Italy’s legendary goalkeeper on getting used to retirement, the decline of Italian football and why he blames himself for Zidane’s World Cup final red card “I tear the gloves off my hands and my bare knuckles, reddened and soaked with sweat, shine in the neon light,” Gianluigi Buffon writes when he remembers leaving the pitch at half-time during the final game of his remarkable career, in May 2023...
Italy’s legendary goalkeeper on getting used to retirement, the decline of Italian football and why he blames himself for Zidane’s World Cup final red card “I tear the gloves off my hands and my bare knuckles, reddened and soaked with sweat, shine in the neon light,” Gianluigi Buffon writes when he remembers leaving the pitch at half-time during the final game of his remarkable career, in May 2023. “I really feel dead inside. I am 45 years old, and around me many of my teammates walking in shorts towards the dressing room could easily be my children.” The gripping and intimate tone of Buffon’s book, Saved , which opens with his last-ever game in a Serie B playoff for Parma, is matched by his warm and open character. The great goalkeeper played professionally for 28 years and his reflections are as moving as they are sombre. “Can you live without it, Gigi?” he asks. “No, I can’t … when you have outlived your youth, and the time when you feel strong and all-powerful has ended, and your muscles, joints and reflexes start to wear out, then it really is like dying.” Continue reading...
Analysis of video footage reveals how wave changed as it travelled over mud-rich rice paddies, exerting more force It is just over 15 years since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing almost 20,000 people and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Fresh analysis of video footage of the wave has revealed that the mud-rich coastline made the tsunami far more...
Analysis of video footage reveals how wave changed as it travelled over mud-rich rice paddies, exerting more force It is just over 15 years since the devastating Tohoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, killing almost 20,000 people and triggering the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Fresh analysis of video footage of the wave has revealed that the mud-rich coastline made the tsunami far more destructive than it might otherwise have been. Patrick Sharrocks, from the University of Leeds, and colleagues studied helicopter video footage, along with before and after images from Google Earth, to estimate the speed, shape and power of the tsunami flow front. They found that as the wave travelled over mud-rich rice paddies it changed from a fast-moving, clear-water flow into a thick, gloopy, mud-laden one. Continue reading...
Migrants navigate complicated documentation and long queues to regularise their status under decree expected to benefit at least 500,000 people A few minutes’ walk from Calle Ponzano, where many madrileños go to drink, graze and chat into the early hours , a more sober ritual is playing out in the austere surroundings of the offices of Madrid’s regional transport consortium. Every few minutes, ind...
Migrants navigate complicated documentation and long queues to regularise their status under decree expected to benefit at least 500,000 people A few minutes’ walk from Calle Ponzano, where many madrileños go to drink, graze and chat into the early hours , a more sober ritual is playing out in the austere surroundings of the offices of Madrid’s regional transport consortium. Every few minutes, individuals or couples emerge from its doors into the bright spring sunshine. The unlucky ones leave with a frown; the lucky ones with a document confirming their use of public transport through a trackable, top-up travel card. Continue reading...
Peter Mandelson’s flaws were mistaken for credentials to represent Britain in the court of a rogue president You can’t kill something that is already dead. New details about Peter Mandelson’s disastrous appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington can trigger more paroxysms of outrage in Westminster. They can sharpen the pitch of opposition calls for the prime minister to resign. They can rei...
Peter Mandelson’s flaws were mistaken for credentials to represent Britain in the court of a rogue president You can’t kill something that is already dead. New details about Peter Mandelson’s disastrous appointment as Britain’s ambassador to Washington can trigger more paroxysms of outrage in Westminster. They can sharpen the pitch of opposition calls for the prime minister to resign. They can reinforce the view among Labour MPs that Keir Starmer shouldn’t lead them into a general election. But they can’t produce consensus around a replacement, or invent a way to choose one without self-destructive factional feuding. Labour MPs’ craving for better leadership has been finely balanced with fear of holding a contest and emerging with someone worse. There is no final straw yet to come because the camel’s back was broken months ago. Continue reading...
Officials warn a conflict situation could cause disruption similar to recent major ransomware incidents The UK could face “hacktivist attacks at scale” if it becomes embroiled in a conflict and the impact could be similar to recent high-profile ransomware incidents , according to the head of the country’s online security agency. Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre ...
Officials warn a conflict situation could cause disruption similar to recent major ransomware incidents The UK could face “hacktivist attacks at scale” if it becomes embroiled in a conflict and the impact could be similar to recent high-profile ransomware incidents , according to the head of the country’s online security agency. Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), will warn today that nation states now account for the most significant incidents the NCSC deals with. Continue reading...
The State Council, China’s cabinet, has published guidelines on innovative drug pricing that a bank analyst has described as “the most significant” in a decade, as they aim to reward drug innovation and ease pricing tension for domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies. The framework document published this month said patented innovative drugs would be supported through value-based prici...
The State Council, China’s cabinet, has published guidelines on innovative drug pricing that a bank analyst has described as “the most significant” in a decade, as they aim to reward drug innovation and ease pricing tension for domestic and multinational pharmaceutical companies. The framework document published this month said patented innovative drugs would be supported through value-based pricing, while the prices of generic drugs would be driven down through market competition and...
Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’ Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament. Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant la...
Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’ Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament. Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant last week, appeared to confirm a report in the Guardian that senior officials were debating whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that revealed the vetting agency did not believe Mandelson should get clearance. Continue reading...
Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024 Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather. At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-...
Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024 Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather. At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-related impacts over the last two decades, researchers found. Continue reading...
Malaysian home cooking is all about balance, and you will find that in abundance in a curried potato karipap pie and homely noodles in a punchy sambal My late grandmother was a wedding cook in Malaysia. From her, I learned that Malay cooking is about kindness and balance; no single taste should dominate – it should never be too spicy or too sweet. She believed in celebrating rezeki , the blessing ...
Malaysian home cooking is all about balance, and you will find that in abundance in a curried potato karipap pie and homely noodles in a punchy sambal My late grandmother was a wedding cook in Malaysia. From her, I learned that Malay cooking is about kindness and balance; no single taste should dominate – it should never be too spicy or too sweet. She believed in celebrating rezeki , the blessing of being able to share food with others, and cooking her dishes has helped me to grieve her passing and shaped a branch of my identity rooted in hosting and sharing. Continue reading...
Global credit risk has been repriced both wider and tighter by the Iran war, and strategic insights are essential for outperformance. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of credit strategy, hosts BI’s global credit strategy team to highlight worldwide research, data and views. Tim Tan and Jason Lee (Asia), Basel Al-Waqayan (Middle ...
Global credit risk has been repriced both wider and tighter by the Iran war, and strategic insights are essential for outperformance. In this episode of the Credit Crunch podcast, Mahesh Bhimalingam, Bloomberg Intelligence’s global head of credit strategy, hosts BI’s global credit strategy team to highlight worldwide research, data and views. Tim Tan and Jason Lee (Asia), Basel Al-Waqayan (Middle East), Reto Bachmann (structured credit), Heema Patel (Europe) and Sam Geier (US) share takeaways on