Day: July 28, 2024

As votes from South Africa’s elections were being counted last month, a senior African National Congress politician, Nomvula Mokonyane, held court wearing a yellow long-sleeved top with the face of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela emblazoned on the back. Across the room at the national vote counting centre, far left Economic Freedom Fighters official Poppy Mailola wore a … Read more

Team GB was celebrating its best start to an Olympic Games in over four decades as Anna Henderson claimed silver in the women’s road race time trial and divers Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen took bronze in the aquatics centre in Paris. A British team had not won a medal on the first official … Read more

Test cricket can be pretty absurd at times. Take the example of Jamie Smith, who on the second day at Edgbaston had a beer-soaked capacity crowd eating out of the palm of his hand with an innings of high quality, only to trudge off the field five runs short of a maiden Test century and … Read more

We knew our country was in the grip of a housing emergency before we took office. But it’s even more grim than we imagined. Not just a high-tax, low-growth economy and crumbling public services. But, lurking under each stone we lift, a frankly scandalous legacy. Prisons running out of spaces and a broken housing market, … Read more

BBC When Thea’s youngest child, Isaac, was born, her costs increased – but most of her benefits did not Thea and Kirsty both have three children, but contrasting policies on benefits in England and Scotland mean their lives are very different. After a Commons row about scrapping the two-child benefit cap, we meet the families … Read more

BBC They are the bête noire of many nutritionists – mass-produced yet moreish foods like chicken nuggets, packaged snacks, fizzy drinks, ice cream or even sliced brown bread. So-called ultra-processed foods (UPF) account for 56% of calories consumed across the UK, and that figure is higher for children and people who live in poorer areas. … Read more

BBC Martin Odhiambo has always been interested in the healing properties of plants – and for years has been enthusiastically sharing that knowledge with fellow Kenyans. Every Thursday at an amphitheatre at the Nairobi National Museum, he talks to dozens of people who have come to learn and exchange information about traditional medicine. Despite worries … Read more

BBC After years of pressure, Ada left Russia when restrictive LGBT laws were passed in 2023 On a remote farm in Siberia, a man handed Ada a knife. In front of them was a pig. “Cut it off,” he said. “If you want to go ahead with the operation, you need to understand what castration … Read more

Kamala Harris pledged to earn the votes of young people this election, as the vice-president and newly elevated presumptive Democratic nominee rides a gen Z-powered wave of online “Kamalove” . In a pre-taped virtual address to attendees of a two-day youth voter summit in Atlanta, Harris said she had been elected the first female vice-president … Read more