HeraldLoop
The Guardian

The Guardian — page 87

2479 articlestheguardian.com ↗

Coverage, page 87

page 87 of 124

How Ron DeSantis politicized Florida’s higher education by placing his loyalists at the top

Term-limited, hard-right governor instituted an ideological infiltration of universities by placing allies in powerful posts In fewer than four months’ time, Ron DeSantis, Florida’s hard-right governor, will be termed out of office, and what critics saw as his relentless eight-year, “anti-woke” assault on higher education in the state will finally be over. But while DeSantis himself will be gone, numerous hand-picked loyalists will remain in positions of power to protect his ideological makeover of universities and colleges. The latest, Alex Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff, and Florida commerce secretary, was named last week as the sole finalist in Pensacola state college’s search for a new president, at least the 12th close DeSantis ally to win such a plum post. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Richard Luscombe in Miami11 Sept

Iran’s Houthi allies capture strategic island on vital oil shipping route

Rampant Yemeni rebels take control of island in narrow point of Bab al-Mandab strait, which Saudi is relying on for oil exports Violence in Yemen: why it matters and how it is linked to the US-Iran war Yemen’s rampant Houthi forces have captured a strategic island in the Bab al-Mandab strait, expanding their control of the narrow waterway, one of the ​world’s vital shipping routes. The Iran-aligned Houthis took control of the volcanic island after forces allied to the UN-backed, Aden-based government left in the latest of a dramatic series of reverses along Yemen’s west coast in recent days, including the loss of the port city of Mocha on Thursday. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor11 Sept

Hundreds of asylum seekers removed from UK to France have disappeared, say NGOs

Human rights organisations concerned about people – including age-disputed children – returned under one in, out out deal Hundreds of asylum seekers – including at least 41 age-disputed children – removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said. The one in, one out pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced it in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for another asylum seeker brought legally to the UK from France. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Diane Taylor11 Sept

Hundreds of asylum seekers removed from UK to France have disappeared, say NGOs

Human rights organisations concerned about people – including age-disputed children – returned under one in, out out deal Hundreds of asylum seekers – including at least 41 age-disputed children – removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said. The one in, one out pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced it in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns one small-boat asylum seeker to France in exchange for another asylum seeker brought legally to the UK from France. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Diane Taylor11 Sept

Olid’s United on back foot due to late business and unforgiving WSL start

Head coach has harsh spotlight on her as she prepares for Chelsea on Sunday, but she deserves time and investment It was tough watching Manchester United’s players labour ineffectively against the hungry and aggressive press of London City Lionesses. Simi Awujo’s late consolation goal did little to ease the mounting concern for a side that have several teams nipping at their heels. Don’t panic; that has to be United’s message. To an extent, it is very early to be writing the team’s obituary. The new head coach, Eva Olid , had only three weeks to try to implement her ideas about the way the team should play before their season opener in Bromley. That is not long enough for her to peel away Marc Skinner’s imprint on the team. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Suzanne Wrack11 Sept

Olid’s United on back foot due to late business and unforgiving WSL start

Head coach has harsh spotlight on her as she prepares for Chelsea on Sunday, but she deserves time and investment It was tough watching Manchester United’s players labour ineffectively against the hungry and aggressive press of London City Lionesses. Simi Awujo’s late consolation goal did little to ease the mounting concern for a side that have several teams nipping at their heels. Don’t panic; that has to be United’s message. To an extent, it is very early to be writing the team’s obituary. The new head coach, Eva Olid , had only three weeks to try to implement her ideas about the way the team should play before their season opener in Bromley. That is not long enough for her to peel away Marc Skinner’s imprint on the team. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Suzanne Wrack11 Sept

Don Giovanni review – reality recedes in visually dizzying Mozart tour de force

Royal Opera House, London This revival of Kaspar Holten’s 2014 staging puts the focus on the Don’s psychology. Aigul Akhmetshina’s Elvira is a standout performance in a strong cast Post #MeToo and #TimesUp, Mozart and Da Ponte’s tale of a predatory sex addict feels more pertinent than ever. Kaspar Holten’s 2014 staging , revived here with care and clarity by Greg Eldridge, may not be played in modern dress – Anja Vang Kragh’s semi-stylised costumes and Es Devlin’s Escher-inspired revolving set locate the action somewhere between 1850 and 1900 – but the contemporary resonances come over loud and clear. If only it wasn’t so frustratingly inconsistent. In Holten’s hands the overture becomes a visual as well as a musical tour de force. Luke Halls’ video design starts small, scrawling a single woman’s name on the grey stone facade. Soon, however, the trickle swells to a torrent as a catalogue of sexual conquests appear before our eyes. Projections are a constant throughout with scribbles, ink blots and splashes of blood spattering scenery and singers alike. In the famous Champagne Aria, images of buildings, rooms and staircases rotate at dizzying speed with the Don standing in the eye of the storm anticipating his latest binge. Remarkably, they rarely distract from the action, a testament to Bruno Poet’s dextrous lighting design. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Clive Paget11 Sept

Maresca backs Anderson over ‘kings of Manchester’ dig before derby clash

Maresca: ‘City dominant when Anderson grew up’ O’Reilly due to return but Doku not fit after injury Enzo Maresca has backed Elliot Anderson’s assessment that Manchester City are the “ kings of Manchester ” as he prepares for his first derby in charge of the club. City travel to Old Trafford on Sunday seeking to continue their perfect start to life under Maresca and further prove Anderson’s point. The 23-year-old midfielder made his claim upon signing from Nottingham Forest for £116m in the summer and having from afar witnessed City win eight Premier League titles during the past 14 years, compared with United’s one. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Will Unwin11 Sept

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror – review roundup

Massif by Garth Nix; Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired By Ursula K Le Guin edited by Jonathan Strahan; An Immaculate Deception by Isabela Livino; Serenity Falls by CJ Tudor Massif by Garth Nix (Gollancz, £25) The bestselling fantasy author’s first science fiction novel for adults is set three centuries from now, when humanity has spread out to the stars. The colonisation of other planets has been enabled by contact with mysterious aliens, and with much of the population split into competing economic spheres, war over territory is raging between the two biggest: United Earth Government and the Mars and Beyond Prosperity Sphere. This war in space is possible only because the godlike aliens continue to supply us with spaceships – but why? What do they want? Answers must await a sequel to this compelling, action-packed space opera with wonderfully weird aliens. Revolution in the Heart: Stories Inspired By Ursula K Le Guin edited by Jonathan Strahan (Titan, £22) The authors of these 15 original stories range from the well-established (Karen Joy Fowler, Kelly Link, Molly Gloss) to newer writers (Chana Porter, Ai Jiang, Vandana Singh). A few make direct reference to Le Guin, but most reveal her influence subtly, by shared interests in questioning established ideas and imagining other ways of living, whether among non-human beings, in the future, on other worlds, or in ours. My favourites include Sarah Pinsker’s Travelling, Home, about a young woman in present-day America seeking her place in the world, Ann Leckie’s Five-Eyed Jane, an ironic look at misunderstandings among aliens, and Karen Joy Fowler’s Blaumont, a dark fairytale that’s as disturbing and thought-provoking today as Le Guin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas. Probably the best original anthology of the year: a must-read. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Lisa Tuttle11 Sept

Curse of the Nile’s gold: how Sudan is losing its fertile fields and ability to produce food

An artisanal mining boom driven by war and poverty is causing a public health emergency, as chemicals poison soil, water and society In Abu Hamad, on the banks of the Nile, verdant orchards, gardens and fields once produced a bounty of dates, citrus fruits, winter grains and cereals for the towns and cities of eastern Sudan, including Khartoum and Port Sudan. Today, the land looks drastically different. Trees have been cut down, agricultural areas cleared, and farms have been replaced by shops and commercial sites. Dotted around the town and its outskirts, more than 700 mounds of grey waste are poisoning the soil, water and air. The mounds are the toxic remnants of artisanal gold mining, a practice that began in about 2008 and has intensified over the past six years. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Samira Hassan Khalifa in Abu Hamad11 Sept

‘You’re fired!’ The TV shows you can’t stomach any more

Hating The Apprentice? Bored silly of House of the Dragon? Given up on your favourite soap opera after 50 years? Guardian readers share the shows they can’t bear to watch We loved this show for the first four or five seasons. It had a really good mix of candidates, different ages and walks of life. I think it was after season nine that we started to feel the programme was losing its authenticity. Contestants started to look like homogenous Love Islanders, all the same demographic – 20-30 age bracket, highly polished body image, eye on a post-show influencer career, etc. It lost its uniqueness and became just another reality show. Ngaire Vine, 56, Derbyshire Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Alfie Packham and Guardian readers11 Sept

Curse of the Nile’s gold: how Sudan is losing its fertile fields and ability to produce food

An artisanal mining boom driven by war and poverty is causing a public health emergency, as chemicals poison soil, water and society In Abu Hamad, on the banks of the Nile, verdant orchards, gardens and fields once produced a bounty of dates, citrus fruits, winter grains and cereals for the towns and cities of eastern Sudan, including Khartoum and Port Sudan. Today, the land looks drastically different. Trees have been cut down, agricultural areas cleared, and farms have been replaced by shops and commercial sites. Dotted around the town and its outskirts, more than 700 mounds of grey waste are poisoning the soil, water and air. The mounds are the toxic remnants of artisanal gold mining, a practice that began in about 2008 and has intensified over the past six years. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Samira Hassan Khalifa in Abu Hamad11 Sept

Curse of the Nile’s gold: how Sudan is losing its fertile fields and ability to produce food

An artisanal mining boom driven by war and poverty is causing a public health emergency, as chemicals poison soil, water and society In Abu Hamad, on the banks of the Nile, verdant orchards, gardens and fields once produced a bounty of dates, citrus fruits, winter grains and cereals for the towns and cities of eastern Sudan, including Khartoum and Port Sudan. Today, the land looks drastically different. Trees have been cut down, agricultural areas cleared, and farms have been replaced by shops and commercial sites. Dotted around the town and its outskirts, more than 700 mounds of grey waste are poisoning the soil, water and air. The mounds are the toxic remnants of artisanal gold mining, a practice that began in about 2008 and has intensified over the past six years. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Samira Hassan Khalifa in Abu Hamad11 Sept

Céline Dion fans gather in Paris as singer prepares for sold-out comeback shows

More than 30,000 due to attend Canadian artist’s opener at Plenitude arena, as thousands without tickets plan Friday night karaoke More than 30,000 Céline Dion fans have gathered in Paris for the Canadian singer’s long-awaited return to performing on Saturday night – four years after she revealed her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition. Thousands more people without tickets have flocked to a series of giant karaoke events across France to belt out Dion’s famous power ballads, in celebration of the star’s health stabilising enough for her to return to the stage. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Angelique Chrisafis in Paris11 Sept

Céline Dion fans gather in Paris as singer prepares for sold-out comeback shows

More than 30,000 due to attend Canadian artist’s opener at Plenitude arena, as thousands without tickets plan Friday night karaoke More than 30,000 Céline Dion fans have gathered in Paris for the Canadian singer’s long-awaited return to performing on Saturday night – four years after she revealed her diagnosis of stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition. Thousands more people without tickets have flocked to a series of giant karaoke events across France to belt out Dion’s famous power ballads, in celebration of the star’s health stabilising enough for her to return to the stage. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Angelique Chrisafis in Paris11 Sept

‘She changed the beauty industry’: how Charlotte Mensah brought black hair into the spotlight

A new exhibition in London celebrates the influential hairstylist whose clients include Janelle Monáe and Zadie Smith. She explains her story – and why she’s on a mission to ensure stylists are trained to work with all hair types When Charlotte Mensah was a young child growing up in Accra, Ghana in the 1970s, she would spend hours watching her aunties having their hair intricately threaded, an ancient African technique where hair is wrapped tightly using yarn or thread. She didn’t know then that she would go on to become one of the most influential hairdressers in the UK. Renowned for championing natural black hair textures in mainstream culture, she has worked as hairstylist to singers Janelle Monáe and Erykah Badu, and the writer Zadie Smith. According to Smith, in an essay she penned about Mensah’s magic earlier this year: “Charlotte can make a great mane of braids appear where previously there were only split ends and hair loss.” Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Sinéad Campbell11 Sept

The Trial of Romeo Oscar review – Ayckbourn goes back to the future with android accused of murder

Stephen Joseph theatre, Scarborough The playwright explores our relationship with technology, asks if robots have souls and even questions the value of art in this sci-fi courtroom drama For play number 92, Alan Ayckbourn returns to his preoccupation of exploring where we as a species are heading through a science-fiction lens. He goes back to the future. In The Trial of Romeo Oscar, the playwright famed for his domestic comedies looks to the year 2194 when humans have spread about the galaxy and androids live alongside us. One of them, RSDO83, is on trial for the murder of a teenage girl in his charge. This is Ayckbourn philosophising about the future of humanity as we sit at an obvious inflection point, asking what this moment in our relationship with technology means and where it will lead us. The questions running through the play are manifold, complex and echo those asked by sci-fi writers for decades: can robots hurt humans? Do they have souls? He is also questioning the value of art and even its purpose. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Nick Ahad11 Sept

Nation pauses to remember September 11 on 25th anniversary | First Thing

Commemoration ceremonies to be held around the world for the nearly 3,000 killed in 2001 terror attack on US. Plus, JD Vance sets out his stall as heir to Donald Trump Good morning. It is a sombre day for the nation as people gather to mourn and remember the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks on September 11 2001 , when 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four airliners, slamming two of the planes into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania. We have comprehensive coverage of the anniversary, which will be marked by ceremonies around the world. There are stories of the day from people who were there. Stanley Praimnath and Brian Clark were two of only four individuals known to have survived above the impact zone in the south tower, and they spoke to our Washington bureau chief David Smith . Anna Sweeney Rossman was five when her mother, Amy Sweeney, a flight attendant, was killed onboard American Airlines flight 11, and she spoke to Ramon Antonio Vargas about how the events of that day have cast a shadow on her life. Donald Trump’s promise of a $5,000 “Trump dividend” for every US citizen if Republicans retain control of the US Congress in November’s midterm elections has sparked incredulity and accusations of bribery . With his approval rating at a historic low, Trump brought down the curtain on the Republicans’ first ever midterm convention by pleading with supporters to do him “the biggest favor” and “pretend” they are voting for him in November’s US elections. JD Vance, meanwhile, made a clear pitch that he should be the heir to Trump with a blistering speech that featured exaggerated claims of success, criticism of the Democrats as “lunatics” and an aggressive dismissal of a protester waving a Mexican flag. A US appeals court has rejected Trump’s attempt to impose sweeping restrictions on mail-in voting before November’s high-stakes midterm elections, dealing a fresh blow to the president’s attempted crackdown. Anthropic has detailed efforts by bad actors to misuse its AI for the production of bioweapons . More researchers and staff members at the AI startup have posted their own dire warnings about the safety of the technology, but Elon Musk called the chorus of concerns a “setup” and a “psyop”. California has adopted what Gavin Newsom described as “nation-leading” legislation that bans addictive social media features for young users , regulates companion chatbots and implements new safeguards around AI. Sales of previously occupied US homes declined in August to their slowest annual pace in more than a year as home shoppers grappled with rising mortgage rates and home prices. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Martin Belam11 Sept

Drawn Together review – preposterous romance with all the erotic charge of leaf mulch

The latest adaptation of Culpable trilogy author Mercedes Ron, about a ballet dancer and her security guard, has more holes than plot and chemistry than barely generates a spark Here is Prime Video’s latest Mercedes Ron adaptation, following the massive ratings success of her Culpable trilogy (My Fault, Your Fault , Our Fault ). Drawn Together tells the story of a ballet dancer falling in love with her bodyguard. It’s meant to be darker and sexier than the Culpable movies (which were derived from YA-aimed novels), but has all the erotic charge of leaf mulch. It’s the worst of all worlds – trash minus any froth or fun, trash with pretensions. Fans no doubt will be instantly at home in its glossy world of the ultra-wealthy, all the budget blown on cream-coloured furnishings and jodhpurs. Ester Expósito is Marfil, a 20-year-old student and ballet dancer from Spain living in New York. One night, she is abducted in Central Park and wakes up two days later in hospital with no memory of what happened. What Marfil doesn’t know is that her billionaire father Alejandro (Pablo Molinero) is an organised crime boss, and he hires bodyguard Sebastián (Hugo Diego Garcia) as 24/7 protection for Marfil. In a film with more holes than plot, this stands out as especially preposterous. No father alive would risk hiring smouldering Sebastián (think Tom Hardy’s hot young Spanish cousin) as security for his daughter. Continue reading...

The GuardianThe Guardian•Cath Clarke11 Sept