The Guardian

A world away from Italy’s crowded beach resorts, the island’s south-west offers remote golden sands plus villages, vineyards and great restaurants

It felt like a classic British beach outing, but with more reliable weather. Toting umbrella, towels, sun cream, water and a cool-box picnic, my husband, son and I turned our backs on the marina in Porto Palo, near Menfi in south-west Sicily, and walked west. About 10 minutes on a narrow signposted coastal path brought us to Le Solette, a half-mile curving golden beach between rocky outcrops and backed by low hills. It’s a gorgeous spot, with soft sand and clear water in hues from turquoise to indigo – but the most remarkable thing about it is not what’s there, but what’s not.

• Brazilian beats returning surfing veteran in Gold Coast Pro decider
• Bettylou Sakura Johnson claims first World Surf League women’s title

Julian Wilson’s incredible run from the trial to the title has fallen just short with the Australian surfing veteran beaten in the final of the Gold Coast Pro.

The 36-year-old squared off against Filipe Toledo in the title decider which was a repeat of their 2015 final, also won by the Brazilian, and was edged in a thriller 17.60 to 17.20.

When six young women hired a room to discuss the war in Gaza, the gathering ended with 30 officers storming in to make arrests

When six young women gathered in central London to discuss the climate crisis and the war in Gaza, the setting could not have been more appropriate. The building in which they sat was a Quaker meeting house, the home of a movement whose centuries-long history is rooted in protest and a commitment to social justice. On the table were cups of jasmine tea, ginger biscuits and a selection of vegan cheese straws.

• Wallaroos lose 38-12 to Black Ferns in Pacific Four Series opener
• Reigning World Cup champs extend hoodoo over rivals to 28 matches

With a dismal record against New Zealand – the most recent result a 62-0 blackout in Brisbane last year – breaking the Black Ferns’ 27-match hoodoo was always going to be a tough ask for the Wallaroos. And so it proved, as Australia’s women’s side were dealt a reality check ahead of the Rugby World Cup in August, crashing to a 38-12 defeat in their Pacific Four Series opener.

The town was ripped apart and the economy decimated. But now the football club will make an emotional return

It was about 7pm when UMF Grindavík’s players finished training in the club’s indoor hall. There had been seismic activity in the area all day but, in this harbour town to the south of Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, everybody had become wearily used to that. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions had been a discomfiting, menacing backdrop to the previous three years. Everyday life had continued but now, on 10 November 2023, nature was to have its say. Four hours after its football team had completed their session, the danger had become intolerable and Grindavík was evacuated. Their once-thriving home quickly turned into a ghost town.

Like clouds, far-right ideology moves here then there with absolute randomness. The danger is that those who can, shrink under their umbrellas

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• King stretchered off field after ‘medical event’
• Angel City hand Utah third straight shutout loss

Angel City defender Savy King was stretchered off the field and taken to the hospital after what the team called a “medical event” during the team’s match against the Utah Royals in the National Women’s Soccer League on Friday night.

Other players were visibly shaken as trainers rushed to King’s side after she went down in the 74th minute. She was attended to for some 10 minutes before she was taken from the field on a cart.

• Cavaliers beat Indiana 126-104 in Game 3 of East semis
• Thunder defeat Nuggets 113-104 in overtime thriller

Donovan Mitchell had 43 points and nine rebounds, and the finally full-strength Cleveland Cavaliers beat Indiana 126-104 on Friday night to cut the Pacers’ lead to 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The road team has won all three games in the series, and the Pacers will have another chance to break that trend Sunday in Game 4.

Growing up under the shadow of section 28, watching the Channel 4 show made me glad to be gay

During my school years I was encouraged to believe that being gay was a serious medical handicap, like having one leg shorter than the other or a parent who was also your form tutor. This was during section 28, which outlawed the promotion of the “acceptability of homosexuality” in UK schools, when nearly half the population thought being gay was “always” or “mostly” wrong. “Gay” was a synonym for “shit”; a descriptor deployed when no other slur was low enough. Detentions were gay, as was double maths. Two men having sex was so gay that it was almost unspeakable, the closest analogue being supermarket-brand trainers.

Perhaps it’s inevitable that many men of my generation grew up with shame coating them like varnish. This lack of self-esteem is supposedly what drives many to chemsex, or self-harm, or sporting harnesses as daywear, which is effectively the same thing. Unfortunately, there was never any hiding my gayness. It shone out of me like a tea-light in a lantern, and the most I could hope to do was deflect (every queer kid knows the heart-stopping sensation that greets the sentence “can I ask you something?”). Aged 11, it was hard not to see being gay as a life sentence. Like prison, it felt inherently terrifying and degrading.

Then Queer As Folk appeared on Channel 4. The very mundanity of the conceit (gay men going to work, having one-night stands, falling in and out of love) made it feel revolutionary. For the first time I saw gay people living gay lives, rather than acting as plot devices or cautionary tales in straight people’s stories. They weren’t ostensibly glamorous (Vince worked in a supermarket) but existed on their own terms, which felt entirely exotic and thrilling. Stuart was unapologetic and reckless – memorably driving his Jeep through the glass storefront of a car dealership after overhearing a salesman brag about how much money he made from gay men who die young. It was Pretty Woman’s “big mistake” moment for men with a preferred Minogue.

The former US first lady says she’s in counselling after her daughters left home. She and Barack should run around the house naked. Yodelling. With antlers on their heads

Your kids are the greatest love affair of your life, and that love is unconditional … Although wait, on second thoughts, there are a few conditions. No child must ever be allowed to take up the bagpipes, drums or descant recorder. Come meal times there are two options – spag bol or adoption. No mother should have to teach a child to drive while simultaneously going through the menopause. And, most important of all, progeny must be out the door by 24.