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The girl with a will to live: the love, hope and pain of raising Elsie – my one in 163 million daughter

She was born with an ultra-rare genetic disorder. After my decades working in film PR, I now face the biggest campaign of all: the fight for her life My daughter Elsie has beautiful curls – blond like a little Botticelli cherub’s, hair that someone dark like me could only ever dream of. She laughs a lot, has a cheeky sense of humour and soaks in all the sounds around her – rustling leaves, the sea, a dog barking, children playing around a pool, me impersonating the alarm clock every morning, me impersonating monkeys. Indeed, me impersonating any animal. Sound is important for Elsie because she has a visual impairment and, while we know she has some peripheral vision, is legally classed as blind. As a result, she uses her tongue to check her environment. When she’s excited it sticks out, tasting the air around her, licking anyone close, sensing space. And when she likes the taste of something she keeps her tongue out until you give her more. This is how we know she likes lollies. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Christelle Randall16 Sept

To understand the threat to our real democracy, watch Putin's fake one | Rafael Behr

As Russians vote this weekend, remember that Britain is not immune to the cynical tactics and corrosion of trust that keep him in power Millions of people will participate in elections in Russia this weekend and a new parliament will be chosen, but not necessarily in that order. The purpose of the exercise is to maintain Vladimir Putin’s authority over the political process, which means United Russia, the president’s party, will retain control of the Duma. That much is settled before the polls open, although the scale of the government’s victory won’t be declared until the votes are counted. A portion of seats is available for other “systemic parties” that function as Kremlin licensed-opposition, padding out the pretence of pluralism. They serve as a pressure valves for public frustration and parliamentary proxies when rival factions within the ruling elite want to nudge Kremlin policy in one direction or another. Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Guardian•Rafael Behr16 Sept

Students in Gaza ‘devastated’ after plan for them to study in Belgium fails

Belgian government unable to agree on evacuation of 13 students to take up scholarships at universities Students who are unable to leave Gaza and take up scholarships at Belgian universities have said they are devastated after Belgium’s government hit deadlock on a plan enabling them to leave the war-torn territory. Ahmed Abujami, a 28-year-old doctor in Gaza, said he was “deeply disappointed” after Belgium’s five-party coalition government last Friday failed to agree on an evacuation plan for 13 students and researchers in the territory. Abujami has a scholarship to do a one-year master’s degree in public health at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp. He hopes to gain skills and experience to rebuild Gaza’s shattered health system . Continue reading...

The Guardian•Jennifer Rankin in Brussels16 Sept

Slow Horses season six review – it gets harder to enjoy Gary Oldman’s spy thriller every year

The show’s creator has gone, it’s been retooled as a conventional thriller and it feels like it’s starting to run out of ideas – even if it’s as slick and confident as ever This is a new Slow Horses: season six is the first not to be guided by its creator, Will Smith, a writer whose previous work on The Thick of It and Veep explained why this espionage saga had an unusually sharp comic tongue. The absence of Smith’s drollery is discernible in a more straight-faced new story, but the bigger problem is one of a creative work naturally eroding over time. Slow Horses is now old. It’s always been a difficult, delicate proposition. The staff of Slough House, a purgatorial spin-off of MI5 where misfits and screw-ups are given boring work when it would make more sense to just fire them, regularly outstrip supposedly elite spies despite being shambling losers. Leading the field agents is River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), who has the good looks of a spy hero and some of the skills, but is also a brittle, luckless and rather whiny wretch, who regularly has to be saved from ignominious death. The jokes have helped us suspend our disbelief that River and the rest haven’t yet been riddled with bullets, and the relocation of traditional spy thrills to decaying urban settings is still a tonic, but enjoying this conjuring trick gets harder every year. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Jack Seale16 Sept

Expect even more potholes on UK roads after summer heatwaves, says RAC

Extreme weather has made brittle road surfaces more likely to crack, increasing strain on infrastructure The UK’s dilapidated roads are expected to get even worse, with motorists warned to expect a jump in the number of potholes as result of the country’s hottest summer on record . Potholes are commonly assumed to be caused by cold or wet weather, but long periods of heat can also create long-lasting damage on the roads, according to the RAC. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Amee Joshi and agency16 Sept

‘We weren’t shy. We were queers in leather!’ Sunil Gupta on his momentous photographs of gay life

From Delhi to New York, from the street to the bath house, he has captured clandestine moments, risked his freedom – and even referenced Romantic painters. Ahead of a major show, the photographer relives his landmark shots ‘I’ve been very promiscuous,” Sunil Gupta says, reflecting on his experiments with photography since the 1970s. Gupta, who was born in India, brought up in Canada and moved to the UK in 1978 after two years studying in New York, has documented and described queer lives for five decades. In his work, he’s quietly tried to find new ways of seeing, exploring the potential of photography to blur fiction and reality, public space and intimate, clandestine moments. His work explores the ways we love and relate to one another, set against the ever-shifting tides of politics and society. He photographs with love – but it hasn’t been without risk. An exhibition in India was once shut down by the government, and in his early days in the UK, when he was working with fellow photographer Tessa Boffin, he recalls curators “physically shrinking away when we walked in the room – two queers in leather were too much for them! But we were quite aggressively upfront with our sexualities, we weren’t shy about it.” Continue reading...

The Guardian•Charlotte Jansen16 Sept

The rubbishscapes of Essex: why our buried trash is back to haunt us – podcast

We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2023: Landfill sites have swallowed many a beauty spot along the Thames estuary in the past 50 years. Now, as those dumps start to disgorge tonnes of mouldering detritus into the river, it truly feels like the Age of Consequences By Tim Burrows. Read by Sam Swainsbury Continue reading...

The Guardian•Written by Tim Burrows and read by Sam Swainsbury. Produced by Nicola Alexandrou and Joshan Chana. The executive producer was Ellie Bury16 Sept

Los Angeles helicopter crash kills at least three people with others injured

Officials said incident occurred near the site of a deadly bus crash from earlier in the day A helicopter crash in Los Angeles has killed at least three people, while another person has been taken to hospital with their condition unknown, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The crash occurred near the site of a deadly bus crash from earlier in the day, officials said. Continue reading...

The Guardian•The Associated Press16 Sept

Jeremy Greenwood denies giving ‘ridiculous’ evidence to Icac about ‘mum’s perspective’ from premier’s sister-in-law

Counsel assisting inquiry suggests Anita Perrottet’s alleged advice on vaping and greyhound industry was already on public record from other sources A Liberal factional figure has rejected a suggestion he gave “ridiculous” evidence that Dominic Perrottet’s sister-in-law shared in $660,999 for giving a “mum’s perspective” on lobbying clients, the New South Wales anti-corruption watchdog has heard. Jeremy Greenwood told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Wednesday it was not relevant that Anita Perrottet’s children were under five at the time she provided advice on vaping among minors. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Penry Buckley16 Sept

Alice Springs heavy metal music venue raises $1m in donations in fight to stay open

Supporters from around Australia back the Black Wreath, a volunteer-run centre far off the beaten touring track Alice Springs has a population of 34,000 and exactly one dedicated live music space: a heavy metal venue called the Black Wreath. It has hosted hundreds of bands from around the country over the past decade – despite being 1,500km from the nearest city. For musicians in central Australia, the Black Wreath is a one-of-a-kind resource. So when its operators were informed last year of the owners’ plans to sell, they negotiated a stay of execution and began devising a fundraiser that could save the desert venue. A month-long crowdfunding campaign, which called for donations that would let the team behind the Black Wreath buy the venue and place it in a trust, hit its $1m target on Friday. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Katie Cunningham16 Sept

The Palestinian school under siege – podcast

At least five pupils at a village school in the West Bank have been killed in the last year by settlers and soldiers. Emma Graham-Harrison reports on how the school found itself on the frontline, while a teacher explains what life is like for staff and students. Waheed Abu Naim is an English teacher at the Al Mughayyir boys’ school in a village in the West Bank. He loves his job, he says. “I am happy to be a teacher. Although we don’t get lots of money, because my students, especially in the morning, wait for me when I enter the school to shake hands, to smile at me while going inside their classes. So it’s a happy life.” But the last year has been anything but happy for Waheed. His village is now surrounded by settlers, while the military has blocked off every road except one, which has a checkpoint on it. Teachers who live in neighbouring villages cannot always come to work. But worse are the attacks on the village by settlers. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Presented by Annie Kelly with Emma Graham-Harrison; produced by Ivor Manley and Brian McNamara; executive producer Homa Khaleeli16 Sept

Saudi Arabia warns of ‘red line’ after Houthi drone intercepted close to holy city of Mecca

The Iran-aligned militant group rejected the suggestion it had targeted Mecca, while the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned the attack Saudi Arabia’s air defences intercepted and destroyed a ⁠Houthi drone south of Mecca on Tuesday before it entered prohibited airspace over the holy city, according to a ⁠spokesperson for the ⁠Saudi-led military coalition which is fighting the Iran-aligned group in Yemen . The security of Islam’s two holiest sites and of pilgrims was a “red line”, ⁠coalition spokesperson Turki al-Malki said early on Wednesday, adding that the coalition would take necessary deterrent measures against the ⁠Houthis. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Agencies16 Sept

Human remains found in Arizona after deadly Grand Canyon flash floods

Hiker Timothy Smith, 53, missing after late-August floods but officials decline to identify remains Human remains have been discovered near Arizona’s Crystal Rapids, over two weeks after a flash flood tore through the Grand Canyon, leaving two people dead and one person missing. National Park Service personnel recovered the remains, before transferring them to the Coconino county medical examiner’s office, the agency confirmed over email. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Uwa Ede-Osifo16 Sept

Russia plotting to kill Ukraine allies in US and Europe, FBI says

Intelligence services allegedly attempted to pay people to surveil and kill people perceived to be aligned with Ukraine Russia’s intelligence services are plotting to carry out targeted killings in the United States and in European nations supporting Ukraine, federal authorities said Tuesday as they announced charges against five people who remain at large. An indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court said a network of the intelligence services had paid and attempted to pay individuals in the United States and in other countries to surveil targets to be killed with plans to then kill them. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Associated Press16 Sept

The women saving Borneo: battling fire, patriarchy and super El Niño on Indonesia’s peatland frontlines

Fire threatens Kalimantan’s rainforests. On the peatland frontlines, a group of local mothers is defending their community. Words and Photography: Garry Lotulung Irma puts on her heavy rubber boots as she prepares for a volunteer firefighting shift in her village of Sungai Putri, on the Indonesian side of Borneo island. Dressed in full safety gear she heads into fire zones on her motorbike, the air thick with toxic smoke. Continue reading...

The Guardian16 Sept

Yvonne Whear’s car found in river as mystery surrounding NSW woman’s disappearance continues

Police say personal items thought to belong to Whear recovered from waterlogged vehicle A car belonging to missing woman Yvonne Whear has been found in northern New South Wales, about seven months since the 73-year-old was last seen. Following a tip off, police divers found the car in the Rous River in Dulguigan on Saturday, 12 September – a short distance from Whear’s home. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Susan Chenery16 Sept

Trump administration plans to resume deliveries of 2,000-lb bombs to Israel

Delivery of the weapons had been halted two years ago over mass casualty concerns amid Israel’s bombing of Gaza The Trump administration is planning to deliver powerful 2,000-lb bombs to Israel as part of an upcoming arms deal, weapons that prompted such concerns about the possibility of mass casualties in Gaza that the Biden administration paused their delivery two years ago. The $2.8bn package includes 40,000 bombs, made up of 20,000 MK-84s and 20,000 BLU-117s, according to two US officials and a person familiar with the plan who spoke on Tuesday on condition of anonymity to discuss the package, which is not yet final. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Associated Press16 Sept

Queenslanders’ rights to oppose mining projects ‘gutted’ by new laws, activists say

As minister says process needs to be ‘streamlined’, Greens and Lock the Gate say the legislation is ‘corrupt’ and tears up environmental protections Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Queenslanders’ right to object to mining projects – including coal – would be “gutted” by new legislation that would ban opponents from being heard in court without the minister’s approval and then only if they owned a property within a 125km radius of the project. The Greens have called the move “corrupt” and community action group Lock the Gate Alliance said the state’s LNP government was “tearing up democratic and environmental protections just to make life easier for mining companies”. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Andrew Messenger15 Sept

Sleeping teen and camper wounded as Colorado bear attacks reach record high

Bears came through bedroom window and swiped tent at campground, causing scratch marks and puncture wound A black bear burst through a Colorado teenage girl’s window and scratched her, days after a bear also bit a camper in the state, according to wildlife officials. On Friday, a woman at a campground in south-west Colorado heard a growl and felt something hit her outdoors tent, according to a news release. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Uwa Ede-Osifo15 Sept

About 1,500 Britons a day quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers

More than a million people have left work to look after loved ones in the past two years, Carers UK says About 1,500 Britons a day are quitting their jobs to become unpaid carers, as they try to balance their vulnerable relatives’ growing care needs with declining access to state-funded social care services. Research estimates that more than a million people have left the workplace to look after ageing, ill and disabled loved ones in the past two years, highlighting the social challenges caused by UK’s rapidly changing demographic profile. Continue reading...

The Guardian•Patrick Butler Social policy editor15 Sept