How children torment teachers with smartphones – by one who has been a victim
Will Yates in The Independent
For Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to "claim" a "purported 'ban on phones' in schools" is "some coup for child discipline" is "a sleight of hand so lazy, it could have been generated by a year 10 on ChatGPT", writes Will Yates in The Independent. The proposal is unlikely to be "anything more than beefed-up statutory guidance with no enforceability". Until the government provides "widespread, long-term investment in young people's futures", says Yates, students will continue being "drawn into the murky world of fleeting thrills that their phones provide".
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MAGA Wouldn't Be Such a Threat if the Electoral System Worked
Jamelle Bouie in The New York Times
"The Trump crisis may never have materialized if not for specific institutions, like the Electoral College," says Jamelle Bouie in The New York Times. No US president can "publicly say that the system he presides over has serious flaws that undermine its integrity. But it does." And "if anyone is aware of this, it has to be Biden". Americans should think "in a collective and deliberate manner" about how "structural reforms" could "make our democracy more resilient or even to realize it more fully in the first place".
Axing HS2 in Manchester is further proof Tories are not fit to run the country
Voice of the Mirror
"Derailing" the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester is "a historic levelling down that betrays the North", says the Daily Mirror. "Weak, incompetent and out of touch", Rishi Sunak "will never be forgiven – whenever he plucks up the courage to make the announcement". The Tories "will need to be replaced by Keir Starmer and Labour quickly if broken Britain is to get its future back".
The politics of bubble tea: at last, Taiwanese food is getting the recognition it deserves
Clarissa Wei in The Guardian
"Because it belongs to an island nation whose right to sovereignty is contested", Taiwanese cuisine has "long struggled to define itself on the international stage", writes Clarissa Wei in The Guardian. "From bubble tea to baos", the island nation's delicacies are "often lumped under the broad umbrella of Chinese cuisine". But its relatively recent "popularity" across the world has "coincided" with "carefully crafted soft power initiatives by the Taiwanese government". Taiwanese food is "getting the recognition it deserves".
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A whole new world: redrawing the Mercator mapUnder the Radar African Union joins calls to ditch 'colonial distortion' and portray countries at more accurate size
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'Enforcement of rulings remains spotty at best'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Book reviews: 'King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution' and 'Gwyneth: The Biography'Feature How the Iranian Revolution began and Gwyneth Paltrow's life in the spotlight
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Will Ukraine trade territory for peace?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION Kyiv’s defences are wearing thin but a land swap is constitutionally impossible and crosses Zelenskyy's red lines
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Russia tries Ukraine land grab before Trump summitSpeed Read The incursion may be part of Putin's efforts to boost his bargaining position
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Europe counters Putin ahead of Trump summitSpeed Read President Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week for Ukraine peace talks
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Is Trump's new peacemaking model working in DR Congo?Talking Point Truce brokered by the US president in June is holding, but foundations of a long-term peace have let to be laid
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Who wins from a Trump-Putin meeting?Today's Big Question Trump might get the leaders together for a photo op but brokering a peace deal won’t be easy
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How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
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US and EU reach trade dealSpeed Read Trump's meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen resulted in a tariff agreement that will avert a transatlantic trade war
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Trump threatens Russia with 'severe tariffs'speed read The president also agreed to sell NATO advanced arms for Ukraine
