The Guardian news (unofficial)

2022-01-04 18:20:20 Omarion is an R&B singer, not a Covid-19 variant

The singer has found his name linked to Omicron ever since its first outbreak. A toxic association or a fortuitous piece of PR?One often overlooked aspect of the current pandemic is the effect that it has had on brands. The poor brands, who long ago settled on a cool-sounding name only to have it coopted by a deadly once-a-century health crisis. Remember Corona, the beer that people used to drink before the association with illness and death became too much to take? Remember Delta, the airline that people used to use before it reminded everyone that new Covid mutations are destined to consign humanity to a quivering wreck for decades to come? These are the real victims.Until now, the Omicron variant has escaped such a fate. This is because Omicron is such a stupid word that the only people who had ever adopted it as a name are an imposing German electrical diagnostic corporation and a Belgian death metal band, and neither one seems particularly bothered by the association. Continue reading...

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#Music #Omicron_variant #Coronavirus #Culture #R&B Open / Comment

2022-01-04 18:20:12 Preaching truth to power: the São Paulo priest standing up to Bolsonaro

Júlio Lancellotti is an outspoken champion of homeless people – a cause that makes him unpopular with Brazil’s authoritiesIn 2017, most Brazilians were still unfamiliar with the name Jair Bolsonaro. But for Júlio Lancellotti, there was already cause for concern in the reactionary rhetoric of the man who would be elected president two years later under the slogan: “Brazil above everything, God above everyone.”“I am astonished that a homophobic person like Bolsonaro appears on the presidential ballot,” said the priest during mass on 7 March of that year at St Michael the Archangel parish in São Paulo’s East Zone. The sermon, in which he also preached against rape culture and sexism, was typical of the man who has devoted his life to fighting injustice, often finding himself targeted by conservative politicians as a result. Continue reading...

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#Jair_Bolsonaro #Brazil #Homelessness #Poverty #Americas Open / Comment

2022-01-04 18:20:07 Talents of Madonna’s son divide critics after he is revealed as secret artist

Rocco Ritchie, 21, has been selling his paintings for up to five figures under the mysterious pseudonym RhedHe is a mysterious, up-and-coming artist whose work has been championed by the likes of Madonna and sells for up to five figures.But there were raised eyebrows when it was revealed that “Rhed” was none other than the singer’s eldest son, Rocco Ritchie. Continue reading...

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#Art #Madonna #Painting #Art_and_design #Culture Open / Comment

2022-01-04 18:00:20 Colorado wildfire investigation could take days or weeks, says county sheriff

Investigators interview dozens of people as Joe Pelle says getting it right is ‘more important than the urge for speed’Federal and state investigators have interviewed dozens of people in their search for the cause of a destructive Colorado wildfire but the investigation could take days if not weeks, the Boulder county sheriff warned.Declaring that “the stakes are huge”, Joe Pelle said he would not release details until he was ready “to announce some progress – perhaps that may be a week, perhaps that may be a month”. Continue reading...

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#Colorado #Wildfires #US_news Open / Comment

2022-01-04 18:00:15 Ashes show will continue because there’s too much money at stake | Geoff Lemon

Constant effects of Covid would have meant any other series being called off by nowAs the Sydney Ashes Test rolls to the start line, the conversations about selections and form and conditions do not really matter. What matters is that it is miraculous this match is going ahead.England have almost an entire coaching staff wiped out by Covid. Australia have lost their Brisbane century-maker Travis Head, with three players named as cover. The Cricket Australia CEO, Nick Hockley, is out and Glenn McGrath will miss at least part of his foundation’s fundraising efforts. In Australian domestic cricket, Big Bash teams are losing quorum to the virus. Yet the show will go on. Continue reading...

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#Ashes_2021-22 #The_Ashes #Australia_cricket_team #Australia_sport #Cricket Open / Comment

2022-01-04 18:00:10 Chelsea’s Tuchel reveals Lukaku has said sorry and wants to ‘clean mess up’

Manager satisfied striker did not plan to create such noise‘It is small enough to stay calm, accept an apology and move on’Romelu Lukaku has apologised to Thomas Tuchel for his controversial interview and is poised to return to Chelsea’s squad for the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final against Tottenham on Wednesday night.Tuchel held talks with Lukaku on Monday and was left satisfied that the £97.5m forward was remorseful after going public with his unhappiness with life at Stamford Bridge during an unauthorised interview with Sky Italia. Continue reading...

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#Chelsea #Thomas_Tuchel #Romelu_Lukaku #Football #Sport Open / Comment

2022-01-04 17:40:16 Biden to meet with Covid advisers as Omicron continues to surge in US – live

US set global daily record with over 1 million cases on MondayCongress experiences unprecedented uptick in infectionsSenate Democrats to hold virtual meeting on Build Back BetterSign up to receive First Thing – our daily briefing by emailIt looks like Washington is still feeling the after-effects of yesterday’s massive snowstorm that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands on the eastern seaboard, snarled traffic and delayed Air Force One and took Joe Biden’s helicopter out of commission. Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia and former running mate of Hillary Clinton, tweeted that he had been stuck in traffic from Virginia to Washington for at least 19 hours. Continue reading...

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#US_politics #Joe_Biden #Omicron_variant #Coronavirus #US_Congress Open / Comment

2022-01-04 17:40:07 EU’s top diplomat visits Ukraine frontline in show of solidarity

Josep Borrell’s trip comes as west steps up diplomatic efforts in response to Russian troop buildup on borderThe European Union’s top diplomat is visiting the frontline of Ukraine’s war with Moscow-backed separatists, amid intensifying diplomatic activity in response to Russia’s buildup of troops on the country’s border.Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, began a two-day trip to Ukraine on Tuesday, before US-Russia talks in Geneva on 10 January and Nato-Russia talks on 12 January. Borrell is meeting Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, during a trip intended to show solidarity with Kyiv, which aspires to join Nato and the EU. Continue reading...

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#European_Union #Ukraine #Russia #Europe #World_news Open / Comment

2022-01-04 17:20:35 How do I add bite to mushy vegan food? | Kitchen aide

Reach for the nuts and seeds, roast or grill your veg, and think about how you chop it … top cooks explain how to avoid the gloop factor• Got a culinary dilemma? Email feast@theguardian.comHow do I add texture to vegan pulse, pasta and rice dishes so my non-vegan family can’t complain it’s just mush? Signe, Brighton“It’s all about a drizzle, a dollop and a crunch,” says Bettina Campolucci-Bordi, author of Celebrate: Plant-Based Recipes for Every Occasion. “I add at least two to every meal, and that instantly creates different textures.” A drizzle could be something as simple as good-quality olive or flavoured oil (chilli, garlic, basil) or date syrup, while a dollop is essentially something creamy: “Hummus made from butter beans or chickpeas, a pesto or flavoured yoghurt, say.” As for the crunch, that’s “chopped toasted nuts, a chunky dukkah or za’atar, pomegranate, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, roast chickpeas flavoured with things like tandoori spice”. In short, Signe would be wise to adopt Campolucci-Bordi’s mantra of “more is better”. Continue reading...

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#Food #Vegan_food_and_drink #Pasta #Rice #Vegetables Open / Comment

2022-01-04 17:20:31 The Commando review – Mickey Rourke stars in military-grade dross

Bloodthirsty villains brutalise a young family in their hunt for loot in this reprehensible addition to the home invasion genreThis is a nasty, brutish, not-short-enough action film; basically one of those home-invasion stories in which brutal criminals terrorise a family. In this case the crims are led by newly released convict Johnny (Mickey Rourke, looking more melted than usual) and the family is a nuclear set-up led by James Baker (Michael Jai White), a DEA agent with PTSD. Johnny and co are supposedly trying is to recover money from a bank robbery, hidden years ago.But in this generally reprehensible subgenre, it doesn’t matter why the baddies break in. What matters is that it entitles at least one member of the terrorised family to fight back using their unique skills and, inevitably, armed force. Conspiracy-minded viewers might wonder if some of these films aren’t subsidised by pro-gun lobbyists as a way to drum fear into the audience and maintain support for the right to keep huge home arsenals to ward against a danger with a vanishingly small probability in the real world. Continue reading...

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#Film #Thrillers #Action_and_adventure_films #Mickey_Rourke #Culture Open / Comment