41 h. ago ‘This trick is incredibly risky for him’: Ankit Ghosh’s best phone picture

The Indian photographer captures his neighbour breathing fire at the finale of a major Hindu festivalIn a narrow lane in Kolkata, West Bengal, Ankit Ghosh paused for a moment to take this photo. Ghosh was among crowds attending Vijaya Dashami, the last day of the Durga Puja, a festival he describes as “cultural potpourri”. He says, “It’s celebrated all across India, but there is no other place to experience it better than West Bengal. As this was the grand finale, the atmosphere was one of joy, pride and celebration.”The man in the photo is Ghosh’s neighbour. “He’s a fine performer of this trick, which you don’t see very often; it is generally saved up for special festivals and celebrations,” Ghosh says. “The liquid in the air is kerosene [paraffin], which is spat upwards through a lit matchstick to create these cloudy flames. Continue reading...

Events

67 h. ago Why is Ed Miliband a target for all sides? Because he’s a lefty politician who gets things done | Andy Beckett

Not since Tony Benn has a Labour minister been so assailed – and not just by the Tory press, but also by his own colleaguesWhy exactly does Ed Miliband make so many people so angry? At 55, 20 years into his parliamentary career, with rare ministerial experience under both New Labour and Keir Starmer, and a reputation around Westminster and Whitehall as one of politics’ nicer, more knowledgeable characters, he could be a respected figure in a generally inexperienced government. Instead, he’s this unpopular administration’s most controversial member.“An eco-zealot”, “a net-zero fanatic”, a “nauseating” hypocrite, “a cackling madman”, an “eco-Marxist”, “out of control”, “trashing Britain”, “a recruiting sergeant for the opposition”, the “most dangerous man in Britain” – Miliband provokes rightwing journalists and voters like no other minister. Possibly not since the onslaught in the 1970s on the socialist disruptor Tony Benn, whom Miliband later worked for as a teenager, has a Labour m...

Politics

2 d. ago Brian Leishman urges Labour MPs and MSPs to 'stand up for Scotland' on Grangemouth nationalisation

EXCLUSIVE: The Alloa and Grangemouth MP urged Labour politicians to "put country before party" and "call for Grangemouth to receive the same government intervention as Scunthorpe."

Politics

5 d. ago SARAH VINE: The revolting bin chaos in Birmingham is a national disgrace

Birmingham is piled high with rotting garbage and cat-sized rats. It's also a perfect metaphor for this supposed 'government of the people' and for the self-serving Labour politicians.

Events

5 d. ago Underdogs: The Truth About Britain’s White Working Class review – a complicated class portrait

Journalist Joel Budd travels around Britain demolishing Brexit myths in a nuanced study of a social group too often reduced to a cartoon by politiciansOn 13 November 1968, a 35-year-old Labour politician got to his feet in the House of Commons and had a go at the ranks of Conservative members who faced him. Six or so months after Enoch Powell had delivered his infamously racist “rivers of blood” speech in Birmingham, David Winnick – who was then the MP for Croydon South – had decided to attack the Tory fashion for bemoaning immigration to the UK from such countries as India and Pakistan and expressing faux sympathy with deprived communities in British cities. “Many of those who act as the champions of the white person against immigrants,” he said, “have not in the past gone out of their way to defend the interests of the white working class.”As the Economist journalist Joel Budd points out in this nuanced, enlightening book about the people and places Winnick was referring to, this ...

Events

6 d. ago Spat continues between two of Wales most senior Labour politicians

The pair have seemingly disagreed over welfare changes

Politics

1 week ago 'Predatory' senior doctor at Welsh hospital sexually assaulted female staff

A judge said the doctor had abused his position and power to sexually assault the women. One of his victims said Thota had 'wielded his position of power like a weapon to hurt me and silence me'

Events

3 w. ago MPs face new expenses clampdown after Labour politician billed taxpayers £900 to cover 'pet rent' for her cockapoo to live in second home

Taiwo Owatemi had her claim for 'pet rent' approved so she could keep Bella with her in the capital instead of in her Coventry North West constituency.

Economics