97 m. ago Critics say the movement to defund the police failed. But Austin and Seattle are seeing progress

The rallying cry from 2020 Black Lives Matter protests pushed some US cities to divert money towards housing and community servicesAfter George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer in 2020, protesters who swarmed the streets across the US shouted the refrain: “Defund the police.” An idea that was once viewed as radical – to redirect money from law enforcement to other city departments and social services – became a rallying cry overnight.As a result of continued pressure, dozens of jurisdictions throughout the nation promised to reduce their police budgets. While most of them backtracked and increased law enforcement funding in the next year or two, several cities changed policies or added new public safety and homeless services departments. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Christopher Bucktin: I watched America burn for George Floyd

For a moment, it felt like history had shifted after George Floyd's murder. America had turned a corner on accountability. But now, five years on, the country is asking: what really changed?

Events

2 h. ago Legendary voice actor with roles in Dragon Ball Z and Fantastic Mr Fox dies as anime community pays tribute

Legendary voice actor Éric Legrand has died aged 66.

Events

2 h. ago ‘I like making people do a double take’: Darren Soh’s best phone picture

By rotating the picture 180 degrees, the photographer produced an abstract image of the Potong Pasir housing estate in SingaporeOne morning, Darren Soh drove to the Potong Pasir housing estate in Singapore to take some photos. His initial focus was on the buildings themselves: the government-built blocks, dating from 1984, are characterised by their ski slope-style roofs.“We only get two kinds of weather in Singapore – rainy and overcast, or sunny and warm,” Soh says. “This day was in the latter category. The puddle wasn’t made from rainwater, but a jet-wash machine. A community basketball court was being cleaned. As an architecture photographer, I usually make images with correct perspective, but on this occasion I wanted to see if I could create something more abstract.” Continue reading...

Politics

3 h. ago Braveheart at 30: Mel Gibson’s gory, hokey Oscar winner plays like a biblical epic

The 1995 best picture winner is less interested in historical fact and more in rousing fantasy and makes for a telling portrait of its troubled makerFor a storied best picture Oscar winner and dorm-wall poster staple of the 1990s and beyond, it’s a little surprising how modest Braveheart’s success was when it opened in theaters 30 years ago. Though it powered through a mild opening to become a solid summer hit, on the 1995 charts it sits below Father of the Bride Part II and Congo (though congratulations are in order; it did edge out both Grumpier Old Men and Mortal Kombat). Even among other Mel Gibson vehicles from the 90s, you might be surprised to learn that Maverick, Conspiracy Theory and Payback all posted stronger numbers.But Braveheart stuck around, both in theaters and in the public consciousness. It wasn’t necessarily tipped as an awards contender at the time of release – Gibson had only directed one other movie, a small-scale drama called The Man Without a Face – but wound...

Politics

4 h. ago Bank Holiday weekend weather as Met Office warns of 'unsettled' conditions

The Met Office explained that more 'unsettled conditions' are set to develop across the UK through the weekend

Events

4 h. ago Scotland pull out of Victory Shield as famous historic tournament could be scrapped

The 100-year-old home nations youth tournament that has been graced by some of the biggest names in British football is in crisis.

Politics

5 h. ago Lewis Hamilton’s name change shock, Monaco winner’s net worth, F1 star's dating history

Sir Lewis Hamilton has once again been named as the UK's richest active sportsperson, but the F1 star's life has seen a lot happen away from the track

Events

6 h. ago A historic corner of Stockport is now home to the town's first beer hall

There's plans underway to extend the Stockport venue further and open a rooftop bar in the future too

Politics

6 h. ago AP PHOTOS: Cyprus' Maronites fight to stop their Cypriot Maronite Arabic from extinction

Only about 900 people in the world speak Cypriot Maronite Arabic. The offshoot of Syrian Arabic has been passed on orally over the centuries. Now it is at risk of extinction. That’s according to the Council of Europe’s minority language experts. But the Maronite community in Cyprus is fighting back. It has help from the Cypriot government and the European Union to save the language.

Culture

6 h. ago 'Keir Starmer has got it wrong – here's why we're not an island of strangers'

Real Britain reports on All Souls church, which closed in 1986, became a magnet for anti-social behaviour, until community worker Inayat Omarji decided to try to do something about it

Politics

7 h. ago Was the Black Lives Matter rebellion all for nothing? It may feel like that, but I have seen reasons for hope | Jason Okundaye

It is easy to look back at 2020 and feel aggrieved, even fooled. But in the British city where slaver Edward Colston’s statue was pulled down, I found cause for optimismIt has been five years since George Floyd, a Black man who lived in Minneapolis, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. The killing, captured in a distressing 10-minute video that quickly flooded social media timelines, sparked something that felt like an international revolution: protests took place across the world, forcing countries and cities to reckon with their present and historical treatment of Black people.In Britain, protests reached fever pitch when activists in Bristol toppled a statue of Edward Colston, the slave trader and deputy governor of the Royal African Company, and hurled it into the harbour. Bristol, once a major slave-trading port, had maintained a veneration of Colston that was increasingly divisive. The statue in particular had been a key focus of tensions: attempts to add a s...

Politics

7 h. ago Disabled campaigners watching ‘in horror’ as trans people face toilet segregation

Disabled activists say supreme court ruling has left trans community at similar risk of exclusion from public spacesDisabled rights campaigners say they are watching “in horror” as the UK’s trans community faces similar toilet segregation and exclusion from public spaces that they do.The aftermath of the supreme court ruling on biological sex has led to organisations banning trans people from using the toilets of the gender they live as, with accessible facilities frequently promoted as a solution. Continue reading...

Events

8 h. ago San Diego plane crash is a devastating loss to the alternative rock music community

The alternative music community is in mourning after a private jet hit a power line in foggy weather early Thursday and crashed into a San Diego neighborhood

Events

8 h. ago From matcha lattes to Dubai chocolate – how supermarkets fight to cope with TikTok trends

Food fads were once dictated by restaurants, now it is viral videos influencing stores what to stock and quicklyTikTok’s algorithm is one of the great mysteries of the modern age. What it deems to be interesting is fed to millions of users, giving it huge cultural sway, from fashion to music and politics. It is also increasingly influencing what we eat.Supermarkets were once the trendsetters, studying popular items on restaurant menus and recreating them on their shelves. Now the big shops are the ones being influenced, says Zoe Simons, a brand development chef at Waitrose. Continue reading...

Politics

8 h. ago Donald Trump and the tortured history of South Africa’s land

Land ownership remains country’s toughest policy problem as it grapples with the legacy of apartheid

Politics

9 h. ago "Beast!"Top Scots golf caddie heckled at court after filthy texts to schoolgirl

Daniel Mulvey, 35, who met his 14 year old victim in the street after a TRNSMT concert in Glasgow and later said he would have sex with her was given 150 hours community service at the city's sheriff court today.

Events

11 h. ago Tiny UK village with gorgeous beach and nature reserve that visitors call 'bliss'

Wrabness, a small village and civil parish in Essex, has a beach and a nature reserve, and it's no wonder that people flock here to escape the chaos of everyday life

Politics

12 h. ago Psychiatric patient who escaped secure unit and beat church warden, 86, to death with a golf umbrella is jailed

David Parish, 38, randomly attacked Beryl Purdy, 86, with the large golf umbrella he had taken from her porch on March 27, 2023.

Events

12 h. ago Poland presidential debate puts Ukraine and Europe centre stage

Rafał Trzaskowski, from the governing pro-EU coalition, faces Eurosceptic populist rightwing historian Karol Nawrocki ahead of run-offPolish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge.During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, the centrist Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, from prime minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the populist rightwing Law and Justice party (PiS). Continue reading...

Politics