Six great reads: Swiss bunkers, what Alexa heard and red-pill manosphere hucksters
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Bethan McKernan spent four years as the Guardian's Jerusalem correspondent, a period marked by the horrors of 7 October 2023 and what has followed in Gaza. As she begins her new role as the Guardian's Wales correspondent, she looked back at her period in the Middle East and how it has shaped her and her understanding of the region.
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Switzerland is home to more than 370,000 nuclear bunkers – enough to shelter every member of the population. But, asked Jessi Jezewska Stevens, if the worst should happen, would they actually work?
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'In September 2016, a new presence appears in our house, squatting on the kitchen counter between the kettle and the coffee machine. It is blandly futuristic, a minimal cylinder with an LED ring that glows blue to alert us to the fact that it is ready, poised to answer our questions or carry out our instructions, as long as those instructions are clearly stated and fall within a narrow band of available 'skills'.'
For nearly a decade, Alexa has been listening to Jeremy Ettinghausen and his family's questions and instructions. What had she heard? And what did it tell him about the role Amazon's smart speaker plays in so many of our lives?
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After 380 games and more than 1,000 goals the 2024-25 Premier League season came to an end last weekend. Jonny Weeks told the story of a dramatic (in parts) season via the work of the best sports photographers in the game – including our own brilliant Tom Jenkins. Read more
'When I first met Nick in 2019, at a dating and self-improvement summit in Miami, it wasn't immediately obvious why he was paying so much money to pseudo-authority figures from the manosphere. He had looks, cash and some of the easy swagger of London done good … '
So writes James Bloodworth in his fascinating (and worrying) profile of a friend who went down the digital rabbit hole. Nick's story is a cautionary tale of what happens when someone who feels inadequate listens to the new generation of masculinity salesmen
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Mom forced son, 8, who kept wetting himself to buy new pants with allowance - even though he had medical issue
A clinical child psychologist forced her eight-year-old son who couldn't stop wetting himself to buy his own underwear despite discovering he had a medical issue. Dr. Andrea Mata, who runs the webinar 'Gentle Parenting Doesn't Work', made the shock confession while speaking with The Wall Street Journal. The 41-year-old spoke with the outlet about a growing number of parents who are ditching a soft approach to parenting and adopting a harder stance. She said that recently her son had been wetting himself and she believed that he had been ignoring the urge to go to the bathroom. Following repeat episodes, she admitted to the outlet that she had told her child to use his own allowance to pay for new underpants. Dr. Mata later discovered her son was dealing with a medical issue, which has now been resolved, and she apologized to him. But sticking with her hard stance on parenting, she said that she refused to reimburse him because he had lied to her about it and covered it up. She told the WSJ that she would stand by the idea of repercussions if a child intentionally falls shorts of their expected behavior. Dr. Mata has been widely criticized for her remarks by readers of the publication, with some branding her 'tone deaf' for her response. One person said: 'If you've embarrassed a kid with a medical issue - you owe them way more than an apology. 'What a horrible unfeeling parenting. Really? We're penalizing the kid for being ashamed about peeing in his pants at eight? Poor child.' Another said: 'The clinical child psychologist telling this story ignored an important flaw in her own thinking. 'She was tone deaf to a young boy's shame and embarrassment, she punished him anyway when he understandably hid it as any eight-year-old would do, and then she publishes the details using her own name so all of her son's friends will be aware of his humiliation. 'That is a lesson in poor parenting, and her son will never forget it.' One other added: 'No "doctor" Mata, you don't need a PhD. You do, though, need yours taken away for putting a child's health at risk.' Another reader said they agreed with the hard parenting stance but still took aim at Dr. Mata. They added: 'The child psychologist who can't admit their own mistake and still made their eight-year-old kid pay for something caused by a medical issue that the parent ignored is a useless example for this article. 'That person probably needs an adult psychologist to help with their own issues.' For her remarks, Dr Mata has been widely criticized by readers of the publication According to an online profile, Dr. Mata graduated from Valparaiso University, in Indiana, after majoring in psychology. She previously worked as a college professor at the University of Findlay, Ohio, for nine years. She and her husband Jim have three children, girl-boy twins and a younger daughter. After the article went live she expressed her delight in being featured by sharing a post to her Instagram. She said: 'HOLY S***!!! I'm featured in the WSJ. Goodbye, gentle parenting! It wasn't nice knowing you! Good riddance'. The Daily Mail has approached Dr. Mata for comment on the remarks.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Rising number of doctors among hundreds of medical staff detained in Gaza, say rights groups
Twenty-eight doctors from Gaza are being held inside Israeli prisons, eight of whom are senior consultants in surgery, orthopaedics, intensive care, cardiology and paediatrics, according to data from Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical organisation. Twenty-one of those detained have been held for more than 400 days. HWW said none had been charged with any crimes by the Israeli authorities. Three healthcare workers have been detained since the start of July. On Monday, the Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli undercover force detained Dr Marwan al-Hams, head of Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital in Rafah, outside the field hospital of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the southern Gaza Strip. His whereabouts are unknown, and the Israeli authorities have yet to publish a statement on his detention. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that two of its workers were taken into detention from a facility sheltering staff and their families in Dier al-Balah; one remains in Israeli custody. According to the WHO, Israel has arrested and detained more than 300 healthcare workers since the the war between Hamas and Israel began in October 2023. HWW puts this figure higher, at over 400. Muath Alser, director of HWW, said: 'Many of the health workers were arrested at their work sites, and they remain held for months – often without communication, being denied medical care when needed, and suffering from terrible detention conditions. We urge people in power to pressure Israel to release those health workers still under unlawful detention.' Overwhelmed hospitals are already struggling to function, while increasing hunger among medical staff in Gaza has left many too weak to provide urgent medical care to malnourished and injured civilians, doctors have told the Guardian and the Arabic Reporters for Investigative Journalism. In February, the Guardian published detailed accounts from senior Palestinian doctors held and then released from Israeli detention who reported being tortured, beaten and humiliated during their time in prison. Those still being held by the Israeli authorities include Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, who has been detained at Israel's Ofer prison since December 2024. Earlier this week his lawyer told Sky News his health was deteriorating and that he was being beaten and tortured. In a statement to the Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused medical staff in Gaza, including doctors, of involvement in Hamas terror activity. It did not provide any evidence to substantiate the claim. 'In the context of IDF activity in combat zones, individuals suspected of involvement in terror activity are arrested and investigated. Those found not to be involved in terror activity are released. 'A regrettable outcome of Hamas' exploitation of hospitals is the involvement of medical staff, including doctors, directly in Hamas' terror activity. Put plainly, the IDF is not interested in medical staff vis a vis their roles as medical professionals, but due to their potential involvement in Hamas terror,' said the statement. Two senior doctors are known to have died in Israeli detention: Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at Kamal Adwan hospital, died at Shikma prison; Dr Adnan al-Bursh, head of the orthopaedic department at al-Shifa hospital, died shortly after being transferred to Ofer prison in April 2024. Former detainees claim he died from torture and had suffered severe sexual violence in the hours before his death. Their bodies have not yet been returned to their families. The detention of medical staff from Gaza in Israeli prisons has been condemned by the WHO and the UN who have called for their immediate release. Reports of torture, violence and psychological abuse of healthcare workers while in detention have been verified by the UN and published in reports by organisations such as HWW, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights Israel.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Woman named after Mickey Mouse urges parents to stop picking 'crazy' monikers for their children
A woman who was named after Mickey Mouse has urged parents to stop choosing 'crazy' monikers for their own children. Mickie Austen Rollins - who was born Mickie Lettuce - shared her thoughts on unusual names after US influencer Trisha Paytas revealed her very divisive choice for her newborn son. Paytas, 37, who is already mother to daughters Malibu Barbie and Elvis, decided to name her first son Aquaman - after the DC superhero. Addressing the trend of unusual names, Mickie said she legally changed her name 'because my middle name, I was named after a vegetable, and my surname was a swear word'. She added: 'As someone who was named after Mickey Mouse, I want to talk about Trisha Paytas calling her new kid Aquaman and what effects that has on someone growing up, becoming an adult and having a f*****g mental name. 'It's always people that have really boring names that pick those names for their kids. 'No offence if you're called Emily or Sarah or Hannah, but you don't understand what you're doing - it does hold you back massively, you're just asking to get bullied and asking for that kid to have a really s*** life in school.' Mickie went on to talk about her own experience being named after a Disney character. She said her mother was from a working class background - and her 'feral' name was a consequence of 'clambering' to be middle class. Her older sister was named Buddie Mercedes, while Mickie says her twin 'got off lightly' with India Holly. 'My real name is Mickie, not Michaela, not Michelle, everyone always thinks that I've shortened it, no, no, I was named after the mouse,' she explains. Those in the comments were sympathetic to Mickie's plight, with most pointing out the unusual choice for her middle name - Lettuce Mickie added that her mother thought the unusual spelling was 'more feminine' than the traditional way of spelling Mickey Mouse. She said she had a 'rough' time growing up, and decided to change her name after being 'so sick' of 'constantly explaining' the moniker to people she met. Those in the comments were sympathetic to Mickie's plight, with most pointing out the unusual choice for her middle name - Lettuce. One person said: 'Mickie is pretty normal but lettuce...' Another added: 'My middle name is the letter 'T'. That's it. Just a 'T'.' A third person said: 'I'm sorry WHAT. To have India Holly as your twin (which is at least two real names) and you get LETTUCE?!'
