15 h. ago World’s swankiest manhole covers? A thrilling tour of the new embankments concealing London’s £4.6bn super sewer

Built to tackle 18m tonnes of rising excrement, the Tideway project has also generated dramatic new public spaces dotted with giant artworks. Our writer takes the ‘stink tower’ tour of the capitalA group of colossal black tombstones has landed on the north bank of the Thames in London, looking like mysterious monoliths from another civilisation. They stand near Blackfriars Bridge as imposing bookends, rising almost 10 metres, folded in places to form platforms and benches, slipping down in others to become one with the pavement. Water trickles from the summit of one huge slab, running down ridges and splashing into a sunken pool. Another pair rise straight out of the river wall, hoisting wooden fenders with them from the swirling brown waters below.“I wanted to make something that comes from nowhere,” says Scottish artist Nathan Coley, as he clambers on to one of his concrete blocks, which form part of the most prominent new public artwork in Britain’s capital, set to be unveiled ne...

Economics

26 h. ago Spanish town ordered to scrap religious festivals ban mainly impacting Muslims

Jumilla’s ban on gatherings in public sports centres breaches right to religious freedom, says MadridSpain’s central government has ordered officials in a Spanish town to scrap a ban on religious gatherings in public sports centres, describing it as a “discriminatory” measure that breaches the right to religious freedom as it will mainly impact Muslims.“There can be no half-measures when it comes to intolerance,” Ángel Víctor Torres, the minister for territorial policy, wrote on social media on Monday. Rightwing opposition parties, he added, “cannot decide who has freedom of worship and who does not”. Continue reading...

Politics

61 h. ago Charlie Kirk smokes Trump over push to reclassify marijuana as less dangerous drug: ‘Everything already smells like weed’

Kirk slammed the change in classification that Trump is reportedly considering, saying the drug shouldn’t be downgraded because it ruins public spaces.

Events

4 d. ago Ibiza and Majorca alcohol ban rules for holidaymakers including fines of up to £2,600

The Balearic Islands government has extended a decree that bans the consumption of alcoholic beverages in public spaces in highly popular tourist areas in the region

Economics

5 d. ago Outrage as town in Spain bans Muslim celebrations in public spaces

Muslim groups and opposition leaders have condemned the decision, branding it Islamophobic

Politics

6 d. ago Outrage as Spanish town bans Muslim religious festivals from public spaces

Conservative People’s party in Jumilla votes to stop civic centres and gyms being used for activities ‘alien to our identity’ A local authority in south-east Spain has banned Muslims from using public facilities such as civic centres and gyms to celebrate the religious festivals Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha.The ban in Jumilla, in Murcia, is a first in Spain. It was introduced by the conservative People’s party (PP) and passed with the abstention of the far-right Vox party and the opposition of local leftwing parties. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Garden opens to promote natural measures that boost flood resilience

The project offers free public access to a blueprint for how outdoor spaces, such as an ordinary terraced house garden, can help reduce flood risks.

Events

9 d. ago ‘Just ticking away in the background’: old Euston departures board lives on in millionaire’s Margate warehouse

Board continues to show live updates in Jeremy Hosking’s storage space which will open to public next weekendIn a cavernous concrete warehouse on an industrial estate outside Margate in Kent, an enormous screen flickers, day and night, telling the times of train services from north London to Manchester Piccadilly and Glasgow Central and Tring.Whether or not anyone is there to see it, the 22-metre-wide board never stops flashing up live, genuine updates of departures by West Midlands Railway or service disruptions on Avanti West Coast services. Continue reading...

Society

4 w. ago UK council to fine people £100 if they're caught swearing in public spaces

Thanet District Council has launched a fresh bid to introduce a public space protection order (PSPO) after it was scrapped last year following a threat of legal action

Economics