
For years it’s been predicted that the market for male ‘support garments’ will take off … but it hasn’t quite happened. Now M&S is trying again
There is a moment – just seconds into getting dressed – when I think I might panic. The hem of my stretchy top has got rolled up round my ribs before my head has popped out of the neck hole, and with my hands still stuck in the sleeves, I cannot reach round to pull it down. I wriggle helplessly for a minute, but the situation doesn’t improve; the band of rolled-up fabric is taut across my chest, immovable. That’s when I feel the first tingle of rising alarm – so familiar from early childhood – that comes of being trapped in your clothes.
I am trying, for the first time, to put on an item of shapewear for men – an ordinary-looking, highly elasticated long-sleeved workout top that will, I hope, give me the instant slim profile of someone who goes to the gym regularly, instead of not since the pandemic started.
Continue reading...Shooting at world-famous beach in which 15 people, plus one alleged gunman, were killed reverberated around the world, with many headlines noting the actions of a hero bystander
The deadly terrorist attack at Sydney’s Bondi beach, and the heroic acts of bystanders in response to it, were the focus on newspaper front pages across the world on Monday morning, as Australia came to terms with what the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described as “an act of evil antisemitism”.
The Guardian led with “At least 16 dead in terror attack on Jewish festival” accompanied by a picture of ambulance crews assisting a shooting victim. In the top left corner, there is a reference to the bystander who wrestled a firearm off one of the alleged gunmen.
Continue reading...Whether it’s nightclubs banning phones or a drop in online dating, there are signs that we’re rediscovering the joy of being in the moment
It’s only a small rectangular sticker, but it symbolises a joyous sense of resistance. Some of Berlin’s most renowned clubs have long insisted that the camera lenses on their clientele’s phones must be covered up using this simple method, to ensure that everyone is present in the moment and people can let go without fear of their image suddenly appearing on some online platform. As one DJ puts it, “Do you really want to be in someone’s picture in your jockstrap?”
Venues in London, Manchester and New York now enforce the same rules. Last week brought news of the return of Sankeys, the famous Mancunian club that closed nearly a decade ago, and is reopening in a 500-capacity space in the heart of the city. The aim, it seems, is to fly in the face of the massed closures of such venues, and revive the idea that our metropolises should host the kind of nights that stretch into the following morning. But there is another basic principle at work: phones will reportedly either be stickered or forbidden. “People need to stop taking pictures and start dancing to the beat,” said one of the club’s original founders.
John Harris is a Guardian columnist. His book Maybe I’m Amazed: A Story of Love and Connection in Ten Songs is available from the Guardian bookshop
Continue reading...In his joyous new comedy Finding Father Christmas, the star is on a mission to prove Santa really exists – and he’s got Stephen Fry to help him! He talks magic, trampoline mayhem and finally getting behind the wheel of a car
It’s time for a father to have an awkward conversation with his teenage son. No, not that one. This is far worse – Chris is 16 and still believes in Father Christmas. He needs to know the truth: all the presents, the fake snow on the roof, the soot in the grate, it was all his dad. “You’re Father Christmas?” says Chris, astonished. “You bring joy and happiness to billions of children all over the world?”
In Finding Father Christmas, Channel 4’s funny and moving comedy, Chris, played by Lenny Rush, bunks off school and sets out on a mission with his older cousin Holly (Ele McKenzie) to prove to his sceptic dad that Santa is real. Poring over a photograph taken at a celebrity party, Chris thinks he has identified four people who may have secret links to Santa – Stephen Fry, mathematician Prof Hannah Fry, the space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock and SAS: Who Dares Wins star Jason Fox. Finally, he follows clues to a secret secure facility in Milton Keynes and breaks in with the help of a mini trampoline and the magic of television (a bungee cord). “It was terrifying, but so much fun,” says Rush of the stunt. “I feel like if I was offered [to do it] and I said no, I’d kick myself on the way home. I wanted to give it a go and I’m happy I did. But there was an element of fear.”
Continue reading...As the exam regulator consults about introducing onscreen exams amid complaints of hand fatigue, a young aspiring journalist goes head-to-head with a self-professed expert
This week it was reported that students could soon be sitting their end-of-year exams on laptops after pupils complained of hand fatigue, saying their muscles “are not strong enough”.
With Ofqual preparing to launch a public consultation on the introduction of onscreen exams, we decided to conduct a test of our own, pitting the Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, a seasoned hack of the pen-and-paper generation, against George Francis Lee, our gen-Z journalist in training.
Continue reading...An author and a tech coach had a heated debate about refugees, loud phones in public spaces, and our reliance on cars. Did they part with a smile?
Andy, 62, Stevenage
Occupation Agile coach in technology
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Amid the horror of the shooting, one video has emerged showing incredible bravery – a bystander rushing one of the gunmen from behind to wrestle the firearm off him.
Praised a hero, he is being identified by some media as a 43-year-old fruit shop owner from the Sutherland Shire.
Continue reading...Naveed Akram previously known to security agencies, prime minister says. His gun-owning father, Sajid, was shot dead by police at the scene
The alleged gunmen behind the Bondi beach attack are a father-son duo suspected of using legally obtained firearms to commit the massacre, according to police.
Naveed Akram, 24, was arrested at the scene and taken to a Sydney hospital with critical injuries. His 50-year-old father, who the Sydney Morning Herald first reported to be Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police. Police would not confirm their names.
Continue reading...Former England cricket captain is in Australia for Ashes series
Pat Cummins and Usman Khawaja lead tributes to victims
Former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan has described hearing gunshots during the terrorist attack at a gathering to celebrate the first night of Hanukah at Sydney’s Bondi beach as “terrifying”.
Vaughan, who is in Australia working as a media pundit for the Ashes series, said he was locked in a restaurant “a few hundred yards from the attack” with his wife, two daughters, sister-in-law and a friend.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister claims the Australian government ‘let the disease’ of antisemitism spread ‘and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today’
Leaders around the world expressed their horror at Sunday’s terrorist attack on Bondi beach, in which at least 16 people died, mixed in some cases with harsh words for the Australian government for alleged shortcomings in tackling antisemitism over the past two years.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said he had written to his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, in August, warning that the government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire … emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets”. He claimed Albanese had “replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement”.
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