2 hours ago A new start after 60: I became a ‘hummingbird’ for people with dementia

When Ann Thomas-Carter retired, she lost her sense of purpose. Then she began volunteering in a care home and found six hours could fly past in six minutes At 63, Ann Thomas-Carter stepped into Framland care home for the first time and was immediately taken aback. “It wasn’t like a care home at all; it was this beautiful old manor house overlooking the Oxfordshire countryside and there were only 21 residents,” she says. “It felt like a big family, especially since everyone calls the residents ‘family members’. I fitted in right away.”Thomas-Carter used to work as a pharmacy dispenser at Boots in Oxford town centre. “I had worked most of my life at Boots and it was a safe place for me, somewhere I could be face to face with customers and help them,” she says. But when it emerged that the...

Politics

3 hours ago ‘Woke’ didn’t lose the US election: the patrician class who hijacked identity politics did | Nesrine Malik

Why is this simple explanation being so widely embraced? Because it does not require a commitment to real, structural changeThe day that wokeness died. That has been one of the primary analyses of Donald Trump’s resounding election victory: that it was a resounding rejection of the “woke” left and the casting off of the shackles of political correctness. According to sections of the media and political establishment, people are tired of being harangued and scolded for not using the right language, annoyed by a constant focus on race and identity, and alarmed by a new orthodoxy of radical politics eager to please individual groups at the expense of common sense. “The era,” summarised one British journalist, “of Black Lives Matter, Latinx, critical race theory, pronouns and defunding the ...

Politics

4 hours ago Tsunami: Race Against Time review – a gripping, moving look at the worst natural disaster of our lifetimes

This documentary about the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami is horrifying, heart-rending and essential. It’s a privilege to hear some of these survivors speak about the experienceWhat more can be said about the worst natural disaster of our lifetimes? The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, caused by an earthquake (the third-most powerful in history) off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, affected 14 countries around the Indian Ocean basin and killed more than 225,000 people. As an incomprehensibly massive event that occurred before smartphones were ubiquitous, the tsunami is very well documented and yet not: the mess of scrambled pictures has been picked over many times.Tsunami: Race Against Time, a four-part documentary that flies by, reshapes the catastrophe into an anthology of gripping stories, capturin...

Events

8 hours ago As Cop29 wraps up and the climate crisis gathers pace, Australia’s dash for gas is confounding | Bill Hare

Nearly all observers believe Chris Bowen is strongly committed to action. Most agree that can’t be said for his partyCop29 in Baku has concluded but its outcome is disappointing – in many dimensions. Its decisions on finance – agreeing that the developed world would provide US$300bn a year by 2035 – come nowhere close to what’s needed. Ultimately, it may even be poisonous because of its lack of ambition and muddled scope – it does not even cover loss and damage.Baku saw little sense of urgency or increased climate action, despite the universal message from scientific studies, including the Climate Action Tracker. Our global update this year found that in the last three years there’s been virtually no improvement in either action on the ground, nor ambition to take action in the future. ...

Society

9 hours ago Repeat attenders at A&E can account for almost one in seven emergency visits to hospital, study suggests

Researchers carried out a review into frequent visitors in emergency departments and concluded that the needs of these people are 'consistently not being met'.

Politics

15 hours ago Roto VR Explorer review: A pricey gaming chair that delivers true VR immersion

The Roto VR Explorer is a £799 gaming chair that swivels left and right with your head as you play in a Meta Quest 3 headset, allowing for physical movement for the first time while seated

Society

16 hours ago Wales rugby bosses hope review into dismal run will be completed by Christmas

Warren Gatland’s future as head coach is in doubt after South Africa inflicted a 12th successive Test match defeat on Wales.

Politics

17 hours ago Ignorance and Bliss: On Wanting Not to Know by Mark Lilla review – the enduring power of stupidity

A New York scholar’s study of our long history of acclaiming the fool and ignoring the facts is timely and terrifically wittyThis is at once a wise and wonderfully enjoyable book. Mark Lilla treats weighty matters with a light touch, in an elegant prose style that crackles with dry wit. Almost every one of the short sections into which the narrative is divided – and there is a narrative, cunningly sustained within what seems a relaxed discursiveness – takes careful aim and at the end hits the bullseye with a sure and satisfying aphoristic thwock.The central premise of the book is simply stated: “How is it that we are creatures who want to know and not to know?” Lilla, professor of humanities at Columbia University, New York, and the author of a handful of masterly studies of the terrain...

Politics

19 hours ago When to expect Spotify Wrapped 2024 and how to find your year in review

Users are wating to learn when they can look back at their yearly listening habits

Politics