China population decline accelerates as birthrate hits record low | China
ChinaChina population decline accelerates as birthrate hits record lowPopulation data shows drop of almost three million in 2023
China’s population decline has accelerated, with a second year of record-low birthrates.
The total number of people in China dropped by 2.75 million – or 0.2% – to 1.409 billion in 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday. The drop surpassed that recorded in 2022, of about 850,000 – the first time the recorded population had declined since the mass deaths of the Mao-era famines.
Jung Kook: Golden review a sexed-up, hook-filled but unremarkable solo debut
Alexis Petridis's album of the weekBTSReview(Bighit Music)
The talented BTS singer follows a well-worn path from boyband member to solo star, plunging into competent pop-R&B – including an Ed Sheeran co-write
Last October, South Korea’s biggest boyband, BTS, revealed they were going on “hiatus”. As a band who have seldom adhered to the norms of western pop, they delivered the news in suitably intriguing style. It was announced during the annual YouTube broadcast of BTS having dinner together, during which they had tucked into a couple of bottles of whisky and were visibly quite pissed.
Top 10 books about the Iraq war
Statue of Saddam Hussein in front of a bombed-out communication centre in Baghdad in March 2003. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/ReutersStatue of Saddam Hussein in front of a bombed-out communication centre in Baghdad in March 2003. Photograph: Goran Tomasevic/ReutersTop 10sBooksRanging from forensic intelligence reports to biting reportage and searing fiction and memoir, these books lay bare the mistakes that drove the war, and reveal their human cost
Iraq entered my life 25 years ago in the form of Scud missiles arcing west.
Would vinegar and brown paper be of any use in the event of a small boy (call him Jack) sustaining a
NOOKS AND CRANNIESWould vinegar and brown paper be of any use in the event of a small boy (call him Jack) sustaining a head wound? VINEGAR and brown paper could well be used to treat a head wound (other more suitable substances being unavailable). Copious amounts of vinegar would cleanse the wound and most bacteria would not survive in the concentrated acid solution, thus reducing the risks of infection. Brown paper would then be used as a non-adherent dressing.
Actor Lucas Hedges: I love nostalgia, so walking around England is another level | Theatre
Observer New Review Q&ATheatreInterviewActor Lucas Hedges: ‘I love nostalgia, so walking around England is another level’Michael HoganThe American star of Manchester By the Sea on making his West End debut in the world premiere of Brokeback Mountain, escaping tragic film roles, and nepo babies
Brooklyn-born Lucas Hedges, 26, began his acting career in his teens with a supporting role in Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. His breakthrough was Manchester By the Sea, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
How sexy are your underarms?
WomenPerhaps you've never even considered the question, but armpits are the latest part of the female anatomy to be targeted by the beauty industry. Where will it end?On any given day, before I leave my flat, I do three things: first, I check my teeth for stray poppy seeds. Then I have a quick look at my hair, making sure my afro is even on all sides. And last, but by no means least, I check my underarms.
Lost cities #10: Fordlandia the failure of Henry Ford's utopian city in the Amazon
Derelict rubber factories in Fordlandia. Photograph: Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty ImagesDerelict rubber factories in Fordlandia. Photograph: Colin McPherson/Corbis via Getty ImagesLost citiesCitiesIn the 1920s the US industrialist wanted to found a city based on the values that made his company a success – while, of course, producing cheap rubber. The jungle city that bore his name ended up one of his biggest failures
In 1928, northern Brazil was captivated by an enticing bit of news.
Poem of the week: Sir Patrick Spens | Poetry
Carol Rumens's poem of the weekPoetryPoem of the week: Sir Patrick SpensThis time, a potent ancient ballad with a strange modernityIt's time for the redoubtable Anon to take the stage again, this time as a balladeer. The ballad is an evergreen form, originally sung, and, if the name is to be believed, accompanied by dancing. It twines its indestructible way through written literature and still attracts contemporary poets and musicians. There are dozens of magnificent old ballads that continue to be set and sung, and for whose survival we owe much to the first great collectors like Allan Ramsay, Thomas Percy and FW Child.
Singer's husband quits Irish Mirror in fury | Media
MediaSinger's husband quits Irish Mirror in furySinead O'Connor's journalist husband has quit the Irish Mirror after the paper splashed on a court case involving the father of her child.
Nick Sommerlad, 28, has left the Mirror after the paper reported on a libel action brought against the Sunday Times by his wife's former boyfriend, Irish Times journalist John Waters.
A senior insider at the paper said Sommerlad had been angered by the coverage of the libel battle, which described Waters as his wife's "
The baby maker
The ObserverFertility problemsDr Xiao-Ping Zhai has helped hundreds of infertile women get pregnant, using acupuncture, herbs and boiled twigsWhen, in the mid-1990s, Dr Xiao-Ping Zhai began using traditional Chinese medicine to treat infertility, her Harley Street practice was confined to a couple of rooms, each no bigger than a stationery cupboard. Patients would climb the four flights of stairs to sit on a hard chair in the tiny hallway outside her room, like lost and frightened children waiting to see the headmistress.