The actor Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, and other prominent parents are pleading not guilty in the college admissions bribery scam. Loughlin and Giannulli said in court documents filed on Monday they were waiving their right to appear in court for an arraignment and plead not guilty. The couple and more than…
Month: April 2019
Labour MPs to urge Jeremy Corbyn not to ‘torpedo’ Brexit deal
Jeremy Corbyn is to be urged by a group of Labour MPs not to “torpedo” the prospect of a Brexit deal with Theresa May by insisting on a second referendum. The MPs, including Stephen Kinnock and Gloria De Piero, are set to send the Labour leader a letter early next week setting out their “deep-seated…
Man held in New York after taking gasoline into St Patrick’s Cathedral
Only days after flames ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a man has been arrested after entering St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, according to the New York Police Department. The unidentified 37-year-old from New Jersey had pulled up in a minivan outside the cathedral…
Causes of cancer may leave ‘fingerprints’ in DNA, scientists say
From smoking to alcohol, air pollution to sunlight, a host of factors in our environment can cause cancer. Now scientists say they might be able to pinpoint the culprits for individual tumours. Experts say they have managed to link particular environmental triggers with specific genetic mutations that give rise to cancer, opening up the possibility…
Police begin second wave of arrests in London climate protests
Police have moved in to begin arresting climate activists blocking Waterloo Bridge in central London. Hundreds of people had occupied the crossing – and three other sites in central London since Monday morning. Overnight officers tried to clear the bridge, arresting 113 people, but the blockade remained in place. However, just after 12.30pm on Tuesday…
I’m a teacher and I live in the back of a van
If I’d thought, 10 years into teaching, I’d be camping in the back of a van during the week, parking up under darkened coastal coverts, surviving on my wits at the front of class by day and my wife’s tasty pack-ups by night, would I have taken the plunge? I have two sleeping bags (four-season),…
Canada: police hunt fake deliveryman who shot woman with crossbow
Police in Canada are hunting a suspected hitman who they say disguised himself as a delivery person to carry out a “premeditated, targeted and isolated attack” on a woman, gravely injuring her with a crossbow. Details of a brazen murder attempt were released to the public Monday morning by police in Mississauga, Ontario. The attack…
Madame X: Madonna’s new alter-ego is both anonymous and well-trodden
Madonna announced the name of her new album today – along with a new alter-ego: both are called Madame X. In a minute-long video teasing the record, Madonna fleshes out her character. If you feel like you’re struggling to maintain a healthy work-life balance, spare a thought for the Madame who is apparently “a secret…
How capitalism captured the mindfulness industry
On the internet is an image of Ronald McDonald, the McDonald’s hamburger icon, seated in a lotus position. Some Thai Buddhists see this in literal terms as disrespectful to the Buddha; others are rightly critical of the colonialist and harmful cultural appropriation of Buddhism by the west and the lack of regard for Asian Buddhism…
‘Dirt and filth’: Russia attacks film about Red Army in Afghanistan
A row has broken out in Russia over a film about the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, after politicians and former servicemen criticised its unflattering depiction of Red Army soldiers as unpatriotic. Leaving Afghanistan, directed by Pavel Lungin, is based on the experiences of Nikolay Kovalyov, a veteran of the Afghan war who went on…