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The Legacy of a Scientific Pioneer My husband Peer Bork, who has died unexpectedly aged 62, was a bioinformatician with a remarkable ability to identify new directions in science and carry out world-class research to push them forward. Revolutionizing Microbiome Research During his career, he progressed from the statistical analysis of the sequences of individual protein molecules, via the analysis of the human genome, to the bioinformatics analysis of whole microbial communities. Peer pioneered the computational analysis of the human microbiome, introducing the concept of gut enterotypes – in work that was highlighted in many newspaper articles as well as on the radio and TV. He went on to study microbial ecosystems worldwide and, at the time of his death, was involved in expanding a consortium that he had initiated to systematically document coastal ecosystems in Europe. All these studies required the creation of bioinformatics tools – software and curated datasets – which are now widely used by the scientific community in academia and industry. A Life in Science Peer was born in the former East Berlin, where his father, Joachim, worked in economic statistics, and his mother, Regina, had an administrative job in the construction industry. Owing to his mathematical abilities, he won a place at a high school specialising in mathematics and science, the Heinrich-Hertz-Oberschule. After military service on the border between East and West Germany, he studied biochemistry at the University of Leipzig. He followed this with a PhD in bioinformatics under the supervision of Jens Reich at the Central Institute for Molecular Biology of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR in Berlin. International Scientific Career After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Peer joined the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg in 1991 as a visiting scientist. He and I met there and married in Canterbury, Kent, in 1994. We had two sons, Udo and Robin, and family life involved many trips between Germany and Britain. EMBL became Peer's scientific home and he rose up the ranks to become interim director general in 2025. He was dedicated to furthering EMBL – an intergovernmental research organisation with six sites, including the European Bioinformatics Institute near Cambridge. He was an outstanding mentor. Awards and Recognition He made science both challenging and fun. Among his awards, which included honorary doctorates and the 2009 Royal Society and Académie des Sciences Microsoft award, he was particularly proud of the Nature award for mentoring in science he received in 2008. Final Scientific Journey He died in Taiwan, where he was due to speak at an international conference on the microbiome. He loved to travel and make friends all over the world. Peer is survived by me, his sons, by a granddaughter and his mother.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, is facing a standards investigation after a $6.7 million personal gift from Thailand‑based billionaire Christopher Harborne was disclosed. The inquiry arrives just days after Reform UK emerged as the top winner in England’s local and regional elections.Details of the Gift and the Parliamentary InquiryThe Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened a probe to determine whether Farage breached rules that require MPs to declare donations received in the year before an election within one month of taking office. Farage maintains the money was a personal, unconditional gift intended for his security and not a political donation.Gift amount: $6.7 million (≈£5 million)Donor: Christopher Harborne, billionaire and crypto investor based in ThailandPurpose claimed by Farage: personal security ahead of the 2024 national electionInvestigation announced: 13 May 2026Financial Scale and Funding BreakdownElectoral Commission data shows that about two‑thirds of Reform UK’s funding last year came from Harborne, underscoring the donor’s outsized influence on the party’s finances.Reform UK’s total funding (2025): roughly £7.5 millionHarborne’s contribution: ~£5 million (≈66%)Political Repercussions for Reform UK and the UK ParliamentThe probe intensifies scrutiny of Reform UK’s rapid rise, especially after it topped national opinion polls and secured victories in traditionally Labour‑leaning councils. Opponents argue the overseas funding contradicts Farage’s populist image, while the party’s deputy leader Richard Tice contends voters were already aware of the gift.Potential sanction: suspension from the House of Commons for 10 days or moreConsequence of a 10‑day suspension: triggers a recall petition, possibly leading to a by‑electionPotential Outcomes and Future ScenariosIf the commissioner finds a serious breach, Farage could face suspension and a recall petition, jeopardising his seat. Even without a breach, the episode may fuel calls for tighter rules on foreign donations and could affect Reform UK’s momentum ahead of the next general election.

The Undisclosed £5m GiftNigel Farage has been dogged by questions about his finances since the Guardian revealed he received a £5m gift from a donor in 2024. Although he insists the gift did not have to be declared, several important questions remain unanswered.The sum was given shortly before Farage decided to stand in the 2024 general election – and it came from a Reform UK mega-donor, the Thai-based crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. In recent days, Farage has attempted to deflect attention away from the gift, saying on several occasions that the money was to pay for his personal security, and that he would rather talk about it another time.Financial Questions RemainAmong the key questions is whether this was the only gift Farage received in the run-up to the 2024 general election and beyond. Reform UK did not respond to questions about whether any other gifts were made after the one in 2024 or if any other donors made any other gifts to Farage or other senior figures in Reform.There is also uncertainty about exactly what the money was used for. Farage initially claimed the money "was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life" because he did not receive taxpayer-funded security. However, according to Zia Yusuf, the former head of policy at Reform, Farage was receiving some public funding for his security as recently as 2025 – more than a year after he had accepted the £5m gift.The Clacton House PurchaseAnother area of Farage's personal finances that has attracted scrutiny is how his partner, Laure Ferrari, managed to buy an £885,000 home in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. Ferrari has confirmed in an interview with the French newspaper Le Monde that she did not cover the full cost with any inheritance from her family, despite Farage previously stating that she could afford it herself because she comes from a "very successful French family."It would have been legal for Farage to give or lend her the funds, and thereby avoid paying £44,000 of additional stamp duty on the purchase. But he has consistently denied providing any financial assistance for the property.Political ImplicationsFarage's political opponents have seized on the disclosure. Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative party chair, has said Farage was "obliged" to declare the gift. The Reform leader may soon face questions from the Electoral Commission or the parliamentary standards watchdog, both of which have received reports related to the gift.On Wednesday, the parliamentary standards commissioner opened a formal inquiry into the gift. Reform has put great weight on the idea that this was a personal gift and that it was made prior to Farage's decision to stand for parliament, with deputy leader Richard Tice stating: "The state wouldn't provide the funding, and this was a personal gift based around safety and security."Future Investigations LikelyWith the parliamentary standards commissioner now having opened a formal inquiry, Farage faces increasing pressure to provide transparent answers about the £5m gift. The investigation could potentially lead to further scrutiny of other financial transactions involving Farage and senior Reform figures.This controversy comes at a critical time for Farage and Reform UK, as the party continues to establish itself in British politics. The handling of this situation could significantly impact public perception of the party's commitment to transparency and ethical standards.

The Investigation into Nigel Farage Nigel Farage is facing a formal investigation by the parliamentary standards watchdog over a £5m gift from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. The Gift and Its Disclosure The Reform UK leader received the money weeks before announcing he would stand as a candidate in the 2024 general election. Farage has said the gift, first revealed by the Guardian, was intended to cover his personal security costs and therefore did not need to be declared. The Rules and Potential Consequences However, Labour and other parties argue that MPs are required to declare any potentially relevant gifts or donations received in the 12 months before entering parliament, and that the money from the Thailand-based Harborne falls within these rules. If the investigation finds Farage committed a particularly serious breach of parliamentary declaration rules, he could be suspended from the Commons. A suspension of 10 days or more could trigger a recall petition, potentially forcing him to fight again for his Clacton seat.

The humanitarian crisis in Haiti's capital has escalated dramatically, with residents of the Cite Soleil neighborhood taking to the streets to demand immediate government protection after a weekend surge in gang violence forced hundreds to flee their homes. The Collapse of Security in Cite Soleil Protesters reported witnessing people being killed in Cite Soleil in recent days, yet Haitian authorities have remained silent regarding casualty figures. This violence is part of a broader trend where armed gangs have tightened their grip on the capital since the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in July 2021. Police reports indicate these groups now control approximately 70 percent of the capital. Displacement Statistics and Gang Dominance The displacement crisis has reached critical levels. A report by the International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 1.4 million people have been uprooted by gang warfare. Of these, about 200,000 are currently living in overcrowded and underfunded sites within the capital, highlighting the severe strain on urban infrastructure. The Humanitarian Toll on Healthcare Medical services are facing an existential threat. In a statement released on Monday, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) announced the evacuation of its hospital in Cite Soleil following intense clashes on Sunday. Furthermore, the Centre Hospitalier de Fontaine suspended operations, having successfully evacuated all patients, including 11 newborns, to safety. The Unfolding International Security Mission The situation is poised for a potential shift with the deployment of an international security mission. The UN Security Council approved a plan for a 5,550-member force in late September, with the first foreign troops arriving in April. However, the full contingent has yet to arrive, and only an undisclosed number of troops from Chad have been deployed so far.

The Lead: Carla Simón's Unique Approach to Family DramaFamily reunions in European arthouse cinema are almost always unhappy events, on a scale of strife that ranges from simmering resentment to spectacular score-settling. Carla Simón, however, has a rare gift: she makes you leave the cinema with renewed faith that having relatives and keeping in touch with them may actually be a wonderful thing.No film-maker working in Europe now is as capable of turning birthday gatherings, garden parties or poolside barbecues into thrillingly sprawling canvases of human virtue and vice as this 39-year-old rising star. From a riotous water fight in the Berlinale Golden Bear-winning farming drama Alcarràs to a foul-mouthed dinner table singalong in her new film Romería, Simón directs kinship meetings with the attention to detail that other film-makers may invest in action sequences or dance routines.The Event Details: Romería and the Journey to Self-DiscoveryAmong the tricks Simón employs, she explains, is to ensure her actors only read the script once before the camera starts rolling, so they have to improvise to fill the gaps. She takes her casts to parties, for walks and on shopping trips, and if there are disagreements on the way, so much the better. The ultimate secret sauce, though, is to ignore WC Fields's notorious advice and always work with children and animals."I never get bored of working with kids," she says. "When you are only working with adult actors, shooting becomes more like executing an idea that you have in your mind, and I think that is not interesting. With children, you always have this feeling that that things are going to happen in front of the camera by chance. It keeps things alive."Her new film Romería, meaning "pilgrimage" in Spanish, dives deeper into the story of the biological parents she barely got to know. Eighteen-year-old Marina travels to her relatives in Vigo, in north-western Galicia, purportedly to find the death certificate of her biological father, which she needs to study film-making in Barcelona. The initial reaction is warm, but family is a room with dark corners and locked closets.The Personal Journey: Aids, Loss and Family SecretsSimón's fascination with freewheeling scenes of family life was undoubtedly honed through her own biography. Born in Barcelona in 1986, her father died when she was three and her mother when she was six. Both of them succumbed to Aids. She was 12 when her adoptive mother told her that her parents had been infected with the autoimmune disease through their use of drugs.All of her first three films have been strongly autobiographical: Summer 1993 tells the story of a six-year-old girl who moves to an unspecified location countryside to live with her aunt after the death of her mother, while 2022's Alcarràs is specifically set in the Catalan peach-growing community of her adoptive family.In the film, a cache of letters written by her late mother opens up a portal to the time when her parents met and discovered love – for each other, the Atlantic Ocean and drugs. The letters, Simón explains, are real. "She wrote to her friends and family while she lived in Vigo. Her Catalan is full of mistakes, because teaching Catalan was banned under the Franco regime. But they are the most important thing that I have from my mother, because suddenly I can hear her talking."The Impact Analysis: Spanish Cinema and the Legacy of AidsSpanish cinema has a track record in making films where child actors take centre stage: Ana Torrent's spell-binding turn as a young girl obsessed with the Frankenstein tale in Víctor Erice's 1973 film The Spirit of the Beehive is considered an all-time great performance by a minor, and Simón describes it as "a very, very important film for me".During the transition period after Franco's rule, Madrid gave birth to la movida, a countercultural movement that celebrated lifestyles that had been banned under military rule. "All these kids who were raised under Franco and religious oppression, suddenly freedom arrived and they embraced it", Simón says. "They didn't think much about the future or the consequences of what they were experimenting with. And then the drugs came in."When we talk about this generation in Spain, people sometimes use words like shame and blame, but I feel that's really unfair: people like my parents just had bad luck.The Future Direction: Beyond Family in Simón's Next ProjectHalfway through Romería there is a stylistic shift, from the Eurorealism she favoured in her previous works toward something more magical-realist: there is a mysterious cat you might expect to encounter in a Miyazaki film, and an unforgettable dance number set to Vigo punk rocker's Siniestro Total's song Bailaré Sobre Tu Tumba ("I'll Dance on Your Grave")."These three films I've made are kind of a cycle, because they all talk about my family, adoptive and biological. But since I became a mother a few years ago, I feel that my place in the family changed. When you have kids you feel it's a new period in your life, so I feel like maybe doing something that has nothing to do with my family."Her next film, she confides, is going to be a flamenco musical.

The Artist's Journey Through Love and LossFalling in and then out of love is a universal experience that often brings sadness, grief and heartbreak, and with time, hope and healing. Photographer Diana Markosian used her camera lens to document these complex feelings in her new project, Replaced.She brings the viewer on her journey of having, losing and reclaiming love, in a project that blurs documentary and fiction. "[The moments] no longer existed in the way they had, and I wanted to reclaim them," she says. "I wanted to feel that I could exist in my own story again."Recreating Intimate Moments Through ArtTo document their relationship, Markosian and her team worked with an actor to play her ex-partner. Each intimate image from the series, taken over three months, is a replica of an exact moment once shared with her ex and now shared between her and the actor. Her connection to him deliberately led to his being cast as her partner in the series so that the experience would feel as real as possible.With the actor, she visited Miami, Paris, Naples, Capri and Nice, all places she had once traveled to with her ex-partner. "These locations carry an existing weight of romantic myth," she says. "They are already shaped by cultural narratives of love, desire and idealized experience."The Emotional Toll of ReenactmentShe stayed at the same hotels and did the activities they had once done together, describing the experience as painful but cathartic. "It hurts so much, watching myself be replaced, watching those memories erased, and I didn't want to live in this any more," she says. "I'm so grateful that the project happened quickly."One of the most tender moments she recreates with the model appears in an image of them seated in a bathtub, holding one another with a red light glowing around them. Their vulnerability allows the viewer to reflect on a delicate moment between two people whose past love no longer exists, fostering empathy and prompting the audience to reflect on their own past relationships.Art as a Tool for Processing EmotionsCreating these intimate photographs enabled her to contemplate her journey. "I wanted to acknowledge how these same spaces can be reoccupied," she says, before adding: "If anything, [the project] just showed me how much I loved this person."For the past 16 years, Markosian has not let go of her camera, often using it to reach back and understand her past. "Art has given me a way of processing. I was studying writing, and suddenly found myself holding a camera and not wanting to let go of it; it became just a friend in my life," she says.A Career Built on Memory and ReconnectionShe first picked up a camera at 20, during graduate school at Columbia University. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she wanted to see the world, so she moved back to Moscow, Russia, where she was born. There she taught herself how to use the camera.Today, her lens serves as a tool for reconnecting with her past life and reclaiming it as her own. In her previous, highly regarded photo monograph Inventing My Father, she demonstrates her unique ability to reveal the unseen past through her images. Working on the book for 10 years, she depicts her journey of finding her father after 15 years of no contact, following her move to California in 1996 from Armenia, where he lives."Father, my previous work of the past decade, it's all rooted in memory, and I think what's beautiful about memory, there's a blend of fiction, interpretation, and it's very subjective," she says. "So I think I love existing in that territory because none of it is really real."

Executive Overview: Syringe‑Smuggled Ants in NairobiThe Guardian article reveals that Nairobi is emerging as a nexus for the illegal trade of giant harvester ants, which are being hidden inside medical syringes to evade detection. This unconventional smuggling method highlights a growing challenge at the intersection of wildlife trafficking and public‑health safety.How Syringes Enable the Giant Harvester Ant TradeAccording to the report, traffickers exploit the small, sealed nature of syringes to conceal live ants during transport. The method allows large numbers of insects to be moved discreetly through customs and local markets, bypassing traditional inspection procedures.Scale of the Illicit Ant MarketWhile precise figures are not disclosed, the article notes a noticeable increase in seizures and police investigations related to ant smuggling in Nairobi.Local markets are reportedly offering the insects for purposes ranging from traditional medicine to exotic pet trade.Implications for Public Health and BiodiversityThe practice poses dual risks: the potential spread of ant‑borne pathogens to humans, and the ecological impact of removing a keystone species from its native habitats. Kenyan authorities are urged to strengthen bio‑security protocols to mitigate these threats.Future Outlook: Regulation and EnforcementExperts cited in the Guardian piece suggest that tighter customs inspections, public awareness campaigns, and regional cooperation will be essential to curb the syringe‑based trafficking network. Ongoing monitoring will determine whether Nairobi can shift from a trafficking hub to a model for effective wildlife‑trade enforcement.

A Novel of Female Defiance"Yes, you will leave this place," the chorus of child protagonists in a community of sex workers say at the start of Tahmima Anam's incantatory and fiery new novel of female defiance, Uprising. "This story will save your life," we were told three times in Deepa Anappara's 2020 debut, also featuring precarious children dwelling in the margins. What is the distance between imagination and action, lived realities and dreams? How can solidarities be forged in such circumstances? Uprising holds within its pages some answers and a deep conviction – for a better life, a more just world – and then reaches out and fights for it.The Island Community and Its OppressionAs a journalist, Anam visited the infamous "floating brothel" Banishanta in Bangladesh; her new novel, set on an isolated island "at the end of the country, in the middle of a river that emptied into the sea", fictionalises the island's community and ecological precarity. Here, a generation of daughters grow up watching their mothers trapped in sex work – "we knew that the work was something that was paid for in money, and also in bodies" – and wish a different life for themselves. The women are controlled by the cruel Amma, who was once herself sold into sex trafficking. The victim becomes the perpetrator – and the children are discerning enough to know that their mothers are "not here because they had done something bad, but because something bad had been done to them". The first lesson of the island? No one is coming to save you – and living here changes you, as inexorably as the rising tides.The island is a prison. The mothers are ghosts of their former selves. The children, witnessing the "sexing", are all too grown up, stripped of their innocence. By the time they are born, their mothers' memories have faded "like paint in the sun"; they live on the island "tied to" their daughters. What, or who, will it take to break free from these chains?Feminism and Climate Crisis in LiteratureWhen the waters rise, customers stay away. The mothers speculate: "the swirling river was keeping the smaller boats from making the journey"; "the land was cursed". In a last-ditch attempt to lure men back for business, Amma sends for a new girl. Little does she know that Kusum Khan's arrival will signal the beginning of the end. A girl from the city with a history of participating in protests against the Dictator, she doesn't acquiesce to the island's rules, as the others have been conditioned to; instead, she sows the seeds for what will grow into a life-altering act of resistance. The children start to believe that she is their saviour – maybe even Bon Bibi, a legendary guardian of the forest. A different life seems graspable, just beyond the island's shore. When the titular uprising at last arrives, it summons an all-consuming storm, washing over the island. And the reader, too, is ready to join the revolution – their fist in the open air.Uprising is a feminist novel ("here they were: a wall of women") and a protest novel ("The moment Kusum entered the protest, she felt as if she was becoming a small organ in a living, breathing thing"). It is a coming-of-age novel, and a response to the climate crisis; a story of sisterhood protecting, and failing to protect; of structural inequality and the rotten core of patriarchal corruption; of unlucky women in an unfair world. "When the men came to reclaim the island, we stood rooted in place with our eyes closed, unable to watch. We stood rooted in place with our eyes open, unable to stop watching." While the mothers and daughters in Anam's fictional world are victims of specific generational violence, this observation can be applied to humanity at large: we are all watching – frozen, complicit – as injustices rise the world over.The Power of Rage and Radical HopeThrough her unwaveringly political and unflinchingly forthright novel, Anam shows the power of rage and radical hope. A new world can burn bright from the fires of injustice – and here, it's the mothers that hold the match.