4 d. ago ‘People see themselves in me’: Frances Tiafoe on being a tennis trailbazer in a mainly white sport

Michelle Obama is a fan of the world No 12, who is a vocal supporter of women’s sport, especially basketballFrances Tiafoe is in his element when he talks passionately about the growing presence of black and mixed heritage players at the highest levels of men’s tennis. During a stroll on tournament grounds he reels off the names of players he competes with regularly on the tour. “Now they’re at a position where I have wars with them and go back and forth. So this is great, man. It’s great to see,” he says. “And then you have Giovanni [Mpetshi Perricard], you have Gaël [Monfils], who I looked up to.”Seconds after Tiafoe mentions his name, Monfils suddenly appears from around a corner as if magically summoned by the American’s utterance. His arrival naturally leads to a pause in this interview as an excited Tiafoe greets Monfils by heaping praise on his new haircut, particularly focusing his attention on the Frenchman’s sleek fade. Monfils responds with a compliment of his own: “You’r...

Events

6 d. ago Home Office reveals how people will be chosen to come to UK from France under ‘one in, one out’ scheme – UK politics live

People will be chosen via three-stage process, with government expected to accept around 50 migrants a week when scheme startsRushanara Ali, the homelessness minister, is facing criticism for hiking rent on a property she owns by hundreds of pounds, reportedly just weeks after the previous tenants’ contract ended, PA Media reports. PA says:Four tenants who rented a house in east London from Ali were sent an email last November saying their lease would not be renewed, which also gave them four months’ notice to leave, the i newspaper reported.Ali’s property was then re-listed with a £700 rent increase within weeks, the newspaper said. Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago First people detained under ‘one in, one out’ deal before being sent back to France – UK politics live

Home secretary says the move ‘sends a message to every migrant currently thinking of paying organised crime gangs to go to the UK’Keir Starmer has also issued a statement about the detention of small boat arrivals (see 9.58am) on his social media feed. He says:We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France. No gimmicks, just results.If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back.The transfers to immigration removal centres are under way as we speak, so we won’t provide operational details at this point that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit.But no-one should be in any doubt: anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return.The pilot has now begun, so the first migrants who have arrived on the small boats are now in detention. We will then swiftly make the referrals to France and that process will now start to be able to return people to France.It’s the beginning of the pil...

Politics

6 d. ago First people to be returned to France under UK’s ‘one in, one out’ asylum deal

People detained after arriving in small boat expected to be returned within three weeks, says Home OfficePeople who arrived in the UK on a small boat have been detained under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal for the first time and are expected to be returned to France within three weeks, the Home Office has said.Detentions began on Wednesday lunchtime, with those identified in the Channel boat being held in immigration removal centres pending their removal. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago ‘Unprecedented’ wildfire burns area size of Paris in southern France

Advancing blaze scorches 16,000 hectares near Spanish border, destroying homes and forcing people to fleeHundreds of firefighters are battling to stop the spread of a fast-moving wildfire in southern France after one woman died and nine people were injured as the blaze scorched a vast area of the Corbières hills.The blaze burned an area the size of Paris over one afternoon and night and was still burning on Wednesday evening, making it the second biggest fire in France in 50 years. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago France’s largest wildfire this summer leaves one dead and many injured

Blaze burns through 13,000 hectares close to Spanish border, destroying homes and forcing residents to fleeHundreds of firefighters are battling to stop the spread of a fast-moving wildfire in southern France, after one woman died and nine people were injured as the blaze scorched a vast area of the Corbières hills.The fire, which started on Tuesday afternoon, has burned 13,000 hectares inland from the Mediterranean near the Spanish border, and is the largest and fastest-spreading wildfire in France this summer. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Confusion over whether migrants can use human rights ‘loophole’ to avoid return to France

The treaty contains a clause that says in order for people to be returned to France, the UK must confirm they do not have an ‘outstanding human rights claim’

Events

8 d. ago Millet: Life on the Land review – phallic forks and suggestive wheelbarrows enliven a landscape of toil

National Gallery, LondonThere’s a undeniably erotic charge to Millet’s paintings of gloomy hard work – reminding us that, behind the hoes, these are real people with real desiresThe figures in Jean-François Millet’s 1859 painting The Angelus, a French icon that’s come to the UK on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, seem extremely odd on close inspection. Their faces are obscure, their bodies intriguing under their shapeless work clothes. What age are they? How are they related? The man is quite young, his top shirt button loose, although his legs are as stiff as a doll’s, inside thick, rough-cut trousers. It’s harder to tell the woman’s age because she stands in profile, a breeze pressing her heavy skirt against her legs, as she clasps her hands. They might be a married couple or, as this painting’s unlikely fan Salvador Dalí claimed, mother and son. Their physicality is intense. The phallic prongs of a thick wooden potato fork and wheelbarrow shafts add to the feeling that, now ...

Politics

9 d. ago UK to start small boats returns to France ‘within days’ after EU gives green light

Some asylum seekers will be sent back across Channel for first time under treaty agreed with French presidentThe UK will begin detaining people who arrive on small boats and returning some to France “within days” after the EU gave the green light to a deal agreed with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.The treaty between France and the UK will allow the Home Office to return some asylum seekers back across the Channel for the first time in exchange for accepting others directly from France via a safe route. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Mum's tragic final act in plane crash saved her two young sons as 111 killed

Spencer Bailey was just three years old when he was involved in a horrific plane crash, which killed 111 people, including his mum Frances, who managed to save him and his brother

Events

3 w. ago 'Horrible smell' which makes people 'feel sick' hits UK towns – and France is to blame

Locals in Chichester, Bognor and Littlehampton, in West Sussex, took to social media earlier this week to report a “strong smell of gas” which is thought to be drifting over from France

Events