• Th chevron_right

      ‘He left an incredible mark’: how a festival organiser’s murder galvanised Venice’s underground music scene

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    At 26, Venezia Hardcore co-founder Giacomo Gobbato was killed while protecting a stranger on the streets of Venice – a death that’s become a rallying cry for a city in crisis

    As you enter the Centro Sociale Rivolta, a former confectionary factory in the industrial neighbourhood of Marghera in Venice that has been occupied by squatters for the last 30 years, a large banner spells out two words: “Jack lives”. More than 2,000 people will see the banner this weekend when they arrive at Venezia Hardcore, a festival that began in a rehearsal room among friends and has become one of the most important counterculture events in Europe.

    This year’s event will feature Jivebomb’s furious hardcore from the US, Violent Magic Orchestra’s techno black metal from Japan, and Italian bands such as cult screamo outfit La Quiete, political street punk four-piece Klasse Kriminale and local heroes Confine. But the star of the festival will stand out due to his absence: 2025 will be the first edition of Venezia Hardcore without Giacomo “Jack” Gobbato, a musician and activist who was stabbed to death in September by a robber who had attacked a woman Gobbato was trying to defend.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      Ministers ‘oblivious’ to UK’s scale of violence against women and girls, say MPs

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Refuges turn down 65% of requests for support, says parliamentary committee calling for better monitoring

    Ministers appear to be “oblivious” to the true scale of harm caused by violence against women and girls and must do more to “reverse the worrying rise in misogyny”, MPs have said.

    Parliament’s cross-party public accounts committee heard evidence that women’s refuges are forced to turn down 65% of requests for support amid soaring cases, while other dedicated services operating in communities are only able to help about half of those who request it.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      Polish presidential hopefuls in final campaign push - Europe live

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Thirteen candidates making their last pitches before ‘Super Sunday’ with votes also due in Portugal and Romania

    Good morning, or dzień dobry , from Warsaw , Poland , where 13 presidential candidates are up very early to make the most of the last day before the “electoral silence” kicks in ahead of this Sunday’s first round of the presidential vote.

    With leading contenders hitting the campaign trail around 6am local time today, it’s going to be a long day ahead for them as they hope to convince some undecided voters in what looks like an increasingly tight race.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      Middle East crisis live: More than 20 killed in further Gaza strikes as Trump’s Gulf visit ends

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    Widespread attacks across northern Gaza with survivors warning that people are trapped under the rubble

    Gaza rescuers say 50 killed in Israeli strikes since midnight

    Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Friday that 50 people had been killed in Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory since midnight.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      Chess: top-seeded world champion Gukesh Dommaraju struggles at Bucharest

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    The Indian 18-year-old is joint seventh out of 10 with just one round to go, while his compatriot Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu leads on 5/8

    India’s world champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, hoped for a comeback at Bucharest this week after his dismal Freestyle performances in North Germany and Paris in the spring. Instead, the top seeded 18-year-old was defeated by France’s pair of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, in 31 moves , and Alireza Firouzja, in 69 moves , before scoring a 44-move win , against USA’s Levon Aronian, in Thursday’s eighth and penultimate round.

    Gukesh has dropped from third to fifth in the Fide world rankings, and is currently tied seventh in the 10-man field in Romania with one win, five draws, and two defeats. One round earlier, he was tied last. Only Friday’s ninth and final round, which can be watched (2pm BST start) here , remains.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      Fantasy Premier League: a compelling refuge of fatalism and black humour | Paul MacInnes

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025

    In a game that now takes itself too seriously, FPL evokes the fun, pain and obsessiveness that once underpinned fan culture

    Only two weeks to go. That’s the mantra. Two more weeks to endure the familiar trauma of logging on to the fantasy football app, picking a team, celebrating the wise decisions that have led you to create an unbeatable unit, watching the weekend’s football disabuse you of this notion, then repeating the whole thing again.

    It’s supposed to be a game, but Fantasy Premier League (FPL) is more like a lifestyle. Or a second job. Or even exactly like being a professional footballer: the focus, determination and relentless commitment should really be rewarded with a weekly salary, preferably in the five figures. But no, instead we have to make do with a brief appearance of a green arrow next to our team name or, more likely, a red one.

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      My wife caught me wearing her underwear – and the shame is eating me up

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025 • 1 minute

    I’ve tried talking to her about it, but she just says she can’t bear to think of me like that and refuses to discuss it. What should I do?

    I’m in my early 60s and have been happily married for more than 25 years. I’ve come to accept that I’m bisexual but haven’t told anyone. About two years ago my wife found me wearing a pair of her black lace panties , something I do sometimes as it turns me on . She was angry and suggested I needed therapy to “understand why you do that”. The comment was humiliat ing and made me feel ashamed . I don’t know what to do . I’ve tried talking to her about it, but she just says she can’t bear to think of me like that and refuses to discuss it. It’s eating me up .

    Enjoying wearing women’s underwear does not make you bisexual, but perhaps you also have erotic feelings towards both men and women? Either way, it might be helpful for you to discuss your sexual self with a sexuality therapist because you do not deserve to feel ashamed and humiliated.

    Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders.

    If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send attachments). Each week, Pamela chooses one problem to answer, which will be published online. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions .

    Continue reading...
    • Th chevron_right

      What if one key problem with British politics at the moment is us – the voters | Andy Beckett

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian • 16 May 2025 • 1 minute

    Westminster has become fearful of a fickle and vindictive electorate. There’s value in that, but it’s also holding back our politics

    The voter is never wrong. In this era of vox pops, phone-ins, focus groups and constant polls, this view of democracy is more prevalent than ever. Labour strategists reverently refer to switchers from the Tories as “hero voters”, while Keir Starmer often says his government is “in the service of” the electorate. With British politics fragmenting, voters are now being wooed by five national parties – an unprecedented situation, made even more unpredictable by an electoral system designed for serious competition between just two. It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that we are all swing voters now.

    In some ways, this is a welcome and potentially exciting change. Since the late 1980s Westminster has mostly offered voters a limited menu – usually bland Labour centrism or ever staler Tory variations of Thatcherism – accompanied by patronising messages that no other recipes are practical. Yet now ministers, shadow ministers and MPs of all parties are hurriedly trying to come up with fresh or fresh-seeming dishes: rightwing populism, radical environmentalism, mild anti-capitalism mixed with social conservatism, and remedies of all sorts for the political and social indigestion caused by globalisation.

    Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist

    Continue reading...