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Friendship interrupted

They were best mates. Then one had a baby, while the other struggled to conceive. They share their brutally honest takes on what happens when motherhood affects friendship

KERNELS OF HOPE

During the siege of Leningrad, botanists in charge of an irreplaceable seed collection, the first of its kind, had to protect it from fire, rodents-and hunger

A new horizon' The inverse link between cancer and dementia

Scientists have long been aware of a curious connection between these common and feared diseases. At last, a clearer picture is emerging

Across the universe

Samantha Harvey won the Booker prize with a novel set in space. Yet, she says, Orbital is actually 'a celebration of Earth's beauty with a pang of loss'

Frank Auerbach 1931 -2024

Saved from the Holocaust, this artist captured the devastation of postwar Britain as ifits wounds were his own but he ultimately found salvation in painting

Seven lessons I've learned after 28 years as economics editor

Margaret Thatcher was Britain's prime minister and Neil Kinnock was leader of the Labour party.

Droughtstricken dam leaves economies powerless

A ll is not well with the waters of Lake Kariba, the world's human-made lake largest A punishing drought has drained the huge reservoir close to record lows, raising the prospect that the Kariba Dam, which powers the economies of Zambia and Zimbabwe, may have to shut down for the first time in its 65-year history.

Let this be the end of these excruciating celebrity endorsements

I wish celebrities would learn the art of the French exit. But they can't, which is why Eva Longoria has announced she no longer lives in America. \"I get to escape and go somewhere,\" she explained.

Alive, but unable to thrive under absolute patriarchy

Since the Taliban returned to power, women and girls have tried defiance, but despair at their harshly restricted lives

‘It's tragic’ Reflection in the wake of Amsterdam violence

Carrying signs scrawled with messages urging unity, they laid white roses at the statue of Anne Frank, steps away from the home where her family had hidden from Nazi persecution.

US 'dream team' is welcomed by settlers

Palestinian groups shocked by Trump's selection of outspoken supporters of far-right activists in the region

Trump's flurry of extremist staff picks spark fears

'Welcome back,\" Joe Biden told Donald Trump, his predecessor and successor, as the pair shook hands in the Oval Office.

Unfinished business Welby’s resignation speaks of deeperissues in the Church

WHEN YOU LOOK AT A HIGH-UP CLERIC someone like Justin Welby, say, dressed in all his finery, vestments trimmed with gold thread and a bejeweled clasp on his cope it's hard to believe this has any connection with a wandering rabbi on the shores of the Sea of Galilee with his band of 12 followers.

‘Directly responsible’ Abuse victim blames C of E for suffering

Rocky Leanders, then 15, was beaten witha paddle by John Smyth at a camp where boys were made to swim naked

Can the Church of England recover?

Shock waves triggered by the archbishop of Canterbury's resignation are the culmination of years of simmering rage among churchgoers and survivors of abuse

What Can America Expect From Trump 2.0

THE 45TH AND 47TH commander-in-chief will face fewer limits on his ambition when he is sworn in again in January.

New World Order How Will Trump Reshape US Foreign Policy?

DURING THE FIRST TRUMP TERM, Richard Moore, then the political director of the UK Foreign Offi ce and now the head of MI6, has admitted that half of Britain’s diplomats woke up each morning dreading what they might read on the president’s Twitter feed.

Seed drill: what can I make with tahini beyond just hummus?

'Tahini has a beautiful versatility,\" says Fadi Kattan, chef/co-founder of Akub in London and author of Bethlehem, \"from a drizzle over your morning toast or granola, to an earthy background flavour in a sauce, to all sorts of cakes and cookies.\"

Trump unleashed will be even worse than last time's dress rehearsal Jonathan Freedland

Are you ready for Trump unbound? You may have thought the former and future president was already pretty unrestrained, not least because Donald Trump has never shown anything but brazen disrespect for boundaries or limits of any kind. And you would be right. But, as an earlier entertainer turned president – and Trump combines the two roles – liked to say: You ain’t seen nothing yet.

Trump's return is bleak for America and the world

This is an exceptionally bleak and frightening moment for the United States and the world. Donald Trump swept the electoral college and the popular vote -giving him not merely a victory, but a mandate. If many voters gambled on him in 2016, they doubled down this time.

Flower Power

Once a modest sign of remembrance for the war dead, the poppy has increasingly been used as a prop for performative patriotism, and a tool that helps to gauge others' loyalty to an ideal of national sacrifice

When adult children cut the cord

Grownups who cut off contact with their family are often trying to break away after a traumatic childhood. But sometimes the estrangement can be totally unexpected for parents who really believe they've done their best

Battle lines Pyongyang's Russia entente is a dilemma for Xi Jinping

In October 1950, barely a year after the Chinese civil war ended, Mao Zedong sent the first Chinese soldiers to fight in the Korean war. Between 180,000 and 400,000 of Chairman Mao's troops would die in that conflict, including his own son. But it was important to defend North Korea then, Mao reportedly said, because \"without the lips, the teeth are cold\".

The hospital on the frontline of unstoppable gang warfare

It was mid-morning in central Port-au-Prince and already two shooting victims had been rushed into the hospital past a mural instructing visitors to leave machetes and rifles outside.

Small wonders Unravelling the paradoxes of plankton

Scientists are using technology to sequence the DNA of microscopic marine life for the first time-to help us learn more about ourselves

Piecing back together the picture portraits of Ans Westra

When a black-and-white photo of a man and a woman sitting on a patterned sofa outside an old weatherboard house appeared on a billboard in central Wellington recently, Arthur Uruamo's phone lit up.

Turks turn to home comforts of Atatürk's secular rule

A few weeks ago, Ozlem Karakus, her son Ali and cousin Cansu made the long drive from Ankara in Turkey to Thessaloniki in Greece.

False claims and hoaxes surge as floods recede

Home to more than 120 shops, a cinema and 34 restaurants, the Bonaire shopping centre had long been known as one of the largest in the Valencia region. After flood waters coursed through the municipality of Aldaia two weeks ago, it began making headlines for another reason: disinformation over the fate of its vast underground car park.

Why has the government collapsed and what comes next?

Olaf Scholz's sacking of his finance minister has plunged Europe's largest economy into considerable uncertainty

Gulf state suspends role as Gaza talks mediator

The Qatari government has informed the US and Israel it will stop mediation efforts to halt the conflict in Gaza because it no longer thinks the parties are negotiating in good faith.