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‘In prison, I made a little studio in my head. It kept me sane’: Ibrahim Alfa Jr, British techno’s great survivor
He moved from Nigeria to middle England and was swept up into the rave scene – then battled through incarceration and near-death illness. After making 500 tracks while living on porridge and lettuce, he explains how he kept going Ibrahim Alfa Jr had been feeling unwell for a while – he’d been coughing up blood – but he says he only realised how ill he was when the facial recognition on his phone stopped working, because it could no longer recognise his face. When he went to visit his sister in 2022, she was so shocked by his appearance, she took him straight to A&E. He was suffering from anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially fatal allergic reaction: moreover, he had a pulmonary embolism that was causing his lung to fill up with blood. “I thought: oh my God, that’s literally what killed Andy Weatherall,” he says today. Like Weatherall once was, Alfa Jr is a veteran star of British rave culture. “So, like, wow.” The embolism treated, he was sent home, but still wasn’t feeling right. The weekend after, a second pulmonary embolism was found on his other lung. The weekend after that, he had a heart attack. Then he had a second heart attack. Returning home, he discovered he’d become “allergic to everything. Even water was swelling my face,” he says. “You just don’t know what you can eat, so I just lived on porridge and lettuce leaves for three months, and didn’t see anybody. I just locked myself in a room, and a friend would bring me porridge and lettuce leaves. I only went out to go to the doctors. Any type of social life, of seeing other humans just disappeared. It was that visceral.” Continue reading...
Time and Water review – Iceland’s doomed glacier tells its own story of climate disaster
This study of author Andri Snær Magnason is somewhat indulgent, with endless musings where piercing climate crisis commentary should be Is Iceland dying? Is the world dying? These would appear to be the very relevant questions behind this well-intentioned but ultimately exasperating and obtuse documentary from National Geographic, which is burdened with tasteful NatGeo stateliness and visually pleasing production values. It is directed by film-maker Sara Dosa, whose earlier documentary Fire of Love was about doomed vulcanologists Maurice and Katia Krafft, who in 1991 perished in the eruption they were studying. Now Dosa has made a study of award-winning Icelandic climate author Andri Snær Magnason, whose book on climate change Of Time And Water was published in 2019 and who wrote a piercingly sad “obituary” of the Ok glacier, the first Icelandic glacier completely to disappear. It very clearly won’t be the last. Continue reading...
Yes, Michelle Obama knows a lot about resilience. She still shouldn’t be lecturing gen Z about it | Emma Beddington
It’s decades since the former US first lady was an employee. The world of work she grew up in has long gone Uh oh, Michelle Obama has been advising gen Z on navigating work. “One thing that’s important is to learn how to do something you don’t like to do and be good at it,” she told the audience at a podcast recording in London. “Every experience – the bad boss, the boring assistant job, the job you thought that you weren’t appreciated, the one that didn’t give you the assignment you wanted when you wanted it – all of that is learning to be resilient.” The podcast is called IMO, and she is entitled to her opinion, and it’s true that awful bosses, crap jobs and professional setbacks are inevitable, unpleasant learning experiences. Plus, Obama has navigated exceptionally tricky circumstances and put up with endless unjustified flak – she has plenty to teach everyone about grace under pressure. But there’s an implicit criticism of gen Z workers in her words. You see that a lot (they’re undisciplined! They won’t use the phone! They want mental health days!) and it feels unfair and unhelpful. Continue reading...
‘Absolutely wonderful’: why everyone should be watching Widow’s Bay
The brilliantly modulated mix of horror and comedy has quickly become a buzzy water cooler hit for Apple TV When Widow’s Bay appeared on Apple TV in April, all signs pointed it to being another one of those underwatched and undermarketed curios – like Sunny or Land of Women or Extrapolations – that routinely get dumped on to the platform before quickly dying of neglect. Instead, something remarkable happened. Unless Apple has been secretly trialling a new strategy where they directly pay everyone I know to tell me how good its shows are, Widow’s Bay has become the biggest word of mouth hit that television has had in years. With every passing episode, the buzz gets a little bit louder. And this is for a very good reason: Widow’s Bay is absolutely wonderful. Continue reading...
The pet I’ll never forget: Chewy the dog, who loves gardening – and saving lives
A great big bear of a dog, Chewy the newfoundland is always there to rescue us if we fall in the water, or if my 96-year-old grandma needs a hand I got Chewy, short for Chewbacca, when he was eight weeks old – he was this giant ball of a newfoundland puppy. I live in North Carolina and we drove five hours to Georgia to get him. It was love at first sight, but I never expected how much of a role he would play in my family. Chewy was the craziest puppy, very clumsy and goofy. He grew so quickly – he went from 10lb (4.5kg) to 100lb (45kg) in the first 10 months. Now aged four, he’s calmed down quite a bit and looks like a big, fluffy, long-haired bear. He’s enormous – you just want to hug him. Continue reading...
Huge boost for WSL as Alexia Putellas agrees personal terms with London City
Spanish great moving to England after 14 years at Barça She has been impressed by vision of Michele Kang’s club Alexia Putellas has agreed personal terms with London City Lionesses. Widely regarded as one of the best players in the world, Putellas would be one of the biggest signings in the history of the Women’s Super League, with her arrival also representing an extraordinary moment for London City, an independently-run club who have spent only one season in the top flight of women’s football in England. Putellas left Barcelona last month upon the expiry of her contract with the club she represented for 14 years, a period in which she won 10 Liga F titles and four Champions League titles, as well as the World Cup with Spain in 2023 and twice being named a Ballon d’Or winner. The 32-year-old, who also captained Barça, wants to pursue a new challenge and has naturally attracted interest from most of the world’s wealthiest teams. She has been linked with a move to London City with multiple sources confirming she has agreed a contract with the club, who have made no secret of their grand ambitions under the ownership of the American businesswoman, Michele Kang. Continue reading...
Christian Eriksen close to being discharged after collapse, says team doctor
Denmark’s medic reveals 34-year-old is in ‘good spirits’ Eriksen in hospital after losing consciousness on pitch Christian Eriksen is expected to be “discharged soon” from hospital after he appeared to collapse during Denmark’s friendly with Ukraine on Sunday. Television images showed Eriksen holding his chest in the 65th minute of the fixture at Odense Stadium, with the match quickly halted and abandoned shortly afterwards amid concern for the former Tottenham and Manchester United playmaker. Continue reading...
County cricket: Surrey v Hampshire day two – live
Live Championship updates from 11am UK time Email Tanya | MCC apologises for Lord’s pitch Simon expertly wraps things up. More cracking writing from Andy Bull. Continue reading...
Tate & Lyle agrees £2.7bn takeover by US rival in new blow to London stock market
Venerable but struggling UK firm backs deal with Chicago-based Ingredion which puts nearly 500 jobs worldwide at risk Tate & Lyle has agreed to a £2.7bn takeover by its US rival Ingredion, in a deal that could put hundreds of jobs at risk and represents yet another loss for London’s struggling stock market. The FTSE 250 business, which makes artificial sweeteners such as Splenda, has agreed to a deal that values it at 615p per share, about 60% above its price before news of a possible takeover emerged. Continue reading...
The best TV of 2026 so far
From ludicrously fun 80s love affairs to outrageously scandalous drama, this has already been a year of great television. Here are our favourite shows of the year *** Continue reading...
The one change that worked: my husband and I created a simple and life-changing parenting rota
Like many couples, my husband and I bickered over who would do what and who did more. We came up with a radical solution It was when my second child was born in 2021 that I realised I needed a new system for parenting. We were coming out of lockdown, and I was tired and overwhelmed. During the pandemic, my husband and I had built our own mini unit in the UK, as our families lived in the US. I had decided to start my own literary agency as soon as my daughter was old enough to start nursery at six months. It wasn’t ideal timing, but I wanted to start as soon as possible. I approached finding a parenting system the way I think many women of my generation do, with the same intensity that we would have approached a school dissertation. I decided to crowdsource my research: I watched videos of home-schooling mums in the US demonstrating their morning routines, I read every parenting book I could, I listened to podcasters interviewing mothers who seemingly “had it all”, and listened to others who argued that “having it all” was impossible. Continue reading...
‘Wear something that makes you feel silly!’ Can Austin Kleon’s tips put the spark back in my life?
If you’re in a rut, kids can show you the way out. That’s the latest message from the author of the bestselling Steal Like an Artist. I asked him to help me rediscover my playful, creative side … As a child, I couldn’t wait to be an adult. I’d spend hours daydreaming about the future, my exciting life and what I’d do with all that autonomy, such as own exotic pets, paint my walls bright pink and stay up all night. Now that I’m in my mid-30s, it’s fair to say that adulthood has somewhat lost its lustre. Nothing is wrong, exactly – I’ve even achieved some of my dreams, with a bright pink bathroom and two weird cats – but there’s still a sense of going through the motions, and my days being dully predictable: gym, work, cook, clean, collapse on to the sofa. Continue reading...
Women’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from world’s top six leagues
Every deal in the NWSL, WSL, Liga F, Frauen-Bundesliga, Première Ligue and Serie A Femminile as well as a club-by-club guide Continue reading...
‘It can all end with one bad game’: the highs and lows of a World Cup referee
Even the finest miss out on a place at the finals and for those who do get there, decisions can make or break a dream Ismail Elfath was taking his children to the park near his home in Texas when a message arrived. “Congratulations,” it read. Elfath hugged his wife. Fifa had selected him for his second World Cup. Relief and pride swept over him. “Going to a World Cup is the dream of every referee, but going to a second one means you have stayed consistent for eight years plus,” he said. For referees, the World Cup is the pinnacle. The tournament comes around only every four years, and only a tiny number make the cut. “First you have to be the best in your own country, and even then you might not be selected,” the former Swiss referee Urs Meier said. Continue reading...
Jalen Brunson heard the doubters. Now he has the Knicks on verge of history
As a former NBA player, I know that criticism is part of the game. But in an age when players are under attack constantly, the Knick star is an example to us all The entire basketball world is singing the praises of Jalen Brunson and rightfully so. He has led the Knicks to the NBA finals for the first time since 1999 and has united the entire city of New York in a unique way. On every New York street you can see people of every race, color, creed, nationality, religion, economic status and political affiliation unified in excitement as the team seek their first NBA title since 1973. While older Knicks fans break out their Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and John Starks jerseys, younger fans have the names of Brunson, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns on their backs. Chants of “MVP!” fill the air in every New York borough every time Jalen Brunson steps up to the free-throw line. Knicks fans have staged watch parties on the sidewalks, in the parks, and on the corners. All of New York is, in the words of JadaKiss, “outside”. Etan Thomas played in the NBA from 2000 through 2011. He is a published author, podcaster, poet, activist and motivational speaker. Continue reading...
Giving guitarfish a chance: one man’s mission to persuade fishers to farm giant snails instead
Marine biologist Issah Seidu has found a way for Ghana’s fishing communities to earn a living – and help protect the ancient and critically endangered fish species Guitarfish are an odd-looking and ancient species, with the tail of a shark and the flattened body of a ray, but their coveted fins have driven populations to the brink of extinction. In west Africa, where their meat is also a local delicacy, many guitarfish species are among the most critically endangered fish in the ocean. Conservationists at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) describe the slow-maturing ray, which produce young annually, as an “indicator species”, which reflect the overall health of an ecosystem and pose challenges in the way coastal fishing of them is managed. The IUCN red list categorises more than half of guitarfish species as critically endangered. Continue reading...
‘It soothes me’: why The Blair Witch Project is my feelgood movie
The latest in our series of writers highlighting their most rewatched comfort films is a dread-filled journey into the woods I’m not sure I could blame anyone for choosing, as their feelgood film, a film in which the characters feel good. Cinema is supposed to manipulate us emotionally - that’s the whole point. Nemo feels good when he’s found, and we feel good for him. By this logic, horror films should make us feel bad. So, when it was released in 1999, why did The Blair Witch Project – a film in which three film students are hunted, terrorised and presumably killed by an unseen entity – make nearly $250m at the box office? That’s the same as Love Actually. Of all the millions of people who paid to sit and watch Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s claustrophobic found-footage nightmare, I’m sure that not a single one of them entered the cinema hoping for their day to be ruined. I was technically too young to see The Blair Witch Project when it came out, but like so many other children of laissez-faire 90s parents, I found a way. And that way was a friend’s sleepover. Fingers slick with Pizza Hut grease, we slid the 15 certificate VHS cassette into the player and gleefully waited to have the shit scared out of us. And it did. But not in the way we were used to. Up until this point, I’d seen the likes of Hellraiser, Candyman and Nightmare on Elm Street – horror meant guts strewn across the screen like party streamers. But what Blair Witch lacked in viscera is made up for in pure, uncut dread. The fact that you never even see the titular witch somehow made it even more terrifying. Believe me, in the imagination of a child who’d been fed horror films like multipack breakfast cereals, that witch was scarier than Pinhead and Freddy Krueger’s bastard baby. And I … loved her? Continue reading...
Men’s transfer window summer 2026: all deals from Europe’s top five leagues
All the latest Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and Serie A deals and a club-by-club guide Continue reading...
‘Extreme fear’ among immigrants as backlash sweeps South Africa
African migrants say legal status offers little protection as rallies against illegal immigration gain momentum African migrants in South Africa say they are living in fear after a series of marches calling for illegal immigrants to leave reignited long-held xenophobic sentiment in the country. March & March, a campaign group at the forefront of recent protests, has given people living illegally in the country until 30 June to leave, without specifying what will happen to those who do not. Continue reading...
Starmer gives tech firms ultimatum to block explicit images on children’s phones
Companies such as Apple and Google have until September to install software or face legislation, says PM UK politics live – latest updates Apple and Google have been given until September to install software that blocks explicit images on children’s mobile phones or face legislation enforcing its requirement, Keir Starmer said on Monday. The prime minister said tech companies must activate nudity-detection algorithms or other technical solutions on smartphones and tablets to prevent users taking photos or sharing images of genitalia unless they are verified as adults. Continue reading...
Keir Starmer gives speech on AI and technology policy – UK politics live
Prime minister marks start of London Tech Week saying UK can lead the world in technological revolution Starmer praised the tech entrepreneurs in his audience for their contribution to the UK’s tech investment record. (See 9.24am.) Half of all European tech investment in this country – that’s a profound achievement and it belongs to so many people in this room. But that hasn’t happened by accident. Each one of those investments is an endorsement of British talent, of British industry, and of the approach that Britain is taking, approach that has in no small part been shaped by so many people in this room and by the conversations that we’ve had in the last two years. Britain is the third-largest technology economy in the world. Our start-ups have raised close to half of all European investment in tech this year. Continue reading...
World Cup 2026: England prepare for Costa Rica friendly, Iran visa row, Lamine Yamal latest: football news – live
Tuchel criticises England’s ‘freestyle’ approach Player guide | Bracketology | Wallchart | Mail David Good news for Spain. Rumours that Lamine Yamal may miss Spain’s first two World Cup group games (against Cape Verde and South Africa) may be wide of the mark. The 18-year-old Barcelona winger was absent for the final six matches of the season due to a torn hamstring and hasn’t played since April. But, speaking to our very own Sid Lowe, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente gave this encouraging update: Continue reading...