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Investigators hope hoisting craft will yield clues about last year’s sinking as well as two super-encrypted hard drivesRecovery operations to raise the 56-metre British-flagged superyacht Bayesian from the seabed off Sicily, where it sank last summer killing seven people – including the British tech entrepreneur, Mike Lynch – will begin on Wednesday, weather permitting, according to the Italian port authorities.On 19 August 2024, the luxury vessel, with a 75-metre (246ft) mast, was anchored just off shore near the port of Porticello, in the province of Palermo, when it was struck shortly before dawn by a violent storm. Lynch, once described as Britain’s Bill Gates, and his 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, were among the victims. Continue reading…

Kharmel Cochrane responded to criticism of both actors’ ages and of Elordi’s ethnicity being unfaithful to Emily Brontë’s novel, saying ‘wait until you see the set design’Kharmel Cochrane, the casting director of Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has defended the choice of Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi for the leading roles.Speaking at the Sands film festival in Scotland, Cochrane responded to criticism of both actors’ ages and Elordi’s ethnicity by saying there was “no need to be accurate” as the source material is “just a book”, Deadline reported. Continue reading…

I was raised to love books. I never thought I would have to feed them to a fire so I could have a meagre meal.

Surveys show businesses and consumers are pessimistic about economic outlook as Trump completes 100 days in office.

They do much more than cut youth crime and violence, says Bernard Davies, while Tom Wylie says there should be a government strategy for youth workSimon Jenkins’ article on the value of youth centres is much needed and long overdue (Youth centres may seem tame fare for politicians. But I’ve seen firsthand how they cut crime”, 25 April). In addition to his emphasis on how they can help steer young people away from crime and violence, their wider societal benefits also need to be highlighted.Research published by UK Youth in 2022, for example, concluded that by also improving health (including mental health) and opening up employment and educational opportunities, youth work in England has a “direct economic value” of £5.7bn and an indirect value of at least £3.2bn. And that is before we begin to take into account the informal educational opportunities they open up, plus the chance for young people to discover talents that they may not know they have, or lack the confidence to try out.Bernard DaviesLeamington Spa, Warwickshire Continue reading…

Most voters don’t dislike green policies, they dislike feeling left behind, says Dr Max Lacey-BarnacleDespite Keir Starmer doubling down on commitments to pursue a net zero transition, there is still an urgent need to bring communities on side (Britain will accelerate push to net zero, Starmer tells energy summit, 24 April). The UK’s current approach to net zero relies heavily on leveraging international private investment, which allows for foreign corporate control and ownership over the growing green economy.People need to experience the benefits of warmer homes, new green jobs, cleaner air and secure, sustainable energy in their everyday lives, and in their local communities. Community wealth-building offers a path forward to localise those benefits and democratise ownership. Continue reading…

When it comes to workouts, how much pain – specifically, how much post-workout soreness – is actually a good thing? The answer: it dependsHumans have long glamorized suffering, hailing it as an essential ingredient of growth. In the ancient Greek tragedy Elektra, Sophocles wrote: “Nothing truly succeeds without pain.” In the 1980s, the actor and aerobics instructor Jane Fonda told people: “No pain, no gain.”But when it comes to workouts, how much pain – specifically, how much post-workout soreness – is actually a good thing? The answer: it depends. Continue reading…

From deportations to human rights to the economy, the president’s actions have resulted in mayhem. Here’s a samplingSome Democrats fear they’re playing into Donald Trump’s hands by fighting his mass deportations rather than focusing on his failures on bread-and-butter issues like the cost of living.But it’s not either-or. The theme that unites Trump’s inept handling of deportations, his trampling on human and civil rights, his rejection of the rule of law, his dictatorial centralization of power, and his utterly inept handling of the economy is the ineptness itself.Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com Continue reading…

The Oscar nominated actor is the most impressive member of a ragtag Suicide Squad-esque team in an often charmingly unusual yet still baggy adventureThunderbolts* can be messy. Not just the movie, with its clumsily forced narrative beats and whiplash tonal shifts. But also, its title characters, the broken and lonely souls who ditch the colourful costumes and wear their emotions on their sleeves, as if it’s their brand.These reluctant heroes, led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, the troubled sister to Scarlett Johansson’s late Black Widow, are defined by how much they need therapy. They wrestle with themselves more than the bad guys, in a way that’s more pronounced than the most unstable among Marvel’s stable of wisecracking world saviors. They’re endearingly vulnerable, at times devastatingly so, and yet still fun and exciting enough to save Marvel. Continue reading…