From balloon arches at parties to mass balloon releases at funerals, these bits of floating rubber and plastic can have disastrous effects on wildlife. As some retailers are refusing to sell them, here are some alternatives I remember, as a child, hanging on to one specific party balloon for what seemed like years. I don’t remember how or where I acquired it, but it had initially floated high, bob...
From balloon arches at parties to mass balloon releases at funerals, these bits of floating rubber and plastic can have disastrous effects on wildlife. As some retailers are refusing to sell them, here are some alternatives I remember, as a child, hanging on to one specific party balloon for what seemed like years. I don’t remember how or where I acquired it, but it had initially floated high, bobbing against the ceiling, and, over time, lost its buoyancy, coming to rest on the carpet. Yet, when a family friend asked if they should pop the now sad-looking balloon, I assumed they were joking – like when an adult asks, teasingly, if they should eat your last slice of birthday cake – and was distraught when they followed through. I didn’t care that it had become grubby and partly deflated – I’d had that balloon for what felt like for ever. This, it turns out, is the problem with many balloons. Not that clingy young children might become over-attached to them, but that they are often a single-use plastic – and even biodegradable alternatives such as latex balloons do not decompose quickly , meaning they can pose a significant risk to wildlife and the environment. In 2019, scientists found that balloons eaten by seabirds are more likely to kill them than other kinds of plastic – yet they do not seem to have been earmarked in the same way as, for example, plastic straws. If anything, balloon-based decor has become more popular in recent years , with balloon arches or tunnels deployed not just at birthdays but at events ranging from baby showers to shop openings. Balloon drops are used at New Year’s Eve celebrations and graduation parties, and balloon releases have also endured – particularly at funerals, where the unleashing of helium-filled balloons signifies the letting-go of a loved one. Continue reading...
Voters rejected rule from the centre – but could end up with another centrist government We could be at the end of the road for the Danish method of democracy. Our style of parliamentary politics has been celebrated and admired internationally for many years, but last week’s general election has left it in crisis. The result was a vote of no confidence in a centrist government led by the Social De...
Voters rejected rule from the centre – but could end up with another centrist government We could be at the end of the road for the Danish method of democracy. Our style of parliamentary politics has been celebrated and admired internationally for many years, but last week’s general election has left it in crisis. The result was a vote of no confidence in a centrist government led by the Social Democrat Mette Frederiksen. Her administration was, in the Danish context, an unusual political construction. Frederiksen had broken the old pattern of politics in 2022 by forming a governing alliance between the centre-left and centre-right. Yet the most likely outcome of the election is that Denmark will get another centrist government. This is a kind of democratic boomerang. For reasons of perverse parliamentary logic, what the voters reject, they get right back in the face. Rune Lykkeberg is editor-in-chief of the Danish newspaper Information Continue reading...
Endo Kazutoshi spent decades climbing to the top of the culinary world, only for a devastating fire to threaten it all. I joined him in the aftermath as he travelled around his homeland, visiting the people that helped make him Endo Kazutoshi was on the train to Paris when he heard about the fire. A few hours earlier, at 2am, he had left his restaurant – the tiny, Michelin-starred sushi counter, E...
Endo Kazutoshi spent decades climbing to the top of the culinary world, only for a devastating fire to threaten it all. I joined him in the aftermath as he travelled around his homeland, visiting the people that helped make him Endo Kazutoshi was on the train to Paris when he heard about the fire. A few hours earlier, at 2am, he had left his restaurant – the tiny, Michelin-starred sushi counter, Endo at the Rotunda, in west London – and headed home, where he got changed and packed his bags for the 6am Eurostar, upon which he planned to sleep. As he boarded the train that morning, 6 September 2025, he was unaware that just after 3am, the fire brigade had been called to a blaze at the Helios building, where his restaurant was located on the eighth floor. The fire had started on a terrace and a few hours later had reached the restaurant’s dining room – built mostly from 200-year-old hinoki wood – the prep kitchen, everything. Shortly after departure from St Pancras, the news began to reach Endo through early-rising friends; they reassured him and would keep him updated, though details were still unclear. The trip to Paris was intended as a moment of respite after a busy summer’s service. Instead, Endo cleared his schedule and booked the first train home. But there was one appointment he couldn’t bring himself to cancel. Continue reading...
Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the reasons why it’s good for both the mind and the body. But what’s the evidence for the benefits of sauna and cold plunge? Madeleine Finlay hears from Ian Sample and from Dr Heather Massey, associate professor at the Univers...
Saunas and cold plunge pools are popping up everywhere in the UK, bringing fiery heat and icy cold to a beach, city farm or park near you. Their users will be ready with all the reasons why it’s good for both the mind and the body. But what’s the evidence for the benefits of sauna and cold plunge? Madeleine Finlay hears from Ian Sample and from Dr Heather Massey, associate professor at the University of Portsmouth’s extreme environments laboratory. ‘It all feels very natural’: Britain’s sauna boom heats up as people seek warmth of human connection Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...
The 55-year-old is one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation When Chris Rokos decided to donate a record £190m to the University of Cambridge to set up a “school of government” this week, it became the latest mega project carried out in the hedge fund billionaire’s name. The publicity-shy tycoon has spent much of the last decade presiding over one of England’s most expensive...
The 55-year-old is one of the most successful hedge fund managers of his generation When Chris Rokos decided to donate a record £190m to the University of Cambridge to set up a “school of government” this week, it became the latest mega project carried out in the hedge fund billionaire’s name. The publicity-shy tycoon has spent much of the last decade presiding over one of England’s most expensive home renovations ever, of the 200-room Tottenham House mansion near Marlborough in Wiltshire, adding a tennis pavilion and private cinema in the £175m revamp . Continue reading...
Deep divisions on Israel mean the union has failed to act over Lebanon, Gaza, or settler violence in the West Bank The human costs of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were plain to see when the Irish MEP Barry Andrews visited Beirut last month. He met people who had fled Israeli airstrikes and complied with evacuation orders in southern Lebanon. At makeshift shelters – converted schools – conditions we...
Deep divisions on Israel mean the union has failed to act over Lebanon, Gaza, or settler violence in the West Bank The human costs of Israel’s attacks on Lebanon were plain to see when the Irish MEP Barry Andrews visited Beirut last month. He met people who had fled Israeli airstrikes and complied with evacuation orders in southern Lebanon. At makeshift shelters – converted schools – conditions were even worse than during Israel’s last incursion in 2024, he was told. “There are dirty mattresses, dirty blankets, [people] are getting infections, they are getting rashes,” he said recalling a picture of misery compounded by swingeing aid budget cuts . Continue reading...