40 h. ago AD FEATURE: The Adventure Gap: The Rise of the Boomerang Adventurer

The rise of golden years adventure has prompted new offerings within Post Office life insurance cover to ensure people have their future planned as well as their present

Politics

60 h. ago Doctors issue urgent warning over Mounjaro 'golden dose' hack that could put your life at risk

There is a hidden extra dose in your weight loss jabs that could save you hundreds of pounds, users say - but doctors have warned of major risks.

Events

3 d. ago Madeleine McCann's brother Sean strikes gold in swimming ahead of fresh search for sister

Sean McCann, 20, and his sister are both high-achieving athletes, with Amelie taking up running and triathlons while he racks up wins in a series of swimming competitions

Events

4 d. ago AI, bot farms and innocent indie victims: how music streaming became a hotbed of fraud and fakery

Fraudsters use fake artists to juice royalties from streaming services – but real musicians are getting blamed. Might they be better off without Spotify et al?There is a battle gripping the music business today around the manipulation of streaming services – and innocent indie artists are the collateral damage.Fraudsters are flooding Spotify, Apple Music and the rest with AI-generated tracks, to try and hoover up the royalties generated by people listening to them. These tracks are cheap, quick and easy to make, with Deezer estimating in April that over 20,000 fully AI-created tracks – that’s 18% of new tracks – were being ingested into its platform daily, almost double the number in January. The fraudsters often then use bots, AI or humans to endlessly listen to these fake songs and generate revenue, while others are exploiting upload services to get fake songs put on real artists’ pages and siphon off royalties that way. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago On the right track: the record label reaching out to Cameroon’s street talent

Born in Douala prison and hailed for helping young people stay out of trouble, the success of Jail Time Records has persuaded Burkina Faso to let the label branch out thereIt does not take long for a crowd to gather when the Jail Time Records van pulls up to the kerb and starts blasting music in Cameroon’s port city, Douala. Set up not just to play music but as a mobile recording studio, too, the van passes through the city’s poorer neighbourhoods, offering the microphone to Douala’s aspiring but unguided young musicians.The goal is to scout for new talent while also helping out young people in areas plagued by drugs and crime. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Al Djanat: The Original Paradise review – striking account of Burkina Faso homecoming

Chloé Aïcha Boro’s watchful documentary charts the disharmony and legal wrangling caused by a dispute in her family over sacred burial landEconomic and financial woes cast a dark shadow over family bonds in Chloé Aïcha Boro’s contemplative, searching documentary. Returning to her Burkina Faso village after decades of living in France, Boro experiences an emotional paradox intimately known by all immigrants. Once-familiar places turn foreign, since the migrator has undergone huge internal changes of their own. And with the recent passing of her uncle Ousmane Coulibaly, the head of her extended Muslim family, Boro’s homecoming is marred by disharmony. Between Coulibaly’s brothers and his 19 children, warring interests over inherited land rage on.The film returns time and again to a sacred courtyard where, for centuries, the umbilical cords of Coulibaly newborns have been buried to ensure their ascendence to heaven in the afterlife. More than a ritual, the tradition concretises the lin...

Events

9 d. ago How sexual violence survivors in South Africa are now collateral damage of Trump’s aid cuts

Rape crisis services are suffering the knock-on effect of US funded HIV services being cut, writes Rachel Schraer

Events

1 week ago The Last of Us recap: season two, episode seven – well, that was a frustrating finale

This turbo-charged last episode brought Ellie and Abby face to face at last, with some heartbreaking collateral damage along the way. Until it took a strange turn This article contains spoilers for the The Last of Us season two. Please do not read unless you have seen episodes one to six.Typical. For the back half of this season, Ellie (Bella Ramsey) has been hunting high and low for Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) in Seattle, desperate to avenge the brutal killing of Joel (Pedro Pascal). But ultimately it was Abby who ambushed Ellie, at exactly the worst possible time. As season-ending cliffhangers go, it certainly served to turbo-charge the suspense. Just who will be left alive after that final panicked gunshot in the theatre lobby? Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago A Golden Life review – childhood is collateral in Burkina Faso’s search for gold

An intimately shot documentary captures the dignity and resilience of teenagers who toil in mines where companionship is the only consolation for graftFor those toiling in the Bantara goldmine in Burkina Faso, their life is largely shrouded in darkness. Centered on a 16-year-old called Rasmané, Boubacar Sangaré’s sombre documentary goes deep into the claustrophobic environment that the ill-treated workers endure. Each morning, Rasmané is lowered down a 100m shaft which leads to narrow tunnels wet with mud. As the day goes on, he is caked with the sediment as his back muscles buckle under the strenuous digging. His cramped living quarters – a rickety shed made of straw and plastic tarps – offer little relief; Rasmané has to turn to medication to ease the pain.Moving between closeups and aerial shots, the film draws a visual link between the abuse inflicted on the scarred soil, and the physical strain on the workers’ bodies. In this precarious industry where human beings are treated a...

Politics

1 week ago A Golden Life review – childhood is collateral damage in Burkina Faso’s search for gold

An intimately shot documentary captures the dignity and resilience of teenagers who toil in mines where companionship is the only consolation for graftFor those toiling in the Bantara goldmine in Burkina Faso, their life is largely shrouded in darkness. Centered on a 16-year-old called Rasmané, Boubacar Sangaré’s sombre documentary goes deep into the claustrophobic environment that the ill-treated workers endure. Each morning, Rasmané is lowered down a 100m shaft which leads to narrow tunnels wet with mud. As the day goes on, he is caked with the sediment as his back muscles buckle under the strenuous digging. His cramped living quarters – a rickety shed made of straw and plastic tarps – offer little relief; Rasmané has to turn to medication to ease the pain.Moving between closeups and aerial shots, the film draws a visual link between the abuse inflicted on the scarred soil, and the physical strain on the workers’ bodies. In this precarious industry where human beings are treated a...

Events

2 w. ago Burkina Faso's military leaders turn to 'Africa's Che Guevara' to rally struggling country

The military rulers of Burkina Faso have turned to a man once known as “Africa’s Che Guevara” as a way to rally a country struggling to defeat extremists and turning away from former Western allies

Events

3 w. ago Fact Check: Clip of uniformed men in London miscaptioned as North Korean troops in Burkina Faso

Fact Check: Clip of uniformed men in London miscaptioned as North Korean troops in Burkina Faso  Reuters

Politics

3 w. ago Africa's youngest leader, a friend of Russia, is celebrated by some and criticized by others

Burkina Faso’s junta leader Capt. Ibrahim Traore has sparked a social media debate, with some in Africa praising him and others criticizing him

Politics

3 w. ago Burkina Faso forces killed at least 100 civilians in a March attack, Human Rights Watch says

Human Rights Watch says at least 100 civilians in Burkina Faso were killed by government forces near the town of Solenzo in the western Boucle du Mouhoun region in an attack in March

Events

4 w. ago The hidden underwater eden of ‘California’s Galapagos’, where kelp, sea lions and giant bass reign

On the remote Channel Islands, a draw for researchers and divers, preservation has transformed the ecosystemJust 14 miles (23km) off the southern California coast lies a vast underwater paradise.Giant sea bass the size of grizzly bears and schools of sardines glide together through swirling strands of golden kelp, whose long stalks preside over a world exploding with life and color. Playful harbor seals dance into the depths of undulating pink, green and orange plants, alongside spiny crustaceans and vibrant sea stars that embrace the volcanic rock that slopes to the sandy seafloor. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago The hidden underwater eden of ‘California’s Galapagos’, where seals and grizzly bear

On the remote Channel Islands, a draw for researchers and divers, preservation has transformed the ecosystemJust 14 miles (23km) off the southern California coast lies a vast underwater paradise.Giant sea bass the size of grizzly bears and schools of sardines glide together through swirling strands of golden kelp, whose long stalks preside over a world exploding with life and color. Playful harbor seals dance into the depths of undulating pink, green and orange plants, alongside spiny crustaceans and vibrant sea stars that embrace the volcanic rock that slopes to the sandy seafloor. Continue reading...

Politics