
In the UK, close to half of 25-year-olds now live with parents who, in many cases, would expect their nest to have long since emptied. How does this change families, for good and bad?
If life had worked out differently, Serena would by now be coming to terms with an empty nest. Having brought up seven children, she and her husband might even have been enjoying a little more money and time for themselves. But as it is, three of their adult children are now at home: the 23-year-old finishing his degree; the 28-year-old, a teacher, saving for a house deposit; and the 34-year-old, after a mental health crisis. At 63, Serena comes home from her job as a social worker to a mountain of laundry, and a spare downstairs room requisitioned as a bedroom.
Having a houseful is “really good fun”, she says, and makes life richer and more interesting. But it took a while to get used to partners staying over – “I’m not a prude, but you don’t necessarily want to be part of that life for your children, do you?” – and lately, she has felt the lack of an important rite of passage. “I’ve become old and I never really felt it, because I’ve been in that parent mode for such a long time,” she says. “It’s suddenly hit me that I didn’t have that transition that often happens, with kids who leave when you’re in your 40s and 50s – that just hasn’t happened. It’s odd.”
Continue reading...The Zen-like US representative from Minnesota has had the highest level of death threats of any congressperson because of the president’s attacks
“That’s Teddy,” said Tim Mynett, husband of the US representative Ilhan Omar, as their five-year-old labrador retriever capered around her office on Capitol Hill. “If you make too much eye contact, he’ll lose it. He’s my best friend – and he’s our security detail these days.”
The couple were sitting on black leather furniture around a coffee table. Apart from a sneezing fit that took her husband by surprise, Omar had an unusual Zen-like calm for someone who receives frequent death threats and is the subject of a vendetta from the most powerful man in the world.
Continue reading...Arda Güler, Nick Woltemade and Rafael Leão are among the first 30 players as we start our countdown to the list, updating through the week
Continue reading...The Timothée Chalamet-starring comedy about a hustling table tennis ace has been voted one of the Guardian’s films of the year. Its writer/director talks ambition, American dreams and alien takeovers
• Why Marty Supreme is the No 5 film in the UK and No 4 in the US
Josh Safdie, 41, is best known for the films he has made with his brother, Benny – frenetic chancer yarns such as Uncut Gems, Good Time and Heaven Knows What.
Last year, the brothers split and shot separate movies loosely based on real life sportsmen. Benny made wrestling drama The Smashing Machine, starring The Rock; Josh a loose take on the life of Marty Reisman, a shoe-store clerk in 1950s New York, who aspires to table tennis pre-eminence but must hustle to fund his passage to championships in London and Tokyo.
Continue reading...In his 46 years of service, Nick Hulme has seen the best and the worst of the NHS. He issues a stark warning about its future
I catch him before he slips out of the NHS ahead of Christmas. After 46 years in the health service, no better time for an exit interview with a leading NHS trust chief executive, who has seen the best and worst of it. Nick Hulme is in brutal truth mode. He has one foot out of the door of his East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation trust, just as the resident doctors strike for the 15th time, amid a rampant flu crisis. But he’s off, his time is up.
“I can’t remember a time when the NHS was at such risk,” he says. Labour has put in more money and staff, productivity and activity has risen a bit, waiting times down a bit, yet waiting lists stay stubbornly high. “That’s dangerous ammunition for Nigel Farage and the Conservatives,” says Hulme, “a narrative for people who want to kill the NHS.”
Continue reading...Companies such as Udio, Suno and Klay will let you use AI to make new music based on existing artists’ work. It could mean more royalties – but many are worried
This was the year that AI-generated music went from jokey curiosity to mainstream force. Velvet Sundown, a wholly AI act, generated millions of streams; AI-created tracks topped Spotify’s viral chart and one of the US Billboard country charts; AI “artist” Xania Monet “signed” a record deal. BBC Introducing is usually a platform for flesh-and-blood artists trying to make it big, but an AI-generated song by Papi Lamour was recently played on the West Midlands show. And jumping up the UK Top 20 this month is I Run, a track by dance act Haven, who have been accused of using AI to imitate British vocalist Jorja Smith (Haven claim they simply asked the AI for “soulful vocal samples”, and did not respond to an earlier request to comment).
The worry is that AI will eventually absorb all creative works in history and spew out endless slop that will replace human-made art and drive artists into penury. Those worries are being deepened by how the major labels, once fearful of the technology, are now embracing it – and heralding a future in which ordinary listeners have a hand in co-creating music with their favourite musicians.
Continue reading...Police said Paul Doyle, 54, used his vehicle ‘as a weapon’ in a moment of rage at a victory parade in the city on 25 May
A former Royal Marine has been jailed for more than 21 years for mowing down dozens of Liverpool football fans in a “truly shocking” act that “defies ordinary understanding”.
Paul Doyle, 54, bowed his head as he was sentenced at Liverpool crown court where victims and their families watched, some in tears, from the public gallery.
Continue reading...President claims broadcaster ‘intentionally, maliciously and deceptively’ edited 6 January speech before Capitol attack
The BBC has vowed to defend itself against the $10bn lawsuit that the US president, Donald Trump filed against it.
In a complaint filed on Monday evening, Trump sought $5bn in damages each on two counts, alleging that the BBC defamed him, and that it violated Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
Continue reading...Review, which will focus on effectiveness of political finance laws, follows conviction of former Reform politician for accepting bribes
An independent review into the impact of foreign financial influence and interference in domestic politics from Russia and other hostile states has been announced after one of Reform UK’s former senior politicians, Nathan Gill, was jailed for accepting bribes from a pro-Kremlin agent.
Amid growing concern inside the security services and parliament over the scale of the foreign threat to British democracy, the government-commissioned inquiry will focus on the effectiveness of the UK’s political finance laws.
Continue reading...Dashcam footage shows the moment Boris Gurman tackles shooter Sajid Akram and wrestles a gun from him
Dramatic footage has emerged of two victims who were killed while trying to stop a gunman during the early stages of the Bondi beach terror attack on Sunday.
The couple have been identified as Boris Gurman, 69, and Sofia Gurman, 61, after their family gave a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.
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