Love island

“When that light is put out too soon ... we have all lost. As a mother and a grandmother, losing a child seems especially senseless. But that’s because this virus isn’t reasonable, it won’t discriminate, it won’t get lazy, it will not grow tired, divisive or complacent. It will take what it can and it’s our job to protect each other.” … [Read more...] about Guam boy, 10, dies as Covid outbreak threatens country’s health system

For the record, I am normally far too cool to care about mundanities such as dish placement. But these are not normal times. Spending so much time stuck in the house has led me to fixate on weird things; when everything outside is so chaotic, there is great comfort to be had in organisation. E seems to have got like this with the kitchen cupboards, which she has rearranged multiple times (although, somehow, an errant Tupperware lid still falls on your head whenever you open one). She is also fanatical about making the bed properly, which I have come to appreciate. I try to make the bed, too, but it never seems to be up to her high standards and she always redoes it. No doubt muttering: “What kind of person does this?” … [Read more...] about How was lockdown living with my partner? So good I missed her when she went to the balcony

For the last two decades, English urban policy has focused on what’s known as “agglomeration”, or the spatial concentration of economic activity in cities. This approach to urban development has long treated city centres as convenient and easy landing points for global financial capital. It’s naturally appealing to global investors, who crave speedy and easy financial returns built around the sure-fire bet of land and property development. Agglomeration is the reason our cities have densely concentrated networks of offices and financial centres, and why people in London, the UK’s main financial centre, spend an average of 81 minutes a day commuting into work. … [Read more...] about UK cities should work for the people who live in them, not for distant shareholders

Geographically, this map could be of anywhere as it is a map of the culture war that rages mainly online, but the US has a particularly well defined and extreme version. Stylistically, I was thinking of cold war propaganda maps showing the “communist threat” in the 1950s. The Big Brother-like figure at the top is Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook; I chose him because he is the best-known face of social media power. … [Read more...] about Be it on God, guns or Greta, social media offers neat solutions for our messy feelings

Despite rumors suggesting a deal was imminent, Ligue 1 side Angers publically announced that they have turned down an €11 million offer from Freiburg for Santamaria. The fee would have made the holding midfielder Freiburg's record signing, but now there is a big question mark behind any potential deal. … [Read more...] about Bundesliga transfer blog: Cordoba linked with Hertha move