Man leaps from moving plane at Los Angeles airport after trying to break into cockpit

The passenger was taken to hospital after jumping from the aircraft as it was taxiing to the runway

A passenger has been taken to hospital after jumping out of a moving plane at Los Angeles international airport, authorities say.

United Express flight 5365, operated by SkyWest, was pulling away from a gate shortly after 7pm Friday when the man unsuccessfully tried to breach the cockpit by pounding on the door.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/27/man-leaps-from-moving-plane-at-los-angeles-airport-after-trying-to-break-into-cockpit

‘Johnson & Johnson helped fuel this fire’ – now it’s out of the opioids business

Whether the pharmaceutical giant jumped or was pushed, its New York deal is a significant sign of the way the wind is blowing

Johnson & Johnson said it had already jumped. New York’s attorney general suggested the pharmaceutical giant was pushed.

Either way, the American drug maker is the first to formally agree to get out of the multibillion-dollar business of selling the powerful narcotic painkillers that drove the US opioid epidemic.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/26/johnson-johnson-opioids-deal-letitia-james-new-york-state-settlement

Strawberry fields forever? New variety tastes great … and grows all summer

Experts say they have found the ultimate version of the fruit. It’s called Ace, but now we just need enough foreign pickers

It would be easy to dismiss it as a marketing gimmick. A strawberry called Ace, announced on the eve of Wimbledon – surely, you cannot be serious? But the academics and strawberry breeders of the East Malling research institute are not given to cheap slogans. Malling Ace is a super strawberry that is creating more excitement in the world of horticulture than even the possibility of another Andy Murray title.

“The Ace name sort of indicates what we felt about it – it really, really does excel,” said Adam Whitehouse, who led the Malling Ace project. “It’s a new variety that has been fast-tracked through our system because it really did stand out and it caused a lot of excitement at such an early stage.”

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source https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/27/strawberry-fields-forever-new-variety-tastes-great-and-grows-all-summer

Female candidate to lead Unite union faced ‘disgraceful abuse’

Sharon Graham says troll accounts targeted her after she refused to quit the race to replace Len McCluskey as general secretary

The only woman running to be the next leader of the powerful Unite union has revealed that she received “disgraceful” online abuse for refusing to stand aside for two more prominent male rivals.

Sharon Graham, who has attracted an unexpected level of grassroots support, said she experienced a “rough ride” after refusing to end her campaign. She said troll accounts had mocked up pictures of her as Margaret Thatcher, and she had warned her family that she might lose her job because of the row.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jun/27/female-candidate-to-lead-unite-union-faced-disgraceful-abuse

£17bn of UK arms sold to rights’ abusers

Weapons licensed for export to two-thirds of states on ‘not free’ register, including Libya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey

Two-thirds of countries classified as “not free” because of their dire record on human rights and civil liberties have received weapons licensed by the UK government over the past decade, new analysis reveals.

Between 2011-2020, the UK licensed £16.8bn of arms to countries criticised by Freedom House, a US government-funded human rights group.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/27/17bn-of-uk-arms-sold-to-rights-abusers

My friend has tricked me into paying her medical bills, what can I do?

You feel like you’ve been taken for a ride, but maybe your friend was really asking for love

The question Last year, a friend asked me to become part of a Go Fund Me drive to raise money for her medical treatment. At first I and other friends sprang into action, but later we began to question our (and her) actions.

Many years ago, this friend had an illness she recovered from after gruelling treatment. Then she was diagnosed with a recurrence and treated successfully, again. Her illness (or perhaps the fear of it returning) has been the dominant focus of her life. Then she told me she had had some troubling news regarding a new diagnosis – and the Go Fund Me drive was started. But it later transpired the money was not for any kind of last-ditch experimental treatment and that she had opted for an elective operation at a private hospital as a precautionary measure.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2021/jun/27/my-friend-has-tricked-me-into-paying-her-bills-what-can-i-do-philippa-perry-replies

Rewriting history: how imperfect costume dramas make the past relevant

Historians embrace inaccuracies in TV adaptations as a way to tell new stories

When Ada Shelby in Peaky Blinders ate popcorn as she watched a silent film, some historically minded viewers may have choked on their own popcorn at home, since the snack was not invented until “talking pictures” came in. Fans of authentic detail were also upset when female characters in early episodes of the BBC drama The Tudors sported long, billowing sleeves, a style only introduced later when Anne Boleyn became queen.

Charges of historical inaccuracy have dogged costume dramas from the outset, prompting complaints about anachronistic language, decor and technology. Occasionally, attacks on the fidelity of a show can become a question of national importance, as when the culture secretary, Oliver Dowden, called for the Netflix series The Crown to be prominently labelled “fiction”.

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source https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jun/27/rewriting-history-how-imperfect-costume-dramas-make-the-past-relevant