Monthly Archive 22/10/2024

Stones’ injury-time winner awarded after on-field review‘Is there something that influences decision-making?’Ben Fisher at MolineuxSun 20 Oct 2024 14.46 EDTLast modified on Sun 20 Oct 2024 21.30 EDTShareThe Wolves manager, Gary O’Neil, questioned whether referees have a subconscious bias in favour of the “big guy” after Manchester City clinched a stoppage-time victory in controversial circumstances.
John Stones scored a ­95th-minute header from Phil Foden’s corner to extend City’s unbeaten run to a club-record 31 matches but ­Bernardo Silva made contact with the Wolves goalkeeper, José Sá, as the ball was en route into the box. Wolves are aggrieved because it was near ­identical to when they had an ­equaliser ruled out against West Ham last season.
John Stones’ injury-time header gives Manchester City dramatic win at WolvesRead moreThe referee, Chris Kavanagh, initially disallowed City’s goal because his assistant Constantine ­Hatzidakis raised his flag for offside against Silva. The Premier League said the VAR, Stuart Attwell, deemed Silva “wasn’t in the line of vision and had no impact on the goalkeeper and ­recommended an on-field review”. For Wolves, who voted at the end of last season against the use of VAR, it was another frustrating episode. “The referee overturned his original decision and a goal was awarded,” the Premier League Match Centre said.
O’Neil made clear the referees act in good faith but said other ­factors could influence the officials. “Is there something in the subconscious around the decision-making?” he said. “Without even knowing it, are you more likely to give it to Manchester City than Wolves? My focus and senses are heightened when we’re facing Man City, Pep [Guardiola] and [Erling] Haaland. Are the officials the same when it’s Haaland and Manchester City? Is there something in there, not on purpose, that influences decision-making? I’ve spoken to them about this and they guarantee me there isn’t, but they are human.
“I can categorically tell you that they definitely don’t mean to. I just know from a human point of view, it’s tough. If I had to upset someone in a street and there was a little guy and a big guy, I’m going to upset the little guy. Maybe there is something that edges it in that direction when it’s really tight.”
O’Neil said the decision to allow the winner was “a tough blow”, particularly given the parallels with when Wolves had a 99th-minute equaliser at West Ham disallowed in April in similar circumstances; then the Wolves forward Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to have obscured the view of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski.
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“We sent an image to referees showing with proof that the West Ham keeper could see the ball, but the reason we were given was the player [Chirewa] was in close proximity,” O’Neil said. “The same argument could be said here but we just have to accept it.”

As average population falls reach 95% in some regions, experts call for urgent action but insist ‘nature can recover’
The age of extinction is supported byAbout this contentPatrick GreenfieldThu 10 Oct 2024 02.26 EDTLast modified on Thu 10 Oct 2024 18.59 EDTShareGlobal wildlife populations have plunged by an average of 73% in 50 years, a new scientific assessment has found, as humans continue to push ecosystems to the brink of collapse.
Latin America and the Caribbean recorded the steepest average declines in recorded wildlife populations, with a 95% fall, according to the WWF and the Zoological Society of London’s (ZSL) biennial Living Planet report. They were followed by Africa with 76%, and Asia and the Pacific at 60%. Europe and North America recorded comparatively lower falls of 35% and 39% respectively since 1970.
Scientists said this was explained by much larger declines in wildlife populations in Europe and North America before 1970 that were now being replicated in other parts of the world. They warned that the loss could quicken in future years as global heating accelerates, triggered by tipping points in the Amazon rainforest, Arctic and marine ecosystems, which could have catastrophic consequences for nature and human society.
Matthew Gould, ZSL’s chief executive, said the report’s message was clear: “We are dangerously close to tipping points for nature loss and climate change. But we know nature can recover, given the opportunity, and that we still have the chance to act.”
Decline in biodiversityThe figures, known as the Living Planet Index, are made up of almost 35,000 population trends from 5,495 mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles species around the world, and have become one of the leading indicators of the global state of wildlife populations. In recent years, the metric has faced criticism for potentially overestimating wildlife declines.
The index is weighted in favour of data from Africa and Latin America, which have suffered larger declines but have far less reliable information about populations. This has had the effect of driving a dramatic top line of global collapse despite information from Europe and North America showing less dramatic falls.
Hannah Wauchope, an ecology lecturer at Edinburgh University, said: “The weighting of the Living Planet Index is imperfect, but until we have systematic sampling of biodiversity worldwide, some form of weighting will be necessary. What we do know is that as habitat destruction and other threats to biodiversity continue, there will continue to be declines.”
Critics question the mathematical soundness of the index’s approach, but acknowledge that other indicators also show major declines in the state of many wildlife populations around the world.
View image in fullscreenBrazilian rainforest in Humaitá. The report identifies land-use change driven by agriculture as the most important cause of the fall in wildlife populations. Photograph: Adriano Machado/ReutersIn a critique of the index published by Springer Nature in June, scientists said it “suffers from several mathematical and statistical issues, leading to a bias towards an apparent decrease even for balanced populations”.
They continued: “This does not mean that in reality there is no overall decrease in vertebrate populations [but the] current phase of the Anthropocene [epoch] is characterised by more complex changes than … simple disappearance.”
The IUCN’s Red List, which has assessed the health of more than 160,000 plant and animal species, has found that almost a third are at risk of extinction. Of those assessed, 41% of amphibians, 26% of mammals and 34% of conifer trees are at risk of disappearing.
The index has been published days ahead of the Cop16 biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, where countries will meet for the first time since agreeing on a set of international targets to halt the freefall of life on Earth. Governments have never met a single biodiversity target in the history of UN agreements and scientists are urging world leaders to make sure this decade is different.
Susana Muhamad, Cop16 president and Colombia’s environment minister, said: “We must listen to science and take action to avoid collapse.
“Globally, we are reaching points of no return and irreversibly affecting the planet’s life-support systems. We are seeing the effects of deforestation and the transformation of natural ecosystems, intensive land use and climate change.
“The world is witnessing the mass bleaching of coral reefs, the loss of tropical forests, the collapse of polar ice caps and serious changes to the water cycle, the foundation of life on our planet,” she said.
How the ‘Frida Kahlo of environmental geopolitics’ is lighting a fire under big oilRead moreLand-use change was the most important driver of the fall in wildlife populations as agricultural frontiers expanded, often at the expense of ecosystems such as tropical rainforests. Mike Barrett, director of science and conservation at WWF-UK, said countries such as the UK were driving the destruction by continuing to import food and livestock feed grown on previously wild ecosystems.
“The data that we’ve got shows that the loss was driven by a fragmentation of natural habitats. What we are seeing through the figures is an indicator of a more profound change that is going on in our natural ecosystems … they are losing their resilience to external shocks and change. We are now superimposing climate change on these already degraded habitats,” said Barrett.
“I have been involved in writing these reports for 10 years and, in writing this one, it was difficult. I was shocked,” he said.
Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on X for all the latest news and features

An empty cafe photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianUkrainians face new airborne threat that has killed 24 civilians and injured hundreds more since July
By Emma Graham-Harrison and Artem Mazhulin in KhersonFri 18 Oct 2024 01.00 EDTShareSasha Ustenko has survived three attacks by the Russian drones that stalk the streets of Kherson carrying fragmentation grenades to drop on anything that moves. The first, in late July, targeted a parked police car in central Kherson just as Ustenko walked past, throwing him to the ground. The second, in mid-August, hit a drinking water tanker as he queued for supplies, killing the driver. Ustenko was concussed, and came round to see a man lying in a pool of blood.
View image in fullscreenA view of the street photographed in Kherson on 14 October. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe third time, in late September, he heard the drone buzzing above and sprinted for shelter under the branches of a cherry tree. He hoped its leaves would hide him but the grenade tumbled through the canopy and landed barely a metre away.
The explosion ripped his left index finger apart. He is left-handed, so at 51 he is learning to write again with his other hand. When he speaks, his sentences sometimes peter out, the impact of multiple concussions, and he struggles to stand because of repeated blast injuries to his back.
View image in fullscreenUstenko photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianView image in fullscreenOleksandr (Sasha) Ustenko shows a photo of himself right after he was wounded in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianTwo years into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, civilians living in the frontline city of Kherson are grappling with the new threat from small civilian drones adapted to carry explosives.
On social media, Russian soldiers openly boast that their objective is anyone or anything that moves. Since the drones began swarming the city in July, there have been thousands of attacks each month, killing 24 civilians and injuring hundreds more.
“The hunt has started,” urged one Telegram post above a satellite image of an ordinary van. “Any black minivan must be destroyed no matter where are they going.”
They have dropped grenades on buses and people waiting at bus stops, civilians on bikes and queueing for humanitarian aid, or, like Ustenko, just walking home with shopping.
0:37Video shows drone following two people in Kherson before dropping grenade – video One video, shared by a drone operator, follows two people ambling down a quiet Kherson street oblivious to the drone overhead until it drops a grenade that cuts both down, leaving them writhing on the ground in agony.
The repurposed Mavic drones, made in China for photography and videos, are controlled on radio frequencies that Ukraine’s anti-drone systems cannot block, and are too small, too numerous and fly too low for traditional air defences to pick up.
In August there were more than 2,500 attacks, or dozens each day, the vast majority of them inside Kherson city, said Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, a spokesperson for the Kherson military administration. In September there were more than 2,700.
Between 1 July and 11 October, drones injured more than 400 civilians, including seven children. Many of those injuries were life-changing, including some requiring amputations, Tolokonnikov said.
View image in fullscreenA DJI Mavic 3 drone. Photograph: Aleksey Filippov/AFP/Getty ImagesThey are driving Kherson citizens out of areas where they had clung on through nine months of occupation after the full-scale Russian invasion of Kherson in February 2022 and another two years of war.
“There were maybe 1,500 or 2,000 people in my area after the Russian occupation ended. Now there are 1,000 at most,” said Dima Olifirenko, 22, a sailor stranded at home by the war. He has a line of stitches curving at the edge of his cheek beside his ear, from a grenade blast beside a bus stop.
“I heard the drone coming as the bus pulled in but I thought it would follow the bus, because that’s what they do, they hunt the buses,” he said. “But when it drove off the drone was still there and I realised even if I ran after the bus it would get me. There was nowhere to hide.”
View image in fullscreenDima Olifirenko photographed in Kherson. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianView image in fullscreenDima Olifirenko’s injuries. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe explosion came moments later, peppering one side of his body with shrapnel. He flagged down another bus to get to hospital and a passenger gave him her jacket to stem the bleeding. It took him nearly an hour to get there. “The driver had to stop at each bus stop as there aren’t many buses now,” he said with the dry humour that most people still hanging on in Kherson have cultivated.
Many residents had adapted, more or less, to living with the threat of shelling, but the drones have injected new fear into daily life. Each time people leave home, they know they could be individually stalked by killers.
“Drones are much worse than artillery, you can hear the launch and where its flying,” Olifirenko said. “With a drone, it’s [suddenly] there, it sees you, and you are done.”
In Kherson the frontline is the Dnipro River, broadening into wetlands and an estuary as it approaches the sea and separating Ukrainian from Russian forces on either side. This has protected the city from a full-scale Russian offensive, because attacking across a major river is extremely difficult. But because this natural barrier allows tens of thousands of civilians to live just a couple of kilometres from Russian forces, it also makes the city uniquely vulnerable to these drone attacks.
The range of the drones, up to 15km or about nine miles, allows them to dart across the river and back. They are small and cheap enough for Russia to deploy large numbers, and although they might struggle to find military targets on well-camouflaged frontlines, it is easy to find and hit civilians going about daily life.
“This is a systematic, well-planned operation to destroy civilian life in Kherson,” said Serhii Kuzan, the chair of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center thinktank and a former adviser to the Ukrainian defence ministry. “The tactic in this hybrid warfare isn’t to win on the battlefield, it is to destroy the civilian population so the central government will negotiate or surrender.”
The drone attacks intensified over the summer after Ukrainian forces withdrew from precarious footholds on the other side of the river, where estuary banks were too damp to dig trenches and troops were extremely exposed, Kuzan said. After they left, Russian drone operators could move forward into reed beds and woody areas. They have cover to set up a position, fly a drone into Kherson, then pack up and move on before Ukrainian troops can locate and target them.
View image in fullscreenA Ukrainian serviceman from an anti-drone mobile air defence unit uses his mobile device near an anti aircraft cannon as he waits for Russian kamikaze drones in Kherson region, in June. Photograph: Ivan Antypenko/ReutersHe described a city the Russian soldiers had divided into three zones, with areas near the river a declared a red zone where they consider anything that moves a legitimate target. Ustenko, Olifirenko and thousands of other civilians have their homes there.
“There is no air defence that can pick up these tiny drones, and if there was the sirens would be constant,” Kuzan said. The only types of air defence Ukrainian civilians can rely on now are the weather – drones struggle in rain and high winds – and luck, or, for the religious, faith.
In the city’s cafes you can still buy a trendy lavender latte, but the barista may warn you to move your car under a tree as she prepares it. For now Kherson’s many leafy streets offer some natural cover, but the trees have already turned yellow and when winter strips the branches they will leave people even more vulnerable.
Some people may move within the city or leave it, but not everyone is able or willing to go, particularly after the government halted payments to internally displaced people earlier this year.
Olifirenko is caring for his mother, their dogs, cats and ducks and wants to look after the family home, confident that one day peace will return.
View image in fullscreenA view of the street in Kherson on 14 October. Photograph: Anastasia Vlasova/The GuardianThe drones also target empty houses in their neighbourhood by the river, and most nights one or two burn down, he said. They no longer have running water but they have stocked up on fire extinguishers so that if a grenade lands they should be able to put out any blaze.
Ustenko stayed on in Kherson through nine months of occupation and another two years of war largely to look after his disabled mother. “She can’t move on her own,” he said. “Where would we go to live if we left? How would I provide for her?”
Even as he tries to cling on in Kherson, drones that have damaged his body have recently brought a grim further threat to his efforts to nurse his mother through the war. Some are now scattering small “butterfly” anti-personnel mines across roads and public spaces. The mines are less than five inches long and contain about 40 grams of explosive, enough to take off the hand or foot of anyone who picks one up or steps on it.
The mines are sometimes covered in glue and rolled in dirt before they are dropped, to make them harder to spot, Tolokonnikov says. Ustenko is no longer harvesting vegetables from the patch he tended behind his house. “I’m scared to go into the garden because there are so many weeds that could be hiding mines.”
With no police or de-miners venturing into their dangerous red-zone neighbourhoods, locals have developed their own highly amateur de-mining techniques, Olifirenko says. Some people shoot the mines with pellet guns; others try to hit them with bricks. The most methodical get long wooden boards.
“They lie on the ground, shield their face with their arms and push the board towards the mine until it explodes,” he said. “We have a lot of questions for the government. Why aren’t they doing anything to stop this terrorism?”

Recent data from China’s General Administration of Customs indicates that the trade volume between China and Taiwan reached $27.025 billion in September, an increase of $452 million from August, marking a growth of 7.7% compared to the same month last year. China imported $20.662 billion from Taiwan, a rise of $487 million from the previous month, with an annual increase of 11%. However, exports to Taiwan amounted to $6.362 billion, reflecting a decrease of $36 million from August and a year-on-year decline of 1.6%.

For the first nine months of this year, the cumulative trade volume between the two sides totaled $212.436 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9%. China’s imports from Taiwan reached $156.768 billion, up by 8%, while exports to Taiwan were $55.667 billion, a rise of 10.6%.

Analysts had previously suggested that while global demand is recovering and the electronic goods inventory cycle is coming to an end, significant jumps in trade between the two sides are unlikely to occur this year; instead, a gradual recovery is anticipated. There are also perspectives indicating that due to the shifting global supply chains, economic ties may gradually decouple in the long run.

Looking ahead, numerous uncertainties loom over cross-strait trade. Concerns about a potential U.S. economic recession could cool American consumer spending. Simultaneously, China may revoke previous tariff concessions on certain Taiwanese products and reimpose tariffs, which could impact trade statistics.

The Beijing Ministry of Commerce has stated that Taiwan has not lifted its trade restrictions against the mainland, and relevant departments are considering further measures based on the findings of investigations into trade barriers with Taiwan. Earlier this year, Beijing announced the termination of preferential tariffs under the Early Harvest Program of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

Since the beginning of this year, Beijing has suspended tariff reductions on 12 petrochemical products under the ECFA Early Harvest List and in May added a second batch of products that would no longer benefit from these reductions, covering sectors such as petrochemicals, textiles, machinery, steel, metals, and transportation. The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs has repeatedly noted that the Early Harvest List accounts for only 6% of Taiwan’s exports and has a limited overall impact on Taiwan’s economy. Currently, under the global supply chain restructuring, Taiwan is pursuing a diversified economic and trade strategy to mitigate risks.

On October 14, China’s central bank released data indicating that, as of the end of September 2024, the total social financing in the country reached 402.19 trillion yuan, marking an 8% increase year-on-year. This figure includes a RMB loan balance of 250.87 trillion yuan directed toward the real economy, which represents a 7.8% increase compared to the previous year.

Additionally, in the first three quarters of 2024, the incremental total social financing amounted to 25.66 trillion yuan, a decrease of 3.68 trillion yuan from the same period last year. Within this, loans to the real economy increased by 15.39 trillion yuan, which is 4.13 trillion yuan less than last year’s growth.

Looking at direct financing, net financing from corporate bonds reached 1.59 trillion yuan, down by 545 billion yuan year-on-year. On the other hand, net financing from government bonds climbed to 7.18 trillion yuan, which is an increase of 1.22 trillion yuan compared to last year. Meanwhile, non-financial corporate stock financing within the country amounted to 170.5 billion yuan, reflecting a decrease of 503.9 billion yuan year-on-year.

Liang Si, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, noted that there has been a significant acceleration in the issuance of special bonds since the third quarter, leading to a sustained increase in net financing from government bonds.

In terms of off-balance-sheet financing, trust loans increased by 356.2 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year rise of 292.3 billion yuan. Conversely, entrusted loans saw a decline of 15.5 billion yuan, while un-discounted bank acceptance bills dropped by 147.6 billion yuan.

Liang emphasized, “Since the beginning of this year, the cumulative volume of new trust loans has consistently increased, steadily enhancing support for the real economy and becoming a prominent highlight in off-balance-sheet financing.”

The open-hearted paean to friendship and a quiet life has become a global hit after charming viewers the world over. As it turns 10, its stars reflect on how they made TV magic
David RenshawWed 16 Oct 2024 11.00 BSTLast modified on Wed 16 Oct 2024 15.52 BSTShare‘Finding junk and talking bollocks.” That’s how Lance (Toby Jones) describes the life he and his best mate Andy (Mackenzie Crook) live in Detectorists, the gentle and beloved BBC sitcom that began 10 years ago this month.
It’s exactly this low-key charm that has led to the show’s success. The tale of two detectorists (never call them metal detectors, that’s the equipment) spending their days scanning the fields of the fictional town of Danebury is an unflashy look at the lives of two middle-aged hobbyists. Their pursuit of something, anything, that has been held by a Roman, or perhaps an item from the Saxon ship buried somewhere in the local area, is partly about dedication. But it’s also about escaping from the world around them, taking themselves away from the rabble of north Essex to enjoy a bucolic life alone, together.
“I deliberately set out to write something uncynical and removed from the awkward ‘cringe comedy’ that was prevalent at the time,” Crook (who also played Gareth in The Office) says, as he reflects on the show. He points to the series being made cheaply and airing on BBC Four, a channel made for obsessives precisely like Lance and Andy, as being key to the show’s slow-burn success. “Those who found it felt they’d discovered something special.”
This has continued, with Detectorists’ presence on Netflix opening it up to an international audience. Many recent converts discovered the show during lockdown, when exploring the great outdoors was fraught with risk. In France, it is described as “a delicious little thing that only British television knows how to produce”. German numismatic website Coins Weekly is a fan, too. Detectorists couldn’t be less Hollywood, yet the LA Times praised its “almost Shakespearean” quality. In 2018, after collecting a Bafta for his role as Lance, Jones talked about cycling through New Orleans, when two guys stopped him outside a bar to tell him, “Man, we love the Detectorists!” Back at home, Oscar-nominated actor Carey Mulligan said she bought a detector after watching the show.
Detectorists trailer – videoLooking back, you’re struck by the fact that, while Detectorists is routinely very funny, it’s not a sitcom chasing belly laughs. The action is captured at the speed of life, with long scenes directed by Crook filled with little more than Lance and Andy searching for the bounty they hope will change their lives. The two characters both have jobs – Andy is an agency worker and Lance a forklift truck driver – but work doesn’t dominate their lives. You need the luxury of time to be a detectorist, something that 10 years later feels about as rare and valuable as precious metals.
Jones underlines this point, explaining that, “Lance has a good life and he’s aware of that. Unlike so many people, he has the time to join a club and spend days wandering in the countryside with his best friend and to have a chat over a pint. It’s part of Andy and Lance’s quality of life that makes Detectorists so appealing.”
The show’s exploration of relationships – the ones that work and the ones that need more time and care – lies at the heart of its muddy-booted soul, particularly in terms of male friendship.
View image in fullscreen‘They trust each other and have nothing to prove’ … Lance (Jones) and Andy (Crook) stumble on a significant discovery. Photograph: BBCThe first series was ahead of its time in looking at the nature of masculine companionship and the things men find hard to discuss. A 2018 study found that 27% of men had no close friends at all, with 22% of men aged 55 and over saying they never see their friends. It’s not hard, for example, to see how Detectorists paved the way for the similarly tender and lush Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.
“Andy and Lance are completely comfortable in each other’s company; they need and trust each other and have nothing to prove,” says Crook. “The first bits I wrote were a series of conversations between two characters in a field. They were relaxed and about nothing in particular, not lad’s pub banter, not about football, but more about struggling to answer questions on University Challenge.”
“There is an unspoken love about their relationship,” Jones says of Andy and Lance’s bromance. “Some friends, particularly men, express their love through banter and negotiating difficulties together, but I don’t think we ever sat down and discussed how this was about male relationships – that was manifest in the scripts.”
He adds: “Mackenzie and I are both in long-term relationships with partners and there is a lot of the distinction between the ways romantic relationships and friendships overlap, and also how they don’t. At the end of the day, they’re in a relationship together.”
However, it was a different duo that first inspired Crook to write the show. He wasn’t a detectorist himself but was a keen hobbyist, with Jones amusingly letting slip that the coin collection seen on the wall of Lance’s caravan, next to the poster of Linda Lusardi, actually belonged to Crook.
His introduction to the world was through an episode of Time Team in which a pair of detectorists claimed they had found Viking artefacts in a field in Yorkshire. The often difficult relationship between the amateur detectorists and TV archaeologists, perhaps mirrored in Detectorists through the villainous Simon & Garfunkel characters, struck him as a rich source of comedy and pathos. “There was something suspicious about these guys and the feeling was that they weren’t telling the whole truth,” he says. Later, when he came to write the second series, Crook found three pages of scribblings in a notebook from 1999 outlining a forgotten idea called The Metal Detectors (rookie error there). “It turns out I had been percolating the idea for a decade before Time Team brought it back to the surface.”
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View image in fullscreen‘I get a lot of requests to sing it at weddings or even funerals’ … Johnny Flynn, who wrote the theme music to Detectorists. Photograph: Antonio Olmos/The ObserverThe romantic notion that the things worth having in life are often right in front of you is also captured by musician and actor Johnny Flynn in the show’s stirring theme tune. Flynn and Crook bonded over a mutual love of US artist Iron & Wine while starring in Jerusalem in the West End together. Crook eventually contacted Flynn and explained that he had been writing early drafts of Detectorists while listening to his music, feeling that the story in his head was similar in tone to the folk songs Flynn had recorded with his band, the Sussex Wit. Flynn agreed to write the theme tune and ended up scoring all three series.
“I decided to write a song from the perspective of the treasure,” Flynn says of his song Detectorists, which has been streamed more than 20m times on Spotify alone. “The score all sprang from that song, too. We always had a twinkle calling out. It’s that treasure that is guiding the destiny of the characters and the song kind of wrote itself.”
For a long time, Flynn wouldn’t play Detectorists at gigs, for fear of being “a one hit wonder where people were only coming to the shows for that song”. However, he has returned it to his setlist in recent months and has also performed it in some more unlikely venues. “I get a lot of requests to sing it at weddings or even funerals, which I have done on occasion. It really works with the idea of lifelong love or for someone who has gone into the earth.”
The show returned for two more series and ended with a moment that rewarded Lance and Andy’s endeavours, when they discovered a trove of gold coins stashed in a magpie’s nest. Crook looks back on his time filming Detectorists as nothing but rose-tinted. “The sun was always shining, the sky was always blue, everyone had a laugh and I was never grumpy,” he says. Jones echoes that sentiment: “Those three summers we spent shooting felt like a holiday.”
Though the demand for more Detectorists never goes away, a decade on from its debut, Crook believes he is done with the show. “I won’t be making any more Detectorists, but nobody should be sad. We made just the right amount,” he says. “Having said that, I know Toby is keen to do a live stadium tour …”
Detectorists is on BBC iPlayer and Netflix

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja
The Minister of Information and National Orientation Agency, Mohammed Idris has entreated Nigerians to have great zeal for the national brand.He made the appeal yesterday in Abuja at the formal unveiling of the Nigeria Reputation Management Group (NMRG).
Idris described the country’s brand reputation as one of its most invaluable assets, alongside its financial, natural and mineral resources.
He said that in spite of its challenges, the country can still build its reputation brand by carrying out a honest assessment of its weaknesses and strengths.“As you’re all aware, a country’s brand reputation is one of its core assets, alongside its financial and natural and mineral resources. However, the intangibility of brand reputation means that it is often not reckoned with or grossly underestimated in the accounting of a country’s primary assets.
“It is therefore important for Nigeria to take its national brand very seriously. I believe we can start by honestly assessing our strengths and weaknesses. Yes, we have our challenges and reputational weaknesses, but we also have significant strengths and untapped potential,” Idris said.
He listed one of the initiatives that determine the strength of a country as the national brand index saying: “Countries are ranked on that Index according to how they score on six primary indices, in the perceptions of respondents drawn from around the world.
He listed them as Exports, Governance, Culture, People, Tourism, and Immigration and Investment.
“Noteworthy is the fact that Japan steadily rose on that particular ranking, from 5th place in 2019, to 4th in 2020, 3rd in 2021, 2nd in 2022 and then 1st in 2023,” he stated.
He quoted Simon Anholt, the brain behind the ranking, saying there is a nexus between the intangible asset of national brand and tangible country characteristics like the ability to attract trade, investment, tourism, and talent.
“I see a self-reinforcing mechanism at play in this issue of national brand and reputation. A strong national brand attracts talent, tourists and investors and this combination in turn further strengthens the country, positioning it to attract even more positives.
“The reverse is also the case, a weak national brand will discourage investments and talent, depriving a country of what it needs for national development, an unfortunate scenario that further weakens perceptions of brand quality.
“In the area of culture, for example, Nigeria has one of the strongest brands in the world, especially on account of our music and our literature. Our films, fashion and food are also making impressive strides, and with more intentional support, can conquer the world just as boldly as our music is doing.“It is against this backdrop that this commendable new effort by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) is emerging. I must really commend the leadership of the Institute, under the President and Chairman of Council, Dr. Ike Neliaku, for displaying strong and proactive leadership of the esteemed profession, “Idris stressed.
In his remarks, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar called for proactive approach to address the country’s reputation challenges,  calling on Nigerians to tell their own story in an honest and inspirational way.
“To address these challenges, Nigeria must embrace a proactive approach to reputation management. This begins with effective communication. We must tell our own story before others tell it for us, and we must ensure that the story we tell is both honest and aspirational.
“ National reputation is not about glossing over challenges or ignoring problems, but about framing those challenges within a broader narrative of progress, resilience and potential,” Tuggar said.
The minister said the image of any nation is not shaped solely by its leaders, diplomats, or businesses, but by the actions, attitudes, and behaviours of its citizens.
He described Nigerians, both at home and in the diaspora, as the primary ambassadors of the national brand, stressing every interaction, every social media post, and every business transaction contributes to how Nigeria is perceived globally.
” It is, therefore, essential that the government, the private sector, civil society and broader citizenry work together to foster a sense of pride and responsibility among all Nigerians. This approach is a key aspect of the Diaspora pillar of the Tinubu Doctrine of 4-D Diplomacy,” Tuggar said.
He said the country has been using the Technical Aid Corp (TAC) to great effect in pushing its sphere of influence by sending out Nigerian doctors, engineers and university lecturers as volunteers to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries free of charge, since 1987.

Jono KimberJono Kimber got a chance to take several photos of the comet in the skies above ShropshirePhotographers with an interest in the night sky have been treated to glimpses of a comet that last passed the Earth 80,000 years ago. But one snapper who captured the rarity risked missing out due to a more weekly event – taking his son to Scouts.
When Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was this way previously, Neanderthals were still alive. It meant that Jono Kimber, from Ellesmere in Shropshire, knew the margins of success were already tight as this visitor would not hang around. Tricky light, however, was threatening to make his brief window on Thursday even smaller.
Bad weather had ruined his chances on the previous three nights, so he threw his camera and tripod in the back of the car when he went to drop off his son.
He said he initially thought he may fare better on Thursday, after inspecting conditions through a window while having tea. But due to his family commitments he grew "really scared of missing it".
After dropping off his son, he said he "drove around a little bit" to find a good place to stop, eventually settling on a spot close to a main road. That put him, give or take, about 44 million miles (70 million km) away from the object, going by NASA maths.
Mr Kimber, a member of an online community with an interest in night sky photography, said he liked the location because he had seen other photographers using "nice open landscapes to give the sense of space and expanse" in their images.
That same night other people were taking photos of the impressive Hunter's Moon, but Mr Kimber said the light it was giving off was a hindrance for him, because it "causes a bit of haze".
And then… more family commitments. After taking 10 photos on long exposure, he had to dash off to collect, this time, his daughter.
But by then, he said, he was pleased with what he had achieved, also capturing, he added, Elon Musk's Starlink satellites travelling in a train across the sky.
Julian CartwrightJulian Cartwright went out for a walk near his home to photograph the cometAnother Shropshire photographer who jumped at the chance to photograph the comet was Julian Cartwright from Clee Hill. But he too was not without challenges.
He said while his main interest was wildlife and landscape photography, the rarity of the comet made it irresistible.
"The aurora has been a highlight this year and when I heard about the comet it seemed daft not to go and have a look," he explained.
And so he "popped out for a walk" with his wife and in Dhustone, set up his camera, training it in the direction of Ludlow.
He said he was just in time, because "cloud completely obscured the comet a few minutes after getting the shot".
Julian CartwrightJulian Cartwright's comet imagery in closeupFollow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.

Isaac Price scores hat-trick in 5-0 win over BulgariaPoland rescue dramatic 3-3 draw against CroatiaAgenciesTue 15 Oct 2024 17.47 EDTLast modified on Wed 16 Oct 2024 07.05 EDTShareIsaac Price’s hat-trick powered Northern Ireland to a stunning 5-0 win against Bulgaria that sent them top of their Nations League group.
After battering Belarus without reward in the opening 45 minutes of the goalless draw on Saturday, Northern Ireland took their frustrations out on Bulgaria as Price became the first Northern Ireland player to hit a treble since David Healy in a 4-1 win against Liechtenstein in March 2007.
Ronaldo-mania hits Hampden but Portugal held by battling ScotlandRead moreAfter the Standard Liège forward got the opening two, Brodie Spencer’s shot hit a post and rebounded in off the Bulgaria goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov to make it 3-0 at the break. Price completed his hat-trick with the best goal of the night, a rising shot from the edge of the box, before Josh Magennis came off the bench to hit a late fifth.
The last time Northern Ireland won 5-0 at home, George Best scored a hat-trick against Cyprus in April 1971. With Belarus and Luxembourg drawing 1-1 in Hungary, Northern Ireland sit top of Group C3 by one point before facing those two teams in their final games next month.
The European champions, Spain, claimed a place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 3-0 home win against Serbia thanks to goals by Aymeric Laporte, Álvaro Morata and Álex Baena.
With two games left, Spain have secured at least a second-place finish as they top Group A1 with 10 points, three clear of second and six clear of Serbia, with Switzerland bottom on one point after a 2-2 home draw with second-placed Denmark.
Spain were missing several players from the team that defeated England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July but still outclassed Serbia with 30 shots against three from the visitors. The Al Nassr defender Laporte gave the Spaniards the lead with a close-range header in the fifth minute and Morata, who missed a penalty in the 54th minute, extended Spain’s lead with a strike from just inside the box after 65 minutes.
Serbia’s Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Mikel Oyarzabal on the edge of the area in the 78th minute and Baena curled the free-kick into the top corner to wrap up an easy victory.
View image in fullscreenÁlex Baena completes the scoring for Spain with a fine free-kick. Photograph: Cristina Quicler/AFP/Getty ImagesDenmark’s Christian Eriksen created one goal and scored another to grab a draw against Switzerland.
Switzerland went ahead when Remo Freuler reacted quickest in the box to lash a loose ball past goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel in the 26th minute but the lead lasted just over a minute as Eriksen chipped a quick free kick into the path of Gustav Isaksen, who scored with a first-time left-foot shot.
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The brace of quickfire goals was greeted by a heavy fog rolling in across the pitch, but it did not prevent referee Umut Meler from seeing Switzerland’s Breel Embolo getting hacked down by Patrick Dorgu just before the break and Zeki Amdouni made no mistake from the penalty spot to make it 2-1 for the hosts. Eriksen came to the rescue with a cool, cushioned shot from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg’s lay-off in the 69th minute.
Poland fought back from two goals down to snatch a dramatic 3-3 draw with their visitors Croatia. Croatia, who fell behind early, had taken a stranglehold on the game with three goals in seven first-half minutes but were pegged back and then had the goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic sent off late-on.
The draw left Croatia second in Group A1 on seven points, three ahead of third-placed Poland. Portugal top the group with 10 points with Scotland bottom on one point.
Poland were aggressive from the start with the captain, Piotr Zielinski, scoring the opening goal in the fifth minute from a tight angle. The hosts, however, endured a dramatic collapse as Croatia scored three quick goals, as Borna Sosa’s volley in the 19th minute levelled the match before efforts from Petar Sucic and Martin Baturina put them in command.
Nicola Zalewski scored for Poland just before the break, and Sebastian Szymanski equalised in the 68th minute with a low shot into the left corner. The drama was not finished, however, as Croatia’s Livakovic was sent off for fouling Robert Lewandowski in the 76th minute, yet the hosts failed to capitalise.

By Dakuku Peterside
Each year, the Nobel Prize emerges as a global celebration of human achievement, recognising exceptional contributions to progress across various fields such as Literature, Science, and Economics. It also celebrates the promotion and advancement of peace. The prestigious award symbolises the potential to advance knowledge and solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges. In 2024, the Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson for their groundbreaking research into how political and economic institutions shape nations’ prosperity—or failure. Their work, particularly in the influential book “Why Nations Fail”, emphasises that the quality of their institutions largely determines the success of nations. This year’s award, a significant event in economics, brings to light the critical role institutions play in shaping the trajectory of nations, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges facing countries like Nigeria.
The research of Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson underscores the importance of inclusive institutions—those that provide broad access to resources and opportunities—for ensuring long-term economic success. In contrast, extractive institutions, which concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few, often result in inequality, stagnation, and eventual collapse. This insight is particularly relevant to countries like Nigeria, where, despite abundant natural resources and a population of over 220 million, most live in poverty. According to the World Bank, more than 40% of Nigerians (about 110 million people) live below the poverty line, and another 25% are vulnerable to falling into poverty due to economic shocks. The Nobel Prize in Economics serves as a reminder that institutional reform is critical if Nigeria is to unlock its full potential.
The 2024 Nobel Prize highlights Nigeria’s unrealised potential and lack of global recognition in key areas like economics and science. Despite its vast oil wealth, the country remains impoverished and underdeveloped. In 2023, the petroleum industry accounts for about 5.5 percent of Nigeria’s GDP and for around 92 percent of the value of all exports, yet it has failed to translate into broad-based prosperity. According to the Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), unemployment reached an all-time high of 33.3% in 2023, and youth unemployment stands at nearly 43%. These figures paint a picture of a country struggling to convert its immense natural wealth into tangible benefits for its people.
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Economics inadvertently draws attention to Nigeria’s institutional failures by focusing on institutions. In the book “Why Nations Fail”, Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson highlight Nigeria as an example of a country with immense potential but remains impoverished due to weak governance and ineffective institutions. However, their research also points out that if managed through effective institutions and good leadership, Nigeria’s resource wealth could lead to prosperity for the majority. This potential for change in Nigeria’s institutional landscape should inspire hope and optimism, as it suggests that with the right reforms, Nigeria can unlock its full potential. In a post-award interview on CNN, James Robinson, one of the three laureates, echoed these sentiments, emphasising Nigeria’s inability to create the institutional conditions necessary for development. He noted that Nigeria is not poor because of a lack of resources or talent but because of a lack of institutions and leadership capable of harnessing these resources for the benefit of all citizens. This critique places Nigeria under the global spotlight, prompting difficult questions about why a country with such potential remains economically stagnant.
One of the key lessons from the work of the 2024 Nobel laureates is the importance of the rule of law and the detrimental effects of corruption on national development. Societies with weak rule of law and corrupt institutions struggle to generate long-term economic growth because these systems prioritise the interests of elites over the broader population. This insight is particularly relevant to Nigeria, where corruption is deeply entrenched. According to Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Nigeria ranks about 145th out of 180 countries, indicating widespread corruption across various levels of government and society.
Corruption in Nigeria has created a wealthy elite that thrives on exploiting the country’s resources for personal gain. In 2020, Nigeria lost approximately $18 billion to corruption in the oil sector alone, according to a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). This staggering figure underscores the potential of Nigeria’s resources and the missed opportunities due to corruption. Instead of using oil revenues to improve infrastructure, education, or healthcare, a significant portion of Nigeria’s wealth is diverted to the pockets of corrupt officials. The pervasive nature of corruption has stifled innovation and entrepreneurship, preventing Nigeria from achieving the broad-based, sustainable economic growth needed to lift millions out of poverty.
Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson’s work also emphasises the stark difference between extractive and inclusive institutions. Extractive institutions, like those in Nigeria, concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a few, often leading to short-term economic growth but long-term instability and inequality. This has been particularly evident in Nigeria’s reliance on oil and how oil wealth has been mismanaged over the years. While oil has brought enormous wealth to a small group of elites, it has failed to create a diversified economy that can provide jobs and opportunities for the broader population. Nigeria’s over-reliance on oil has also made it vulnerable to fluctuations in global oil prices, leading to economic crises when prices fall.
On the other hand, inclusive institutions promote broad participation in economic and political life, creating opportunities for citizens to prosper. Countries with inclusive institutions, like Norway or South Korea, tend to experience sustained economic growth and political stability. In South Korea, for instance, a country with few natural resources, inclusive institutions have fostered innovation, resulting in its transformation into one of the world’s leading economies. Nigeria’s institutional failures, however, have left it unable to replicate such success.
Leadership is crucial in determining whether a country’s institutions are inclusive or extractive. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s leadership has often failed to build the institutions necessary for sustained growth. Instead, political leaders have prioritised their interests over the country’s long-term development. According to a 2019 report by the World Bank, the mismanagement of resources and poor governance have cost Nigeria over $300 billion in revenue losses over the past 30 years. This staggering figure, detailed in the report, which analysed the economic and political decisions made by Nigerian leaders, illustrates the impact of poor leadership on the nation’s development trajectory.
In addition to mismanagement, Nigeria’s colonial history and ethnic fragmentation further complicate its development path. The political and economic institutions established during colonial rule were designed for exploitation, not the benefit of the local population. These extractive systems continue influencing Nigerian governance today, with political elites using their positions to extract wealth from the economy. Nigeria’s ethnic diversity, while a potential strength, has often been manipulated by elites to fuel division and maintain control.
Rent-seeking behaviour, where individuals or groups extract wealth from the economy without contributing to productivity, has become entrenched in Nigeria’s political culture. There is a heavy reliance on rent-seeking in the oil sector rather than productive economic activities. This system discourages hard work and innovation, leaving the country stuck in a cycle of underdevelopment.
Another significant challenge facing Nigeria is the absence of a unifying national ideology. Without a cohesive vision for the future, political and business leaders have been able to exploit religious and ethnic divisions for their benefit. This lack of national unity weakens social cohesion and makes building the inclusive institutions necessary for sustained development difficult. Instead of working toward a common goal, Nigerian elites often use religion and ethnicity to maintain power, perpetuating inequality and deepening poverty. According to a 2021 report by the Brookings Institution, religious and ethnic divisions in Nigeria have been a significant driver of political violence and instability, further hindering the country’s development.
Good economic institutions protect property rights and guarantee the sanctity of contracts, which are key prerequisites for private sector investment and entrepreneurship. This lack of respect for the sanctity of contracts is one big gap in Nigeria, and the quality of our judiciary has not helped matters. One consequential service our democratic leaders can do to our country is to reform and strengthen the judiciary. Without it, all other reforms would be like pouring water on a duck’s back.
The insights provided by Acemoglu, Johnson, and Robinson offer Nigeria a way forward: institutional reform. By strengthening the rule of law, improving accountability, and fostering inclusive growth, Nigeria can reverse its course of underdevelopment and build a more prosperous and equitable society. The 2024 Nobel Prize critiques Nigeria’s current trajectory and a call to action for its leaders to implement the necessary reforms to unlock the country’s potential.
Summarily, the fate of nations, as highlighted by the 2024 Nobel laureates, is not determined by geography or culture but by the quality of their institutions and leadership. Nigeria’s persistent underdevelopment is not an inevitable outcome but a result of weak, extractive institutions. However, with the right leadership and a commitment to reform, Nigeria can break free from its vicious cycle of poverty and build a brighter future. Ultimately, the rapid development of Nigeria must be driven by its citizens and institutions, with leaders facilitating good governance and inclusive growth. Our country cannot continue to operate a political framework that often prioritises selfish personal, parochial and pecuniary interests over broader economic goals, limiting effective governance and implementation of growth strategies. The Nobel Prize in Economics reminds us that institutional change is possible—and that the time for Nigeria to act is now.