The joys of being an absolute beginner – for life

The phrase ‘adult beginner’ can sound patronising. It implies you are learning something you should have mastered as a child. But learning is not just for the young

One day a number of years ago, I was deep into a game of draughts on holiday with my daughter, then almost four, in the small library of a beachfront town. Her eye drifted to a nearby table, where a black-and-white board bristled with far more interesting figures (many a future chess master has been innocently drawn in by “horses” and “castles”).

“What’s that?” she asked. “Chess,” I replied. “Can we play?” she pleaded. I nodded absently.

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Silent night: ‘In our family carols are a ritual celebration – this year the music stopped’

For Sian Prior, 2020 feels like the year the carols nearly died. But perhaps there are new ways to keep the song alive

The purists would say I shouldn’t sing Christmas carols. Heathens have no right to be warbling about mangers, angels and holy nights. Strictly speaking, those tunes belong to the faithful, not to atheists like me. But on Christmas Day you will usually find me hovering beside the piano, waiting impatiently for the carolling to begin.

My mother will play the accompaniment, my sister will sing the melody, I’ll find a harmony and my brother will take the bassline. We four non-believers will regale the rest of the family with We Three Kings and none of us will care what the purists think.

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Cyberpunk 2077: how 2020’s biggest video game launch turned into a shambles

Starring Keanu Reeves and hyped to the heavens, Projekt Red’s dystopian but glitchy romp has been pulled from sale. What went wrong?

Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most-anticipated video games of the year was released last week. A dystopian romp around a Blade Runner-inspired city, it had all the ingredients for a perfect storm of hype: it’s been nearly a decade in the making; its creator, Warsaw’s CD Projekt Red, was behind one of the greatest games of the last decade (The Witcher 3 – think Game of Thrones but grimier); it stars Keanu Reeves, who is as popular with gamers as he is with everybody else. Eight million people had pre-ordered and paid for the game before it came out. But since 10 December, it’s all gone horribly wrong.

On launch day, the reviews were good – great, even. Many critics praised the fictional Night City’s realism, its striking skyscraping architecture and grubby alleys; they loved the invigorating gunplay, ballsy characters and neon swagger. Some expressed reservations about the game’s rather adolescent tone and its eagerness to objectify women’s bodies – neither of which were a surprise to anyone who’d been keeping an eye on the game’s marketing.

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Drawing, running or a podcast in the bath: our readers’ tips for switching off after work

How best to resist the temptation to send one more email? Try these healthy hacks to put the home back into WFH

Even though it happens in the same space as my Zoom counselling sessions, making music helps me to switch off immediately. I close the camera, switch on my synthesiser and load up the software. That simple process transports me into a sonic fantasy world. I take my voice and the sounds of many of the instruments I play, and I sculpt them.

Every week or two, I upload a tune to streaming sites. Making music used to be my profession rather than a hobby, but that distinction now gives me a feeling of immense freedom. I can create my music in any way I like. I no longer need approval or affirmation from the outside world. John Walter, counsellor, Cornwall

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Beyond sourdough: the hobbies that helped readers cope with lockdown

As lockdown restrictions continue to ease, Guardian readers tell us what pastimes and skills they’ve discovered – and rediscovered – during the pandemic

During lockdown, my husband and I have taken daily walks in the countryside that have kept us sane and given us a break from the monotony of confinement. Along the way, I have collected stones to paint. Looking for ways to engage the five-year-olds in my class (and missing them a bit too), I painted each stone to look like them and used them to make videos, games and to tell stories. The children loved them and it made some of their lessons a little more meaningful in what has been a challenging time. Anna Clow, 52, early years teacher, Lyon, France

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‘People think we’re from another planet’: meet Karachi’s female cyclists

Teams of women and girls are among numerous cycle groups increasingly to be seen on the streets of the frenetic Pakistan megacity

Early on Sunday morning in Karachi, a group of girls are riding loops around an empty stretch of road outside the colonial-era Custom House. At 6am they left the narrow alleys of the old neighbourhood of Lyari, branded a war zone by national and international media after a lengthy and brutal gang conflict. Two hours later they are still happily pedalling away, in ballet slippers and with headscarves tucked under helmets.

“I used to cycle alone,” says Gullu Badar, 15. “It’s nice to cycle here because there’s no danger, no cars. It feels good that there are other girls cycling with me too.”

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Why I won’t be joining the queue at the top of Everest

A startling picture of overcrowding near the summit shows the peril of turning the mountain into a form of adventure tourism

Mountaineering is a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering. Where it is cerebral is in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.

Considering risks requires being honest with yourself. At what climbers call the objective level, that involves assessing dangers you may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, even whether there will be overcrowding on your route.

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President Donald Trump Calls Elizabeth Warren a ‘Phony’ Over DNA Test Results

President Donald Trump lashed out at Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday over DNA test results she released that indicate she has some Native American heritage, saying she is "getting slammed" over the assertion and branded it as a "scam and a lie." Warren released the test results Monday in part to push back against Trump's longstanding taunts about her ancestry claims.

Sen. Warren: DNA test shows I have Native American heritage

Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Monday released the results of a DNA analysis that she said indicated she has some Native American heritage, a rebuttal to President Donald Trump, who has long mocked her ancestral claims and repeatedly referred to her as "Pocahontas."

Rebecca Traister’s all-American anger: ‘In my dissent, I am deeply patriotic.’

If you are a woman, and you have always had a feeling that much of the power in this country is interconnected; and that all of those connected things are in cahoots against you - yes, you , personally! - not by accident, but actually by design; and this feeling has intensified over the last 24 months or so; and you worry that harboring these suspicions mean you are, as it is no longer in vogue to say, being hysterical, Rebecca Traister is here with an assurance: You are not. "It's not a conspiracy theory," she tells me by phone.

Mysterious solar observatory evacuation caused by a child porn investigation, FBI docs say

Few details were available after a New Mexico solar observatory's evacuation and closure led to widespread speculation and conspiracy theories. Mysterious solar observatory evacuation caused by a child porn investigation, FBI docs say Few details were available after a New Mexico solar observatory's evacuation and closure led to widespread speculation and conspiracy theories.

Trump disputes estimate of Puerto Rico storm deaths

As Hurricane Florence bore down on the U.S. on Thursday, President Donald Trump angrily churned up the devastating storm of a year earlier, disputing the official death count from Hurricane Maria and falsely accusing Democrats of inflating the Puerto Rican toll to make him "look as bad as possible." Public health experts have estimated that nearly 3,000 perished because of the effects of Maria.

Alex Jones and Infowars test the limit of free speech on the internet – CNET

As one of the internet's most controversial personalities, making outlandish claims and spreading conspiracy theories through his Infowars website has made Jones a household name in political circles. Initially, it was for his baseless accusation that 9/11 was an inside job , but in the past couple years, he's claimed surviving high schoolers from a Parkland, Florida, shooting are "crisis actors."

This Week in Agribusiness – Aug. 4, 2018

Orion Samuelson and Steve Bridge offer reports from China, a look at new dairy technology and share insight on key issues for agriculture Orion Samuelson and Steve Bridge open with a look at China and the way that country has changed over time; including that country's need for commodities. Steve talks with former Secretary of Agriculture John Block about the changes he's seen.

Who is Q? Behind conspiracy theory erupting at Trump rallies

A grassroots movement "about the covert battles being waged between the deep state and President Trump" finds life on the internet In this Tuesday, July 31, 2018, file photo, supporters of President Donald Trump shout down a CNN news crew before a rally in Tampa, Fla. TAMPA, Fla.