BooksObituaryMarilyn FrenchFeminist writer and academic famed for her groundbreaking novel The Women's RoomThe following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Wednesday 13 May 2009
Our obituary of the writer Marilyn French included a mention of her history of women, From Eve to Dawn, which conflated two editions of the work. We said it was published in four volumes in 2002; in fact the 2002 edition, published by McArthur & Company, was in three volumes.
Suella Braverman calls for further action against pro-Palestine marches | Suella Braverman
Suella Braverman This article is more than 2 months oldSuella Braverman calls for ‘further action’ against pro-Palestine marchesThis article is more than 2 months oldHome secretary’s rhetoric is dividing Conservative MPs, who are frustrated that Rishi Sunak has not sacked her
Suella Braverman has demanded “further action” against pro-Palestine marches, as centrist Conservative MPs expressed despair at Rishi Sunak’s delay in sacking his rogue home secretary.
One senior backbencher predicted “a lot of noise” from angry colleagues when they return to parliament on Monday, with no signs of imminent action from Sunak after a series of controversies involving Braverman.
The Immortalists review a quartet facing the end of time
The ObserverFictionReviewChloe Benjamin’s ingenious novel follows four siblings who are told exactly when they are going to dieIn Chloe Benjamin’s second novel, Klara is a stage magician with a signature act called the Jaws of Life. The trick is that there is no trick: the rope feat simply requires death-defying strength and audacity. In this haunting saga about Klara’s family, The Immortalists is less concerned with gimcrack sleights-of-hand than the acrobatics we undertake in order to cheat mortality.
Weatherwatch: the science behind lightning's crackle
WeatherwatchExtreme weatherBrontophonic sounds can give lightning a unique hiss, separate from the deep rumble of thunder
What does lightning sound like? The obvious answer is in the boom of thunder: an explosion of expanding, superheated air. But there are more subtle and less understood noises associated with lightning, known as brontophonic sounds, which are heard far less frequently.
Two features make these sounds distinguishable from thunder. One is that in contrast to the deep reverberation of thunder, brontophonic sounds sound like the hissing of a red-hot iron in water or the tearing of fabric.
Woman jailed for killing kitten by putting it in microwave | Crime
Crime This article is more than 9 years oldWoman jailed for killing kitten by putting it in microwaveThis article is more than 9 years oldLaura Cunliffe is sentenced to 14 weeks after admitting putting pet in oven after it attacked her goldfishA woman who killed her kitten by cooking it in a microwave after it attacked her goldfish has been jailed for 14 weeks by a district judge who said it was an "
Donald Trump: I didnt bully my way into Home Alone 2 they begged me for a cameo | Movies
Macaulay Culkin with Donald Trump in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, one of his many film cameos. Photograph: YouTubeMacaulay Culkin with Donald Trump in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, one of his many film cameos. Photograph: YouTubeMoviesDonald Trump: I didn’t bully my way into Home Alone 2 – they begged me for a cameoFormer US president denies director’s claims that he insisted on appearing in 1992 film in exchange for filming in his hotel
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan This article is more than 8 years oldErdogan's meals tested for poison amid security fearsThis article is more than 8 years oldTurkish president’s personal doctor says ‘It’s usually not through bullets that prominent figures are being assassinated these days’
Every meal that goes before the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is rigorously tested both at home and abroad for fear of assassination, his personal doctor said.
And now a special food analysis laboratory will be built at Erdogan’s controversial presidential palace to make sure all his food is safe to eat, Cevdet Erdol told the Hurriyet newspaper on Tuesday.
From Rosemary's Baby to Bridget Jones: a quick scan of pregnancy on film
‘Fear of the unexpected’ … Laura Birn in The Ones Below.‘Fear of the unexpected’ … Laura Birn in The Ones Below.MoviesFor years, pregnant women on film have either been neurotic, placid or walking grossout gags. Alice Lowe, who directed and starred in her own horror film at seven months, says we should expect more
Pregnant heroines can be fascinating, funny, complex characters, though few have been as memorable as Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby, the mother of all pregnancy movies.
I Was Born There, I Was Born Here by Mourid Barghouti, translated by Humphrey Davies - review
PaperbacksReviewBy Ian Pindar"I want to deal with my unimportant feelings that the world will never hear," writes the exiled Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti in this moving companion piece to his memoir I Saw Ramallah. Gathered here are tales of personal sadness, but also of humour and love. One of the high points is the writer taking his son to see a room in a house in his home village of Deir Ghassanah and being able to say: "
Indian bookie 'made 70 calls in a day' to Jadeja | Cricket
CricketIndian bookie 'made 70 calls in a day' to JadejaAn Indian newspaper has published records of heavy mobile phone traffic allegedly between a bookmaker and Ajay Jadeja, the former Test batsman suspended by the Indian cricket board after he was named in the Central Bureau of Investigation report on match-fixing last week.
India's Telegraph gave details of what it claimed were calls made to and from Jadeja by Ramesh Gupta, one of several illegal bookmakers named in the report, during New Zealand's tour to India last year.