‘Please send help’: Caribbean reels from Hurricane Beryl devastation
This should have been a week of celebration in the Caribbean country of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). The annual Vincy Mas carnival, which attracts thousands of tourists, had advertised a packed schedule of costume parades and soca competitions….
Hippos might fly: UK research discovers animal can get airborne
It takes a scientific mind to see the grunting hulk of a hippopotamus and wonder whether, given sufficient motivation, such an improbable beast might ever become airborne. And so to researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in North Mymms, Hertfordshire,…
As Canada braces for a raging summer, Indigenous communities remain displaced
When Robert Laboucan pictured his son taking his first steps he imagined it would be at home, maybe even in front of a camera in their living room. Instead, the one-year-old first walked in the hallway of the Flamingo Inn…
‘It’s nonsensical’: how Trump is making climate the latest culture war
When Donald Trump embarked upon a lengthy complaint at a recent rally about how long it takes to wash his “beautiful luxuriant hair” due to his shower’s low water pressure, he highlighted the expanding assault he and Republicans are launching…
The Spin | South Africa’s World Cup agony was no choke, with hope for future glory
What was on Keshav Maharaj’s mind as Jasprit Bumrah ran in to deliver the final ball of the 18th over in South Africa’s run chase on Saturday? Was he thinking about Allan Donald’s dropped bat in 1999, or the rain…
I Will Crash by Rebecca Watson review – a unique take on sibling torment
“I’ll crash the car. // He didn’t shout, which is how I knew he meant it …” The “he” in I Will Crash is never named. He remains an enigma, though we come to know him intimately, or at least…
This month’s best paperbacks: Colson Whitehead, Britney Spears and more
Vienna Richard Cockett How this city shaped our modern world According to the journalist and historian Richard Cockett, Vienna “lit the spark for most of Western intellectual and cultural life in the twentieth century”. From psychoanalysis (Freud) and nuclear fission…
All the Worst Humans by Phil Elwood review – confessions of a cleanup man
‘Operators like me oil the machines that prop up authoritarian power all over the world,” writes the Washington PR man Phil Elwood in All the Worst Humans. “I help those machines function by laundering the sins of dictators through the…
Blackbird numbers plummet in south of England amid potential spread of virus
Beloved by Shakespeare and the Beatles, the blackbird and its sweet song have captured the imagination of Britons for centuries. But now the songbird is facing decline, and the British public has been asked to contribute to a survey by…
TV tonight: rivals and icons in the super competitive world of piping
Battle of the Bagpipes 9pm, Sky Arts Rivalries! Underdogs! Icons! Welcome to the world of competitive piping, which according to this joyful (but deadly serious) three-part series is tenser and tighter than ever. Episode one follows the powerful and precise work of Scottish…