women of Steel.”It’s a remarkable achievement, especially considering she was told her career was over three years ago after a messy fracture of her kneecap, which still causes “pain in her knee every time she plays football.” But Sunday will be Gaskin’s first finals game and…

For decades, drinking water fluoridation opponents were often portrayed as a fringe element and conspiracy theorists, but a federal ruling in the US may put an end to the practice and marks a pivotal point in their campaign to convince the public and policymakers of the substance’s dangers for infants’ developing brains.Armed with a growing body of scientific evidence pointing toward fluoride’s neurotoxicity, public health advocates say the legal win shows they are overcoming “institutional inertia” and the unwillingness of federal public health agencies to admit they may have been wrong.The order last week requiring the US Environmental Protection Agency…

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Shash, 28, CambridgeOccupation Doctor, looking to become an orthopaedic surgeonVoting record Ukip, Tory, and in the last election he spoiled his ballot by spelling out R-E-F-O-R-M like a crossword answer in the candidate boxesAmuse bouche He’s a beekeeper – “Buckfast bees, pure British stock”Mary, 44, LondonOccupation Public sector workerVoting record Doesn’t like to say, as in her work she supports people with very different political views to hers, “but regardless, I live in a safe Labour seat”Amuse bouche Her parents put her in Scottish Highland dance classes, and she has been known to bust it out at partiesFor startersMary I was…

Dan Worrall: A very British AustralianAustralians (who hold British passports, so watch this space) fit the template of British seamstresses. Even his arcing approach is old school, aiding in shoulder roll and a slight arm round that promotes an outswing that leads to bite after bite.For all three of Surrey’s Championship hat-tricks, Worrell provided the key briefing for any team looking to keep winning throughout the summer – take wickets in the top order, as well as the side order in the tail demolition.Watching him bowling reminds one of Glenn McGrath in his late days. Every delivery is a challenge…

What did Iran fire?Tehran deployed ballistic missiles, which use trajectories outside or near the limits of Earth’s atmosphere, in the attack. It used similar weapons against Israel earlier this year.This time, it said it had also deployed hypersonic missiles that have an estimated maximum speed of 10,000mph.Moment hundreds of Iranian missiles fly over Israel – videoWhy did Iran attack?While details of the timings and nature of the attack were not known in advance, it was not a surprise.World powers have for months predicted a “regional escalation” from Israel’s war on Gaza, in which it has killed 40,000 Palestinians. That followed…