
Ruling that Meta and YouTube deliberately designed addictive products marks possible watershed moment for social media
The young woman at the heart of what has been called the tech industry’s “big tobacco” moment was on YouTube at six and Instagram by nine. More than a decade later, she says, she still can’t live without the social media she became addicted to.
“I can’t, it’s too hard to be without it,” Kaley, now 20, told a jury at Los Angeles’ superior court. This week, five men and seven women handed down a verdict on the design of two of the world’s most popular apps that vindicated Kaley’s position.
Continue reading...The Swedish musician decided to pursue motherhood alone, and found it came with a surprising sexual awakening – a story she lays out on her new album, her first in eight years
Robyn sits silently, eyes closed, for what feels like a full minute. “Wow,” she says. “This is really deep” It has been eight years since this elder stateswoman of alt-pop released music. She is talking about how, since then, her life has fractured and reassembled. The 46-year-old Swede’s previous album, Honey, was finished in the afterglow of repairing her engagement to director Max Vitali. Now, she’s no longer in that relationship, she’s raising a three-year-old son, Tyko, whom she had by IVF, on her own, and she has also reckoned with the scars of her own childhood, growing up in an exploitative music industry.
We meet in a breezy attic above a recording studio in London to talk about her new album, Sexistential – an ode to letting your guard down and feeling things deeply. “Defending my right to be myself and be vulnerable,” she says. She’s wearing biker boots and a mesh hoodie, and has tucked a bomber jacket, two overflowing handbags and a black leather sailor hat into the nooks and crannies of the sofa as if constructing a nest around herself. She’s thrilled to be back. “I’ve never released an album as a parent, so it’s really exciting to work.” She laughs, flashing a chipped tooth. “When I do get time for myself, it’s liberating and fun.”
Continue reading...There’s a system that creates and condones these toxic restaurant environments – and too often it’s rewarded by institutions such as Michelin
Lauren Joseph is a writer and chef
The fine-dining world has been closely watching the fallout at Noma since chefs spoke out about the physical violence and emotional abuse that the head chef, René Redzepi, subjected them to at his Copenhagen restaurant. There were protests in Los Angeles before a four-month pop-up of the restaurant opened there this month, and Redzepi, in an Instagram video in which he failed to fully assign himself blame (“I’m sorry everyone is in this situation,” he begins), then announced that he has stepped away from the business. The LA pop-up, however, remains and the question lingers: will this be the reckoning an ultra-pressured group of restaurants has long avoided?
It depends on whether we allow ourselves to be distracted by Redzepi and what comes next. I hope every chef who was allegedly intimidated, punched and threatened gets the reparations they seek. Then the story should move on. No waiting for the public redemption arc – but also, no useless vilifying of this man, whose past transgressions have previously been accepted.
Lauren Joseph is a writer and chef
Continue reading...England were disjointed against Uruguay but no wonder – the head coach’s team selection was an act of self sabotage
Before this game Thomas Tuchel had said he would base his starting XI on what he saw on the training ground. Halfway through an evening at Wembley Stadium that felt like being stabbed very slowly through the eyes with a butter knife made entirely from death, ear wax and empty corporate leisure product, it was tempting to wonder about this.
What exactly had the players left out done in training to be deemed ineligible for this England team? Turn up naked? Vomit into a traffic cone? Attempt to stage a game of Cluedo during set-piece practice? Perhaps Adam Wharton had killed a crow and stapled its innards to the dressing‑room door.
Continue reading...Adam, 25, a civil servant, meets Tina, 26, who works in advertising
What were you hoping for?
Good food, good company and hopefully a bit of romance.
Join the Famous Five in Dorset, relive Springwatch in the Peak District … our selection of Easter treats will keep all the family entertained
Spring has arrived at Wicken Fen, one of Europe’s most important wetlands, and with it the first summer migrants. Chiffchaffs are usually the earliest, with their rhythmic song ringing out across the fens. Then, if the weather is mild, blackcaps and willow warblers might join them. Listen closely, especially early morning or at dusk, for the foghorn-like calls of the booming bittern across the reedbeds. There’s a pushchair- and wheelchair-friendly boardwalk around Sedge Fen, and wheelchair-accessible wildlife hides. Look out for the electric blue flash of a kingfisher, and male marsh harriers performing their dramatic sky-dancing flights as the breeding season gets under way, before the cuckoos arrive in late April.
From £10 adults, £5 children (under-5s free), nationaltrust.org.uk
Hours before the world learned that a US missile had hit Shajareh Tayyebeh school, parents were already searching the rubble for their sons and daughters. In this exclusive report, four families describe the events of 28 February
When Marzieh heard the first bang, an almighty crash that rattled the room, her first thought went to her youngest son, Mohammad. He must have got out on to the balcony and discovered a new game, she thought: using all of his small might to smash its sliding doors closed. Marzieh stood up from where she was working at her sewing machine, and shouted for him to stop.
Continue reading...Israeli military said early on Saturday it had identified a launch of a missile from Yemen, hours after Iran-aligned Houthis said they were prepared to take action
Thailand has struck an agreement with Iran to allow Thai oil vessels safe passage through the strait of Hormuz, said Thai prime minister, Anutin Charnvirakul.
“An agreement has been reached to allow Thai oil tankers to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz,” he told a press conference on Saturday. He said the development would alleviate concerns over fuel imports.
Continue reading...More than 850 public demonstrations of support held since start of war and at least 1,400 arrests, research reveals
Iran’s regime has organised more than 850 public demonstrations of support of the government since the beginning of the war and launched a continuing crackdown on unrest that has led to at least 1,400 detentions, research reveals.
The high number of pro-regime gatherings and the increasing number of detentions underlines the resilience of the Islamic Republic despite a month-long campaign of intensive airstrikes by the US and Israel, experts said.
Continue reading...Concern that supply chain disruption could hit health essentials – and prices – from painkillers to cancer treatment
Britain is “a few weeks away” from medicine shortages ranging from painkillers to cancer treatment if the Iran war continues, according to experts, while drug prices could also rise.
The conflict has disrupted the supply of a myriad of crucial raw materials, including oil, gas, crop fertiliser and helium – and health essentials could be next.
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