Scientology ‘speed running’ trend has Hollywood abuzz and church unhappy

Yara CEO warns of global auction that would leave poorest countries scrambling for supplies they can ill affordThe Iran war could have “dramatic consequences”, causing food shortages and price rises in some of Africa’s poorest and most vulnerable communities, the head of the world’s largest fertiliser company has said.Svein Tore Holsether, the chief executive of Yara International, said world leaders needed to guard against soaring prices and shortages of fertiliser causing a de facto global auction that would leave the poorest countries, particularly in Africa, scrambling for supplies they could ill afford. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letter sent to government about case of Inuit woman whose baby was removed after now-banned testThe United Nations has warned Denmark that the treatment of a Greenlandic mother whose newborn child was removed by Danish authorities as a result of controversial parenting competency tests “may amount to ethnic discrimination”.Keira Alexandra Kronvold’s daughter, Zammi, was taken away from her when she was two hours old and placed in foster care in November 2024 after Kronvold was subjected to so-called FKU (parental competence) psychometric tests. At the time, she was told that the test was to see if she was “civilised enough”. Continue reading...

Students taking part in university’s annual ritual say images of them in swimwear are being published without consent in national newspapersWhen the sun rises at dawn on Friday, hundreds of St Andrews University students will brave the chilly North Sea for the annual May Dip, an undergraduate ritual said to bring good luck in exams. But the students won’t be alone at the beach. In recent years this quirky ritual has become a target for agency and freelance photographers looking to cash in on images of students in bikinis, including some who camp out overnight on the East Sands dunes near the Fife coastal path.“It ruined my night,” said Anna, one of the students whose photo appeared in a spread published by the Scotsman. “Now when I think about that May Dip, I think about that image, and that’s it.” Continue reading...

Five-year-old’s grandfather and senior Warlpiri elder appeals for calm, saying: ‘It is time now for sorry business’• Warning: This article contains references to and images of Indigenous Australians who have diedNorthern Territory police say one person is facing charges and more are expected over unrest in Alice Springs after the arrest of a man in connection with the death of five-year-old girl.The grandfather of Kumanjayi Little Baby, whose body was found on Thursday 5km from the Old Timers town camp where she was last seen alive on Saturday night, called for calm in the central Australian town on Friday, saying the violent confrontation between police and others at Alice Springs hospital was not “our way”. Continue reading...

Speculative reports say Amazon is considering relaunching the reality show once hosted by the US president, with his eldest son floated as a possible hostGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailAmid speculative reports that Donald Trump Jr is being considered by Amazon to lead a reboot of The Apprentice, he’s already received a slightly muted endorsement from the reality show’s former host: his father.The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Amazon was considering rebooting The Apprentice, which was hosted by the now US president Donald Trump between 2004 and 2015, for its streaming service Prime Video.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

Denise Ann Williams, 62, was last heard from on 15 AprilA search is continuing for a 62-year-old Australian woman who was reported missing on Tuesday while hiking in a Canadian national park.Denise Ann Williams was last heard from on 15 April, when she told family she was travelling to Chéticamp, a fishing village on the west coast of Cape Breton island in Nova Scotia. Continue reading...

Workers wrote ‘Katrina declaration’, warning that funding cuts made US dangerously unprepared for natural disastersFourteen employees with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency returned to work this week, after spending eight months on administrative leave for signing a public letter criticising the Trump administration.The so-called “Katrina declaration”, sent last August to members of Congress and a federal council formed to help determine Fema’s future, was written as a rebuke from the workers about the dangerous erosion in US capacity to prepare for and respond to natural disasters. Continue reading...

Parliamentary committee takes unusual step of declaring no confidence in executives at utility providerMPs have accused the leadership of South East Water of incompetence over repeated water outages for tens of thousands of customers, and expressed no confidence in their ability to reform the company.MPs from across the political spectrum said David Hinton, SEW’s chief executive, and the board of directors operated a culture of unaccountability at the company, which provides drinking water for 2.3 million customers in Berkshire, Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Continue reading...

Birdwatching no longer niche, old-fashioned pastime, says RSPB as research shows 47% increase in hobby since 2018Birdwatching is the second fastest growing hobby for generation Z after jewellery making, according to a multiyear study of more than 24,000 people.Almost 750,000 gen Zers (16 to 29-year-olds) in Britain regularly enjoy watching birds, a -1,088% increase since 2018, according to research by Fifty5Blue published by the RSPB. Continue reading...

State pension was ‘built for a different era’, says former PM’s organisation amid pressure on government financesLabour has been urged by Tony Blair’s thinktank to scrap the pensions triple lock amid mounting pressure on government finances.With the Iran war threatening to derail public spending plans, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) said the “unaffordable” manifesto pledge to maintain the triple lock should be torn up as part of a wider overhaul of the state pension. Continue reading...

Patient safety mechanism which gives patients the right to seek a second opinion having ‘lifesaving impact’, says health secretary‘I am invoking Martha’s rule’: how a woman saved her father from near death in hospitalMore than 500 people have received potentially life-saving care thanks to Martha’s rule, which gives hospital patients the right to seek a second opinion about their health.They were moved to intensive care or a specialist unit after they, a loved one or a member of NHS staff triggered the patient safety mechanism, which the NHS in England began using in 2024. Continue reading...