Six great reads: Iran’s social media memes, an abandoned department store and a 1,200-year-old record of cherry blossoms
Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the last seven days Continue reading...
Source: The Guardian ▾
-
-
Viral victory: Iran is beating the land of tech bros in the social media wars
With AI-generated comedy videos and lego animations of Trump, Iranian content creators are using humour in propaganda battle against US If Iran could manufacture destructive missiles at the speed with which it produces cutting memes, US Central Command would be coming out with its hands up by now. One of the more bizarre and unexpected aspects of the Iran-US war is that Iran, a country by reputation dominated by conservative clerics neuralgic about western culture and media, is dominating the social media war, unleashing its gen Z tech warriors to engage western audiences with its sarcasm and ridicule of the Trump administration. Continue reading...
-
From the archive: Foreign mothers, foreign tongues: ‘In another universe, she could have been my friend’ – podcast
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2023: Having grown up in different cultures with different expectations, my mother and I have often clashed. But as my daughter grows older, I have come to see our relationship in a different light Written and read by Dina Nayeri Continue reading...
-
This week saw humanity at its worst. Artemis II told the opposite story | Flynn Coleman
We send the voice of the dead across space as an act of continuity and care, while on Earth we tally the bodies. Which do we choose to become? Four people are sleeping 19,000 miles from the moon when the voice of Apollo 13’s commander arrives.
-
Culture of care: surreal celebrations of Iranian tenderness – in pictures
As the daughter of refugees, Iranian American artist Sheida Soleimani’s work reframes caring for bodies – both human and animal - as a political act. Her new exhibition, Forest of Stars, will be on view at Yancey Richardson Gallery from 16 April to 22 May Continue reading...
-
To call my part of London ‘Little Tehran’ isn’t quite right | Letter
Diaspora spaces are not replicas, writes Mehrdad Aref-Adib , who was born in Tehran and lives in Finchley, north London I was born in Tehran, but I have lived in London for most of my life. Over time, whatever I brought with me settled into place. The distance between “here” and “there” never disappeared, but it became something I could live with.
-
Why your moon photos look so bad (and how to fix it): the best Australian photos of March - video
From tips to capture a perfect blood moon to a frantic run through Sydney airport in pursuit of the shot of the day, these are the stories behind Guardian Australia's top three photos for March. Photographer and picture editor Carly Earl hand-picks three photographs as her favourites every month and explains the craft and composition that makes these photographs so special. March's edition includes a stunning photograph of the total lunar eclipse, a tense moment as the Iranian women's football team heads home to an unknown fate and an intimate portrait of a man forced from his home by Cyclone Narelle.
-
Child’s play: blame it all on the dog | Brief letters
Baby lies | Fuel price fairness | Gut feelings | Fifa fiasco | Human connection | Cooking instructions When gently asked about a pen scribble in a picture book “Goodness, I wonder who did that? ”, 27-month-old Emily confidently retorted “Nancy! ” – our miniature dachshund ( Little liars: babies younger than one practise deceit, study suggests, 16 March ).
-
Iranians embrace anthem by AI singer created by UK-based, Iran-born artist
‘I did it for the people,’ says Farbod Mehr, of song drawing lyrics from the work of revolutionary 20th-century poet Aref Qazvini A stirring song – sung, apparently, by a young woman, with lyrics expressing the hope that sacrifice will lead to a better future – has become a soundtrack for Iranians in the first part of 2026, as the country experienced the brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests and then the US-Israeli air assault, now in its third week. However, the singer, called Nava, is a product of artificial intelligence, created by a London-based artist of Iranian origin, Farbod Mehr. Continue reading...
-
A royal rule of thumb for measurements | Brief letters
Sizing up | Kind Hearts and Coronets | Accounting for taste | Deranged scumbags Regarding unusual measurements ( Letters, 13 March ), at the time of conversion to the metric system in the 1970s, a colleague proposed a novel set of standard units – the barleycorn, firkin, fortnight system. The barleycorn unit of length, based historically on one-third of the length of Henry VIII’s thumb to the first joint (about one inch); the firkin unit of weight equivalent to nine gallons of water; the fortnight unit of time – a micro-fortnight is about 1. 2 seconds.
-
Ben Jennings on the Oscars – cartoon
Continue reading...
-
From the archive: ‘Iran was our Hogwarts’: my childhood between Tehran and Essex – podcast
We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors. This week, from 2021: Growing up in Essex, my summers in Iran felt like magical interludes from reality – but it was a spell that always had to be broken By Arianne Shahvisi. Read by Serena Manteghi Continue reading...
-
It’s not just influencers who move to Dubai | Letters
Ordinary people and families have made their homes there, writes Mark Husbands . Plus a letter from Jessamy Hadley Regarding Gaby Hinsliff’s article ( Influencers sold the world a fantasy Dubai – and now it’s gone in a puff of missile smoke, 6 March ), Dubai has certainly been marketed as a place of aspiration, often through social media. But the suggestion that recent events somehow represent a moral reckoning for those living there feels glib.
-
A giant cat and a Back to the Future reunion: photos of the day - Monday
The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Warning: Gallery contains sensitive images Continue reading...
-
Trump says ‘special relationship is obviously not what it was’ after Starmer’s refusal to back Iran strikes – UK politics live
Minister says UK not going to be ‘involved in a wider conflict’ despite US president’s frustration A new YouGov voting intention survey for The Times and Sky News shows a surge in support for the Green party, which climbed to second place in the poll as Labour slumped to its lowest figure to date. The survey of 2,073 people on Sunday and Monday showed Reform UK leading with 23% support (down by one point), the Greens on 21% (up by four points), Labour and the Conservatives tied on 16% (down by two points), and the Lib Dems unchanged on 14% . Continue reading...
-
Australian troops safe after drone strikes air base near Dubai as Hastie says rules-based order a ‘fantasyland’
Liberal MP says rules are irrelevant when Trump acts as an ‘apex opportunist’, following a drone strike at UAE’s Al Minhad airbase where Australian troops are based Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Coalition frontbencher Andrew Hastie has declared anyone who thinks the rules-based order still exists is living in a “fantasyland”, amid an escalating US-Israel war on Iran, and as the government confirmed Australian troops in the region were safe after a weekend drone strike. Australian troops posted at the defence force’s headquarters in the United Arab Emirates are all accounted for after a weekend drone strike, the federal government said, amid the growing conflict sparked by US and Israeli bombings in Iran . Continue reading...
